By Mohammed Baba Busu
Niger State Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with 3 Companies for Sugarcane cultivation and Sugar production in the state.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Digital Media and Strategy, Abdullberqy Ebbo, on his social media page said the MOU, signed at the Government House Minna, was a giant leap towards achieving the much lauded agricultural revolution of the state.
The agreement was signed between Uttham Sucrotech International, Rite Foods Ltd, Legacy Sugar Company Ltd and the Niger Foods to site a three-year 148,000 hectares project that will eventually see to the establishment of 6 Sugar Mills in Niger, with 4 to be located between Shiroro and Minna.
Ebbo said each of the 6 factories was estimated to have a capacity of 5000 to 15000 (TCD) tonnes of Sugarcane crushed per day, producing the likes of Sugar, Ethanol and Power (Clean Energy).
He stated that it had a yearly projection of 1.6 million tonnes of Sugar and 1.45 million tonnes of Ethanol and expected to boost domestic food production and exports.
According to him, the agreement will further serve as an avenue for providing an enabling environment for investments in the state and open doors of opportunities to the citizenry in enhancing industrialization in Niger.
Ebbo revealed that in addition to improving food security and the quality of life of the people, the project aligned with the government’s Green Economy Initiative, with Ethanol blending with fuel, reducing the carbon footprint in the state.
He highlighted other benefits of the program to the state, including the production and provision, by Uttham Sucrotech Company, of 110,000 out growers and other by-products of sugarcane such as refined ethanol, power, and cattle feeds among others
This will empower local farmers for self-sufficiency.
Others are the provision of an off-take programme of 145 million litres of ethanol from the Sugar plant, with each benefitting farmer making between N5m and N6m revenue every year.
The initiative has the added benefit of reducing the pressure on the dollar, while increasing community growth and development among others.
The special adviser added that out-grower and off-taker component of the agreement would encourage community participation in the programme, which would further the cause of poverty alleviation by creating jobs, skills acquisition, training and encourage community participation component.
