Abia state Governor , Dr. Alex otti has welcomed in principle the proposal by a dairy farm company for the establishment of an ultra modern diary farm in the state.
The Governor stated this when he met with the management of the company, Blue Ribbon Ltd led by Sir Idris Wabara.
He said the establishment of a diary farm in the state makes sense as it will enhance economic development,adding that the idea
of having people move around with cows has been outlawed in some countries such as Brazil.
The Governor assured the company that his government will get into the details of the proposal.
Explaining to the Governor the company’s plan ,the chief promoter of Blue Ribbon company, Mr Idris Wabara said they intend to establish a diary farm in the state in partnership with Afimilk, an Israeli diary outfit with the potential of training Abia youths on production of world class milk.
He appealed to the Abia State government to leverage the project and make land available for its establishment, assuring that the project will boost economic activities, create job opportunities and conserve foreign exchange for the state.
“We know what his Excellency the Governor has been doing in Abia. We are asking the government to support the project to make land available for the project. And I must emphasize that this is not RUGA. This is not cattle rearing and it’s not national livestock whatever, this is a diary farm, we bring in world class cattle, we produce world class milk.
“What we want to do is to feed the local market with milk, we can earn foreign currency and train our people. Israelis are keen on training our people in local expertise, so we intend to train people here and send some of them to Israel for training and I think it’s a win win situation for the country.
“Government will have increased revenue, you’ll have people employed, we are attracting bigger milk processors and increased economic activity. We’ll talk Abians, we’ll train people through the expertise in Diary so this is essentially diary, produce milk and associated products for the consumption of the local market and possibly for export.”