The Executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano will today, Monday, 11th February 2019 commission the successful resuscitation of JOSAN Giant Mill, Umumbo, (formerly Omor Rice mill).

Omor Rice mill used to be the largest rice mill in Nigeria and West Africa, with a former annual capacity of 30,000 metric tonnes. It now has a current expanded annual capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice input and 50,000 metric tonnes of milled rice.

JOSAN integrated rice mills and farms is a public private partnership (PPP) scheme between Joseph Agro Industries and the Anambra State Government. JOSAN was first given the former dilapidated World Bank Rice farm in Ufuma in 2015, as a pilot test scheme, whereby JOSAN installed two new rice mills in Ufuma, built all year round irrigation facilities and engaged in a large co-sponsored out-growers scheme with IFAD-value chain. JOSAN won the National award as the IFAD State offtaker. IFAD is the agriculture and rural development agency of the United Nations.

The Anambra State Government then handed over the Giant mill at Umumbo in 2018 to JOSAN for complete rehabilitation. Successive Federal and State Governments, since 1997, were unable to successfully rehabilitate the vandalized and abandoned giant mill. JOSAN did the technical resuscitation and all investments to this effect.

JOSAN in record time was able to completely resuscitate the giant rice mill at its own expense, fixing the intake unit, the dryers, the power elements, the boilers, the parboiling unit and the rice mill. Prior to this, the rice mill was totally vandalized and abandoned for years, all the electrical wires and parts were ripped out and the mill was written off by successive Governments since 1997. Other investors who were brought in over the years, abandoned the project, as it was not technically and financially possible for them to resuscitate the giant rice mill, after the vandalization, until JOSAN took up the challenge by the Governor to resuscitate the giant rice mill and JOSAN made the requisite resuscitation and expansion investment

This is a testimony of the Federal and State Government’s successful agriculture policies to bring in genuine investors into the agriculture sector. Anambra State Rice, produced by Josan (different from Anambra Rice), was also launched at the event, as a testimony to rice that is grown in Anambra, milled in Anambra and packaged in Anambra. This will become a proudly Anambra State Rice, “Made in Nigeria” product, to reduce the importation of rice and save foreign exchange for Nigeria.

Speaking about the genesis and the vision of the project, the Chairman of Josan integrated rice mills and farms and Joseph Agro industries, Chief Oliver Okeke, stated that the vision started when he spoke with his partner, Benedict Peters, the Chairman of the Joseph Agro Foundation (a foundation set up to empower the rural farmers of Africa), who elaborated that it was time to empower the local farmers of Africa, become self sufficient in food production and bring in development to the rural areas of Nigeria.

Chief Oliver Okeke, the Chairman of JOSAN and Joseph Agro Industries, thanked the executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, the Hon. Commissioner of Agriculture, Mr Afam Mbanefo and the executives of ANSIPPA, the traditional rulers and the host communities, for their unrelenting support. Chief Oliver Okeke also thanked the Anambra State Government and Umumbo community, for agreeing to give them 5,000 hectares of land to develop a highly irrigated and mechanized farm. In addition, JOSAN is to be the anchor off-taker for the Lower Anambra Irrigation Project (LAIP), in conjunction with NISRAL, IFAD, FADAMA and other development partners, as the LAIP farm was attached to the JOSAN giant mill, which potentially has 10,000 rice farmers.

Lastly, the executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano, laid the foundation stone of the Anambra Water and Irrigation Project (AWIP). The vision of AWIP is to pump water from a river, create water treatment plants along the water lines of key communities for potable community water and irrigate potentially 10,000 hectares of land, so that there is at least production of 120,000mt of paddies a year.

This will help create employment, all year round, for over 20,000 farmers and thousands of agro processors, as using irrigation, there will now be all year water for farming, annual supply and full capacity processing of rice paddies into milled rice. Rice is Nigeria’s main staple food and Anambra will become a major supplier of rice to Nigeria and beyond.

This Anambra Water and Irrigation project will also boost the economic income of over 20,000 rice farmers and 100,000 family dependents, ensure all year round farming, there would be enough rice paddies all year for hundreds of rice mills in Anambra State, plus, it will usher in increased economic multiplier development into the rural areas of Anambra State (feeder roads, power, community water, logistics, ware houses, housing, schools and service industries).

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