Nigeria

When the Kwara State Government invited the displaced Zimbabwean farmers to the state for the Tsonga farming project, many thought it was another white elephant exercise.

The Federal Government, yesterday, in Abuja, signed a $16 billion development cooperation agreement which covers real estate, agriculture, power, oil and gas, with the Dubai World Corporation in the United Arab Emirates.

Lonrho Agriculture will develop 25,000 hectares of agricultural projects in the Provinces of Uige, Zaire and Bengo in Angola.

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has entered into a 25-year pact with a private investor to boost rice production.

The Delta State Government has signed a memorandum of understanding with a British firm, Trans4mation Pistton Field Nigeria Limited, to promote agriculture and turn the state into a formidable food basket.

A UK-based agricultural company, Transformation Agric-Tech Limited, has signed a 30-year Memorandum of Understanding with Ndi Okereke Abam, a rural community in Arochukwu Council area of Abia state for an agricultural project.

A United Kingdom agro-based firm, Transfor-mation Agrictech has said plan are in the pipeline to tackle the lingering food crisis in four states of Abia, Rivers, Delta and Ebonyi, through by revolutionalised agriculture, which would culminate in the massive production of rice and cassava for both domestic use and export purposes.

Small-scale farmers with limited knowledge of their rights stand to lose most as countries such as China and Saudi Arabia expand their quest for African farmland, analysts have warned.

The Rivers State Government has reiterated its resolve to create an enabling environment to enhance rice production and processing, as well as promote and protect other agricultural business interests in the state.