Governor Peter Mbah and SEDC have flagged off a 200-hectare integrated agriculture project at Nomeh Unateze, designed to boost food production, jobs and agricultural value chains.
Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State and the South East Development Commission (SEDC) have flagged off a 200-hectare integrated model farm at Nomeh Unateze in Nkanu East Local Government Area, marking the commencement of the Commission’s South East Agro-Development Programme.
The project, flagged off on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, is being implemented in partnership with the Enugu State Government and is designed to boost food production, create jobs, develop agricultural skills and strengthen value chains across the South East.
Governor Mbah, represented by Deputy Governor Ifeanyi Ossai, described the project as an example of what collaboration between state governments and the SEDC can achieve, particularly as food production and economic diversification become increasingly important.
Ossai said the project aligns with Enugu State’s plan to establish 200-hectare modern farm estates across the state’s 260 wards, adding that investments in roads, security, health, transportation and other infrastructure were intended to create conditions for productive investment.
He said the Nomeh Unateze project could contribute to the economic development of Nkanu East, Enugu State and the wider South East.
The SEDC Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Okoye, said the project was conceived as a regional development intervention rather than simply a farming project.
According to him, the initiative will integrate dairy farming, poultry, fisheries, fodder production, mechanisation, processing and practical agricultural training, while connecting surrounding smallholder farmers to inputs, technical support and markets.
Okoye said the facility would serve as a pilot for similar agricultural and agro-mechanisation interventions across the five South East states.
“The real impact is what happens around the farm and beyond the farm,” he said, explaining that the project is intended to create opportunities for young people to acquire practical skills, farmers to access markets and smallholders to increase production through an improved agricultural ecosystem.
The project includes provision for a 200-head dairy herd, poultry production of up to 20,000 birds per cycle, fisheries infrastructure, fodder cultivation and silage production, alongside processing and demonstration facilities.
The Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, said the objective extended beyond food production, stressing the need to develop an agricultural system capable of supporting production, processing, markets, improved productivity and incomes.
Chairman of the SEDC, Emeka Wogu, said regional development required collaboration among the Commission, state governments, communities, the private sector and development partners.
He said the Commission would continue to create platforms that connect stakeholders around opportunities capable of generating sustainable economic value across the South East.
The President-General of Nomeh Unateze, Chukwudi Anyianuka, expressed the community’s support for the project and pledged cooperation with the SEDC, Enugu State Government, contractors, investors and other stakeholders.
The Nomeh project is the first of a broader set of agro-mechanisation interventions planned by the SEDC across the region’s 15 senatorial districts. The Commission had earlier said the projects were intended to address food security, unemployment and other economic challenges through increased agricultural productivity and investment.
SEDC said lessons from the Nomeh pilot would inform the development and replication of similar interventions across the South East, with the wider programme expected to support food production, employment, skills acquisition, farmer integration and agricultural value-chain development.
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