Benin Republic Government has granted 30,000 hectares of land to a Nigerian company, Labana Rice Mills, for the cultivation of rice in that country.
Alhaji Abdullahi Idris-Zuru, the General Manager of the company disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Birnin Kebbi.
He said the company would in 2022, finance farmers in the country through the Benin Republic Government, to produce 20,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice during the dry season.
Idris-Zuru said: “A total of 30,000 hectares of farmland are being made available in Benin Republic to Labana Rice Mills for cultivation of rice.
“These resolutions were made during a joint meeting of Beninous Government officials with Labana Rice Mills delegation at Cotonou, the country’s capital, last weekend.
“The meeting with the Labana delegation led by the Chairman, Abubakar Abbah-Adamu, was chaired by the Benin Minister of Agriculture, Mr Gaston Dossouhoui.”
He said that the Beninouis government granted the farmland after an assessment of the company’s rice mills and farms in Kebbi, Nigeria.
“The report has convinced the government of Labana Rice Mills’ capacity to be a reliable partner in agriculture,” the general manager added.
He said that the chairman of the company, Abbah-Adamu, expressed gratitude for the trust and confidence the Benin government had in Labana rice mills and the government and people of Nigeria.
