Abstract  

In 1962, the Government of Eastern Region of Nigeria acquired two parcels of land measuring about 500 hectares each at Omasi and Adani at the Uzo-Uwani area of Enugu Province of Eastern Nigeria. The parcels of land were ear-marked for the establislln~ent of the former Um-Uwani Farm Settle~nerit Scheme. Progress in the establislinient of the scheme was interrupted by the Nigerian civil war as only two firm sctcleme:lt villages ou~ of the five proposed had been set up. After the civil war, the Government of East Central State of Nigeria abrogated tlie Farm Settlement Scheme as contained in the East Central State Council co~~clusion No 7242 . circulated on 20th April, 1972. Collsequently, the above parcels of land by deed of conveyance dated 17th day of February, 1975 and registered as No 55 at page 55 w vol urne 2 of the hnd Registry at Enugli wrrt. h~detl over ro 111e I>ist Cc~ltr;tl Sti~le Ay.ricul~irr;~l Development Authority (ECSADA) which paid all the arrears of relit a11d collil)tBlls;iii)ii IOI economic trees to the land owners (Adani, lpga and Olnasi co~n~nunities) for the period 1970 to 1974. The ECSADA which was established by Edict No 13 of 1973 incorporated tlie Adarice Production (Nigeria) Liniltul in 1975 and placed the company in ~ossession of all the land and property which hitherto constituted Uzo-Uwani Farm Settlement. Tlir ECSADA further recommended that the World Bank Rice Project (WBRP) now Enugu State Rice Project (ESRP) be located at the former Uzo-Uwani Farm Settlement. This is lo government enable Adarice function as an executing agency for the WBRP now ESRP. The tlel~/ - partitioned the available irrigable land (1,120 hectares) at the location to Adarice (720 hectares) and the WBRP now ESRP (400 hectares). The Adarice Production Project and [he - ~RP now ESRP are separate independent organisations. As of now. Adarice Produc[ion Project (Nigeria) Limited has only 720 hectares as against 1,000 hectares upon which iu feasibility studies were based. The four hundred hectares of farm land was carved oul from the 1,120 hectares following the action of the State Government in 1976. In March 1974, an agreement ,was signed between the ECSADA and the Nippon Koei Company Limited, a Japanese firm of Consulting Engineers for investigations and planning on the agricultural development in the Do-Anambra rivers area. The objectives ut' the agreement are to assess the agricultural development potential in the said rivers area ~LS well as to select priority development areas and to set up the development programme. Field investigations for the project were conducted by experts of Nippon Koei Company Limited and the project planning report embodying the projects gencral features waq worked out and submitted to the former ECSADA.