From Magnus Eze, Enugu
A wholly Nigerian property and construction firm, Eastern House Development Limited, has unveiled an innovative but disruptive approach to real estate development in the country.
Chairman/Group Managing Director of the firm, Nuel Chinedu, said their interest in agricultural real estate, is aimed at exploring how real estate development could be metamorphosed into producing the need of agriculture in commercial quantity.
Chinedu who spoke to newsmen in Enugu on Sunday, noted that the model was a deviation from the traditional construction style of residential and commercial housing.
He stated that previous studies on agricultural development essentially led to intensified effort towards ending poverty and ensuring food security as well as feeding increasing population figure within urban and rural communities.
According to him, these produced several scientific papers suggesting how, why, and when agricultural development plan should be implemented.
But, he explained that the limitation of these studies and policy plans was that it focused only on crop science modification, soil development and in extension proposed better subsidies for farmers, tax cuts, ago-allied equipment and dealers; as well as rural road connectivity.
He said: “Obviously, there are herd instinct bias in the Nigerian real estate and construction sector thereby neglecting innovative products that would have driven economic growth and structural balances within urban, rural, and semi-rural areas.
“Agricultural real estate entails the development of ultramodern farmlands and farm settlements, poultries, fish farms, cattle ranch, and other agricultural facilities for rearing of animals and cultivation of crops in commercial quantities. As in traditional real estate sector, agricultural real estate tends to provide homes for rearing animals in a gated distant estate to improve nations’ agricultural output and boost food security.”
Chinedu said the firm was open to partnership in building agricultural real estates in parts of South East, disclosing that such projects were ongoing in Enugu State.
He listed other services provided by the organization to include irrigation and dam construction as well as cultivation of economic trees for the public.
He further noted that with widening food insecurity and climate change fatalities on agricultural production, there was the need to construct extensive farm estates across states.