Shonga Farm Holdings Limited Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with an Australian based Company, Austrava, to export 500,000 tonnes of cassava chips annually.

The Chairman of the Shonga Farm Holdings, Mr. Tope Daramola, who signed on behalf of the company in Ilorin, disclosed that the agreement would last for a period of five years.

According to him, "the efforts is the determination of the Kwara State government at promoting public/private partnership through commercial agriculture that has started yielding positive results with the signing of the MoU with Austrilian-based company."

He described the agreement as a good way of driving the economy through agricultural business.

Daramola, who stressed the importance of the deal, said apart from stimulating the economy positively, it would go a long way in generating employment opportunity and injecting money into local economy.

The chairman, who expressed gratitude to the state government for its support, pointed out that the agreement would encourage exploitation of benefits inherent in home grown crop to its fullest and stimulate production.

In his remark, the Managing Director, Austrava, Mr. Robin Ehumar, said he was excited to partner Shonga Farm Holdings.

On his part, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. Bode Olayemi, described the agreement as a watershed in agricultural development of the state.

Olayemi therefore said that the agreement was in tune with the government's commercial agriculture initiative, expressing optimism that it would stimulate the production of cassava by farmers.