National Agric show, stakeholders indict organizer, WFD low key.

The regular agricultural show being organized by National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN) in collaboration with many other stakeholders in the sector especially All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) could not hold this year due to financial reason among others which many have criticized as untenable in the face of the past dividends of the show by the organizers and failure on the part of private sector to discharge their responsibility towards ensuring an agricultural interactive forum for farmers, researchers, foreign donors and financial institutions just as World Food Day unlike last year was celebrated low key.

National Agricultural Show is a replica of the United Kingdom (UK) Agricultural show instituted for the purpose of bringing both private and public stakeholders in the sector together for the purpose of experience sharing and particularly a platform of showcasing available improved research technologies to the door steps of farmers and other business off takers for multiplication. This initiative is driven sector driven.

Food Farms News curiosity of trying to know why this year National Agricultural show did not hold reflected many stakeholders’ condemning the inability of the organizer to come up with the show saying “private sector must be ready to discharge their responsibility very well without waiting for government, and until they siege to see themselves in this light, our national economy may not go beyond this level we are now.

Stakeholders further queried that how did organizers spend the money made in the previous agricultural shows as participant pay for registration and many government ministries, departments and agencies at both the federal and states’ level have in the past assisted the organizers in the past stressed if those past dividends have been judiciously spent the issue of not being able to hold this year will not in any way arise.

Some of the AFAN members who spoke under anonymity said the association was not in any way benefiting in the agricultural show dividends saying majority of the key members always use our position in the state to attract government’s participation, and sponsoring of participants with hope of getting something for the development of the farmers’ association.

The last 2014 October turnout at the Nasarwa-Keffi venue has reflected that the show may not hold this year as government involvement was very invisible as the World Food Day that is usually simultaneously held after the close of the three days programme was shifted to another venue away in the central heart of Abuja.

A reliable source at the NAFN had once complained to food farm news that the financial support from partners especially government is not forth coming and this has been negatively affecting the expected performance of the show stressed that government must support the sector to a level it will be able to stand on its own.

Also in the same vein the well celebrated World Food day by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development last year was done in a very low key this year due to funding challenges as few workers took a walk from the office complex to Federal Secretarial Complex of Abuja.

The theme of this year Word Food day bothered on” Family Farming: Feeding the World, caring for the Earth”