Posts
| Chief Audu Ogbeh |
The Minister made this call at a National Workshop on a New Agricultural Policy for Nigeria, organized by the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN), and also lamented the low participation of rural farmers who are the core mainstay in the country’s quest to feed its citizens, and increase the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In his words, “There are those who estimate that by 2025 our population will stand at 450 million, making Nigeria the third most populated country on the planet, but what is more worrisome is that 75 per cent of this huge population will be living in cities while 25 per cent only will be in the rural areas. Can the 25 per cent feed themselves and the city dwellers? Yes, if we hasten to lift agriculture to the level of India, China, and Thailand, not to mention the nations of Western Europe.
“To get to that level, we need to make huge investments in land preparation, machinery, seed improvement, farmer education, and encouragement or enticement of younger people into the agricultural terrain”, he added.
In his welcome address, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, said that agriculture must be “born again” in order to end our national shame.
“A nation that depends on other nations for its feeding has no right to call itself independent. Agriculture must be born again in our country in order to end our national shame. Nigeria has close to 80 per cent of arable land, yet it is a massive net importer of food and other agricultural produce because our peasant farmers are still tilling the earth they inherited from their forefathers with obsolete farming implements,” he said.
Adamu however said that there was the need to create a forum to encourage constant dialogue between farmers and the ministry in formulating agricultural rebirth policies. He also suggested a clear policy on procurement and sale of fertilizer at the right time during the farming season.
No comments:
Post a Comment