The Federal Government has estimated that
farmers in the country would earn about $2 billion by year 2015 with the
help of improving rice production in the country.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, explained that steps taken by the government to improve rice production should lead to the segment becoming self -sufficient by 2015.
The minister added that Nigeria was rolling out an ambitious reform programme across its agricultural sector aimed at cutting the country’s dependency on food imports, creating jobs and generating economic growth..
“Over the next five years, we plan to add 20m tonnes of additional food to the domestic food supply to create 3.5 million jobs in the sector, and to replace up to 40 per cent of wheat flour imports with high-quality cassava flour,” he said.
The minister highlighted some ways in which the keys reforms already introduced would yield results such as, the move to privatize the procurement and distribution of fertilizer and seed. According to him, “As a result, our private sector firms are growing and foreign direct investment is increasing”.
He pointed out that he is optimistic that Nigeria’s banks were well-placed to support the expansion of the country’s agricultural sector.
“The necessary key for successful reform is to turn agriculture into a business that makes money, with a focus on investments as opposed to aid and development. We need to move towards focusing on particular value chains in which we have a traditional comparative advantage,” Adesina said.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi Adesina, explained that steps taken by the government to improve rice production should lead to the segment becoming self -sufficient by 2015.
The minister added that Nigeria was rolling out an ambitious reform programme across its agricultural sector aimed at cutting the country’s dependency on food imports, creating jobs and generating economic growth..
“Over the next five years, we plan to add 20m tonnes of additional food to the domestic food supply to create 3.5 million jobs in the sector, and to replace up to 40 per cent of wheat flour imports with high-quality cassava flour,” he said.
The minister highlighted some ways in which the keys reforms already introduced would yield results such as, the move to privatize the procurement and distribution of fertilizer and seed. According to him, “As a result, our private sector firms are growing and foreign direct investment is increasing”.
He pointed out that he is optimistic that Nigeria’s banks were well-placed to support the expansion of the country’s agricultural sector.
“The necessary key for successful reform is to turn agriculture into a business that makes money, with a focus on investments as opposed to aid and development. We need to move towards focusing on particular value chains in which we have a traditional comparative advantage,” Adesina said.
No comments:
Post a Comment