adminTHE federal government and Nigerians in general are turning to agriculture as an alternative as the economic recession currently ravaging the nation gets worse.
The government already have plans to capitalise the Bank of Agriculture with 1 trillion naira so it can lend to farming projects at less than half the commercial rate.
The government also has plans to set up staple crop-processing zones with support from the African Development Bank and the World Bank.
Successive Nigerian governments ignored farming when the country started earning majority of its revenue from oil. The dwindling international oil prices and the renewed Niger Delta militancy have, however, made the Muhammadu Buhari government vulnerable as the government seeks to diversify the economy with heavy focus on agriculture.
The Buhari government plans to stop statistics such as Nigeria spending more than 1 trillion naira importing food last year.
“It’s only agriculture that’s going to feed us and employ more of us, not oil,” minister of agriculture, Audu Ogbeh said in an interview recently.
The Buhari government aims to use its farming to achieve self-sufficiency for most consumed foods and boost its foreign-currency position by reducing imports and exporting surplus farm produce.
“The potential is there and still huge. It’s time to return to the farms, and never ignore agriculture again,” Cross River state based farmer Muyi Ladoja told Bloomberg.
Dimieari Von Kemedi, managing director of rice producer Alluvial Group, said: “Investments are increasing in Nigeria’s agriculture, and will increase at an even faster rate if government can help fix these infrastructure and access to credit problems.” — Online
Bongani Ndlovu