The Federal Government has disclosed four-year agricultural sector roadmap to revamp the sector and reposition the economy to agric export based for revenue generation and food security.
This was made known by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, in his address at the 2016 National Agricultural Show, National Agricultural Showground, along Km 28, Abuja-Keffi Road, Tundun Wada, Karu LGA, Nassarawa State.
Ogbeh said the roadmap will cover from 2016-2020, which will be for quick win by plucking low hanging fruits in the sector, and will be purely driven by the private sector, where there will be inclusive participation by all stakeholders in the sector.
The minister said also expressed optimism that priorities under the Roadmap will assist in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGS, for the country, especially in rural development.
He said: “The highlights of Roadmap are the major thrust of this address. As envisioned by Mr. President, and adequately reflected in the Roadmap, the overarching goal is to build an agribusiness economy capable of meeting our domestic food security requirements, generating exports to broaden the national revenue case and supporting sustainable income and job growth potentials through wealth creation, promotion of entrepreneurial activities for fostering youth employment and enhancing national productivity.
“The roadmap takes a quick look into the challenges and opportunities in the agricultural sector, over the years, for a proper understanding of our strength and pitfalls in the past, in order to appreciate our present state and put in place adequate measures for achieving the ideal state of our dreams.
“Accordingly the Roadmap is our pathway for revolutionising agriculture in Nigeria through the engagement of all key stakeholders, particularly State Governments, the organised private sector, investors, women, youth, farmers’ association, to mention a few, in the agricultural production and agro-export value chain.
“Some of the key objectives of the Roadmap include growing the agriculture sector at between two to four times the size of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) within the envisaged period; integrate agricultural commodity chains into the broader supply chain, as a stimulus for driving job growth; increasing the contribution of agriculture to wealth creation and enhancing the capacity of the country to earn foreign exchange from agricultural exports. Other objectives include promoting the responsible use of land, water and other natural resource; facilitating the capacity of government to meet its obligations on food security, food safety and quality nutrition and creating a mechanism for improved governance of agriculture and rural development by all relevant institutions and key partners in the agricultural sector.
“The afore-mentioned objectives provide a framework of action for measuring progress in the seventeen priority areas under three major pillars of the roadmap, which have been articulated to move Nigeria’s agricultural sector forward. Under the first Pillar on Productivity Enhancements are nine key issues on access to land, soil fertility, access to information and knowledge, access to inputs, production management, storage, processing, marketing and trade and consumption and nutrition.
“The second Pillar on crowding in private sector investment deals with two issues, namely access to finance and agribusiness and investment development. The third pillar is on the institutional realignment of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, together with its Parastatals and Agencies, covering six issues namely institutional setting and roles, youth and women, infrastructure, climate smart agriculture, research and innovation and food and nutrition security.
“Our first priority in terms of quick wins under the Roadmap involves taking immediate steps to achieve self-sufficiency in our local staples. In this regard, our intention is to achieve self-sufficiency in grains, namely rice, sorghum, maize, millet, wheat within the next 36 months, as well as in milk and meat over the same timeline.
“We shall also pursue the development of agro-exports conscientiously in the areas which we had, in the past, had competitive edge namely Cocoa, Palm Produce, Groundnuts, Cashew, Yam Flour (flour and tubers), Seasame Seed, Pineapple, Banana/Plantain, Tea, Ginger, Coffee, Kolanut, Shea Butter, Fruit and Vegetables.
“The second quick win is ensuring improvement in the use of fertilizers for higher crop yields and reduction in food prices, based on a soil map we have produced which we have already distributed to the States and other key stakeholders. The essence is to ensure proper use of fertilizers in each state of the Federation through a new process that avails each state the kind of fertilizer most appropriate to its soil conditions for agricultural production. It will also help us to drastically reduce or entirely wipe out the incidence of fertilizer smuggling, while in due course, fertilizer subsidy can be slowly reduced and eventually withdrawn, as farmers become more enlightened in using the right type of fertilizers for the right soils.
“The third quick win is ensuring improved access to credit and finance for agricultural development. This will entail reducing the current high interest rates by banks, bearing in mind that the current rates constitute a disincentive to agricultural development and agro-enterprises. In this regard, we are committed to improving access to agricultural credit and financing through a lower interest regime, and availing ourselves the opportunity of leveraging on the special intervention programmes of the Central Bank of Nigeria in support of agricultural production and agro enterprises.
“We are committed to the reform and reinvigoration of the Bank of Agriculture to enable us has a window to deliver affordable credit in support of agriculture, as obtainable in the rest of the world, where agriculture is given the priority that it deserves as a window of growing national wealth.”
According to the Minister the fourth quick win is the promotion of agriculture as an all year round activity, that the over 200 under-utilized dams in the country are put to effective use. Also actively promote the building of additional dams throughout the country, especially earth dams.
“Increasing livestock production for both local and foreign markets based on the huge demand for poultry, beef, milk, pork, goat and sheep, in Nigeria and outside the country, is our fifth quick win. We are determined to achieve self-sufficiency in egg production by promoting more investment in this area, as we have developed a respectable capacity in it over the years. We shall endeavour to check the spread of Avian flu in partnership with the Poultry Association of Nigeria in order to bring this deadly influenza to an end in the country. We are proposing the development of grass paddocks and water resources for the stabilization of cattle management. The target is to ensure that within the next four years, we are able to abolish the roaming of cattle across the country. This will be helpful in helping us to eliminate the incessant conflicts between herdsmen and farmers in the country, which is a threat to national security,” he stated.
