The Federal Government yesterday, inaugurated technical working group on agricultural roadmap that will serve as direction in implementing policies and programmes in the sector.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who did the inauguration lamented the state of the nation’s foreign reserve, which now stands at less than $30 billion, and said the government will not encourage food importation.
He said: “I am pleased to be present here today as you commence a brainstorming session on a roadmap for the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to guide the policies, actions and interventions of the ministry under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“The roadmap is intended to be a strategy document to illuminate the path towards a successful journey on the way to restoring agriculture to its pride of place as a nation. I have immense confidence in the capacity and ability of men and women in the ministry, drawn together here to fine tune the roadmap that will guide us in the years ahead.
“You are well aware that Nigeria was once a leading nation in the production of many staples and cash crops in the 60s and 70s, but went on a gradual decline thereafter due to the sudden shift of attention to petro-dollars occasioned by the allurement and appeal of the oil and gas economy.
“The sudden crash in oil price within the last one year is a warning signal to us as a country that we cannot afford to continue to depend on oil alone for our national revenue. We have to diversify, and that diversification holds a lot of promises through agriculture.
“Now is the time to shift from petro-dollars to agro-dollars. To restore Nigeria to the path that was abandoned in the past five decades will require a careful thinking, strategic planning and strict adherence to implementation.
“We need to deliberate on how our states would get down to the work on food production for the teeming population that might soon hit 200 million. With our foreign reserve at less than US$30billion, the government, realistically, cannot afford to encourage more importation of foods, particularly those we have the comparative advantage to produce in-country. We need to ease the pressure on our foreign exchange.”
The Minister urged also state governments and the private sector to partner with the Federal Government to boost the sector and position it for massive food production.
“We will be involved in partnership with the states. We will help them to produce and we will work in collaboration with other ministries, departments and agencies. In cooperation with the Federal Ministry of Water Resources, for instance, we will expand our irrigation-based agriculture and bring farming into an all-year-round economic activity, with higher overall annual productivity.
“We will build stronger synergy with the private sector operators in a number of ways to boost productivity and make their investments profitable. We are working with the commercial banks to lower their interest rate on agricultural lending to single digits.
“We want to bring Labour Intensive Family Enterprise, LIFE, and economic vitality to the rural areas. Post-harvest wastage of food has become a common place in Nigeria.
“This problem will receive ample attention from our research scientists. We will address standards and quality issues while emphasising food safety. Under the roadmap this ministry is putting in place, research will be apriority. We cannot hope to make any significant improvement or record any meaningful growth without research”, he stated.
