By Oluwafunke Ishola/Oluwatoyin Onigbanjo
Lagos – The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has urged the Federal Government to support agricultural value chain to boost food production in the country.
The Chairman of the chamber’s Agriculture Group, Mr Adeola Elliott, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
Elliot said that the appeal became necessary because agriculture was capable of generating massive employments for youths and provide critical raw materials for manufacturers.
According to him, “our major focus has been on increased cultivation and harvest, with little attention given to the critical elements in the value chain that will sustain the growth of the agric sector.’’
“Effective agricultural value chain has a multiplier effects on participants in the industry thereby contributing to food security, poverty reduction and economic diversification.
“Every sector in the value chain must be given the deserved attention; from production, good seedlings, harvest, storage, good handling practice, transportation, agro-processing and market access.
“Doing this will reduce food wastages, output underutilisation, optimisation of linkages from the farmers to processors and consumers in the market.
“It will also encourage many farmers to move from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture,” he said.
Elliott said that sustainability of the agric sector depended on synergy between the government and the private sector, favourable policy, regulations, research, finance and infrastructure.
