By Naomi Sharang,
Recently, stakeholders in the agriculture sector converged on Tudun-Wada, a rural community few kilometres away from Keffi, Nasarawa State, for the 9th edition of the National Agricultural Show.
The annual agricultural exhibition is organised by the National Agricultural Foundation of Nigeria (NAFN) to create a platform for Nigerian farmers to display their produce and bring to light their challenges.
The show is also a forum where stakeholders can brainstorm on policies and create a road map for agricultural development in Nigeria.
The theme of the 9th edition of the exhibition is “Engaging Nigerian Youths in Agriculture”.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said that the show was in line with the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
He stressed that the show was part of efforts aimed at restoring agriculture and agro enterprise to their pride of place as key drivers of growth, prosperity and sustainable national development.
Ogbeh said that the oil and gas industry was a recent phenomenon in Nigeria’s economic history, recalling noting that agriculture used to be the mainstay of the national economy.
He emphasised that the country could no longer afford to neglect “this strategic area of national enterprise” the way it had done over the years.
“This is bearing in mind that the current hardship which the country is encountering is as a result of its over-reliance on oil and gas,’’ he said.
According to Ogbeh, no nation can really boast of its sovereignty if it cannot feed its citizens on a sustainable basis.
He stressed that there was a need to put in place adequate measures for ensuring Nigeria’s food security and its citizens’ wellbeing, particularly in view of the country’s anticipated population explosion.
“Under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, we have begun to translate the vision for the revival and transformation of the country’s agriculture sector, over the medium term of 2016 to 2020, into a virile engine of growth,’’ he said.
The minister said that the President was doing this through the development of a roadmap for the sector, adding that the Federal Government would soon launch the synopsis of the roadmap.
“The overall goal of the roadmap is to build an agribusiness economy that is capable of meeting our food security requirements, generating exports to broaden our nation’s revenue base and supporting sustainable income and job growth potential.
“The roadmap, therefore, takes a quick look into the challenges and opportunities in the agriculture sector over the years for the proper understanding of our strengths and pitfalls, while putting in place adequate measures for achieving the ideal state of our being.’’
Ogbeh emphasised that the roadmap’s implementation would enable Nigeria to reposition its agriculture to achieve other complimentary agenda such as the “Agenda 2063” of the African Union (AU) for development.
“Agenda 2063 is an approach on how Africa could effectively learn from the lessons of the past, build on the current progress and strategically exploit all possible opportunities available in the short, medium and long term, so as to ensure positive socio-economic transformation within the next 50 years.’’
Sharing similar sentiments, Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, Chairman of NAFN and Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, stressed that agriculture and solid mineral resources were vital to Nigeria’s economic diversification efforts.
He noted that Nigeria had a great potential in agriculture and mineral resources which should be exploited in efforts to diversify the nation’s economy.
“We can now begin a steady walk towards attaining our ultimate objective, which is freeing Nigeria from a mono-cultural economy and having a country with a diversified economy.
“We want to have a Nigeria that is able to feed itself and its neighbours; a Nigeria in which the joy of agriculture is reflected in the shining faces of its youth taking up jobs in the labour market,” he said.
Adamu, however, called for the speedy construction and rehabilitation of rural roads and dams across the country.
“Our peasant farmers can do more if they have good roads and access to markets; this will certainly help to minimise produce wastage,” he said.
The senator, however, urged the Federal Government to realise the fact that the challenges facing Nigeria’s agricultural development efforts were multi-dimensional, adding, therefore, that a multi-dimensional approach should be adopted to tackle the challenges.
In his speech, Gov. Tanko Al-makura of Nasarawa State, said that agriculture remained the cornerstone for the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy Mr Silas Agara, said that through agriculture, Nigeria could achieve “a tripartite benefit of creating employment, generating wealth and establishing industries that will process agricultural produce for local consumption and exportation’’.
Al-makura urged all Nigerians to give tangible support to President Buhari in his efforts to ensure that agriculture assumed its rightful place in the nation’s economic life.
“Nigeria is endowed with human resources who are mostly youths.
“I implore them to engage in agricultural production; as agriculture can provide employment and enrich our nation with food value chain that will ensure sustainable food security,’’ he said.
The governor urged stakeholders in the agriculture sector to create policies and programmes that would enhance agricultural production, while making states to become major producers of specific crops in which they have comparative advantage.
Al-makura noted that Nasarawa State, for instance, was one of the largest rice-producing states in the country.
“We have a rice incubation plant in Lafia, the state capital, which processes rice for domestic use and export.
“Government has also concluded arrangements to establish fish farming training centres in the three senatorial zones in the state, with the aim of equipping our youths and women with requisite techniques in fish farming,’’ he said.
Sharing a similar viewpoint, Ms Louise Setshwaelo, Country Representative of UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) in Nigeria, said that agriculture was crucial to food and nutrition security, adding that agriculture was a more inclusive tool for economic development.
She stressed the need to make pragmatic efforts to revamp Nigeria’s agriculture sector.
“The underutilised power of the youth can provide the impetus needed to move Nigeria’s agriculture forward considerably and create the much-needed employment for our youths.
“However, about 37 per cent of the youth are active in various agricultural activities; this is a good indication that young people in Nigeria are not shying away from the agriculture sector,’’ she said.
Setshwaelo noted that the agricultural businesses of these young Nigerians were already contributing substantially to the country’s economy.
According to her, this is an impressive position which can be consolidated.
“Concrete and robust actions are, however, needed to make agriculture more attractive to the younger generation of Nigerians by ensuring efficiency and profitability of agriculture as an industry,’’ she said.
Setshwaelo said that FAO would continue to support and partner with the Federal Government in its efforts to open new doors of opportunities in agriculture and attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
All the same, analysts underscore the need for all stakeholders to make collective efforts to promote the development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector so as to fast track the country’s economic growth. (NANFeatures)