Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abubakar Kyari, weekend, disclosed that the Tinubu-led administration has invested N200 billion in various agricultural interventions to boost food security. Kyari made this known in a statement issued by the Ministry on the heels of the courtesy visit led by the Gambian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, Dr Dembal Sabally, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja. He commended the Government of the Gambia for seeking to partner with Nigeria to improve food production and economic growth. According to the statement, the Minister told his guest that it has been a tough journey for the present government to arrive at being food sufficient and have opted the game in terms of production through development partners like FAO, World Bank, and amongst others to increase food production.
The Minister also pointed out that when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into power in 2023, he expressed committed to making sure that Nigeria is food secured, which propelled him to give a marching order that “we must achieve food security and food sovereignty”. Speaking further, he noted that due to that effect , the Ministry has invested over N200 billion in terms of intervention and fertilizers worth millions of Naira given to farmers free of charge across the country. He also said that the Ministry also has taken up mechanisation to make agriculture a business.
“We have a huge capacity within our youths but because of the dreadgry involved, it scares away our youths. Rice is one of those areas you have mentioned but I believe that we have also achieved a lot of milestones in research, crops, like Wheat for instance is something that we are working on and has consistently shown an improvement and success from when we started in 2023, In 2023, farmers were also assisted with imported wheat seeds and as at last year, no seed was imported because we have developed our own seeds internally and were able to cultivate almost 500 metric tons of wheat within Nigeria to boost productivity through our various research institutes and Agencies under the Ministry.”
However, the Minister highlighted the challenges of rice production in Nigeria, including affordability and availability, “which is one challenge Mr. President has given them to tackle.” He, therefore, stressed on the benefits of the out-grower scheme, noting that the scheme has turned agriculture around, “for us the scheme covers the challenges because we believe that the small-scale farmers should also have access to long term financing. “The out grower scheme is a short term between planting and harvesting (which is within four to five months), so there is no long-term investment.” In his remarks, the Gambian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, Dr. Dembal Sabally, expressed satisfaction and appreciation over the reception and thanked President Bola Tinubu for his support.
Sabally also noted that Nigeria has overcome rice insufficiency, of which Gambia is still struggling to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production, pointing out that they import over 80 per cent of their rice, which is affecting that country’s economy. The Gambia Minister revealed that his team, who had been on ground to understudy Nigeria’s rice cultivation processes visited Kebbi State, where they saw one of the rice mills and the irrigation processes, and intend to go and replicate the same in the Gambia. According to him, the few things that stood out for them during their visit was the out-grower scheme success in Nigeria, which is one thing his team has picked up; post harvest management, mechanisation, seeds, packaging, and the trade of rice. Dr. Sabally, therefore, seeks for a Rice Ambassador to accompany them to replicate what they have learnt to enable them to be rice self-sufficient. The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Ministry’s documents, NAPTIP 2022-2027, National Agricultural Transformation Agenda, and a plaque to the Gambian Minister. In attendance were the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, CON, the Permanent Secretary, Dr Marcus Ogunbiyi, and others were the Permanent Secretary of the Gambia, Directors of the Ministry and Development Partners of the Ministry.
FG agric interventions amount to over N200bn—Minister
