In view of the high costs of living, the federal government is now exploring ways to ensure the availability of food and sustained agricultural yields in the country.
The permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Temitope Fashedemi disclosed this in Calabar when he addressed the 46th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Agriculture and Food Security.
He said the Forum is a platform for reviewing ongoing federal government policies and programmes towards ensuring agricultural development in the nation.
He said that the agriculture sector is identified as a springboard for national economic recovery, stabilization and growth.
The Permanent Secretary said the federal government was worried over the reports of high costs of food, noting it has to be tackled headlong without delay.
He added that the meeting is to assess the effectiveness or otherwise of the various policies enacted by the current government.
“As a responsibility at this meeting, we are to dispassionately explore the best approach to sustaining food security, employment generation and wealth creation in the country.
“This process is to assess the effect of the ongoing initiatives and fine-tune strategies for a meaningful impact on the economy.
“It is to sustain the commodity value chain concept of strengthening sectoral linkages, import substitution initiatives, value-added processing and export-oriented activities.”
Fashedemi stated that the government wants to sustain collaborations on agribusiness initiatives by providing incentives to researchers, farmers and processors, and increase agricultural output and match national requirements.
According to him, “This will encourage more individuals and institutions to invest in agriculture and create livelihoods for the populace.”
Commissioner for Agriculture and Irrigation in Cross River State, Johnson Ebokpo said the convocation of the meeting in the state was a recognition of their strive and serious attention paid to and efforts at boosting agriculture as a very important sector.
He said they have deliberately boosted investments in grains and palm nut plantations and recognized the sector as critical to economic mainstay.
The National President of All Farmers Association, Kabir Ibrahim represented by the national vice president, Okafor said the food system should be reinvigorated by inclusive efforts from all stakeholders.
“We must identify the states in every geopolitical and agroecological zone, accentuate their production and consolidate the gains made to attain real food security. We exploit competition and comparative advantages.”
He warned that the meeting must not be another talk show but should implement the outcomes.
Tanimu Ibrahim, Director of Planning and Policy Coordination at the ministry said they require agricultural initiatives for the socio-economic development of the country.
He called on stakeholders to share experiences on successful agribusiness undertakings for replication purposes
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