African Development Bank (AfDB) invests $800 million in agriculture.

Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President African Development Bank (AfDB), made this statement on Monday,  5th of December 2016 in Abuja during the opening of the African Economic Conference (ACE) organised by the bank in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 

He stated that the support is based on the platform of the AfDB’s initiative 'Technology for African Agriculture Transformation (TAAT)' as part of the efforts to design and encourage technological innovation within the sector.

Highlights of his statement include

- the scheme is targeted at 40 million farmers in ten years.

- $24 billion would be used to support Nigeria’s agric sector to fight hunger and post-harvest loses within a 20 year frame.

- the initiative would also reduce post-harvest losses.

He did however identify poor infrastructure and access to finance as major challenges, stressing that it has became imperative to develop the Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZ) to which he urged African nations to invest in the SCPZ in order to create jobs and support private agro-allied firms through incentives and infrastructure.

Price of Rice crashes to N8,000 in Ebonyi State

The cheering news was reported by spokesman of Central Bank of Nigeria, Isaac Okoroafor, Acting Director, Corporate Communication, CBN in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state on Tuesday at a sensitization workshop for the CBN Anchor programme for farmers.

“We should eat Nigerian rice provided for by the CBN Anchor Programme;   50 Kg of local rice is now N8, 000 in Ebonyi. Already, the Abia Government has ordered rice from Ebonyi for Christmas,”.

According to him, farmers in Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Sokoto and Cross River states, among others, have already keyed into the programme, resulting in massive rice cultivation, he also said that the Anchor Borrowers Programme   for the promotion of Agriculture will make the country  begin exportation of rice by 2017. The development is encouraging and by the end of 2017, we will not only meet our national demand which is between six and seven million tons but have surplus to export.

“We must rid ourselves of eating foreign rice that has been stored for over nine years in Thailand, Vietnam and India. Nigerian rice is fresh and healthier. He further said: “What we have done with this programme so far is to create jobs through farming, especially for the unemployed youths. “Nigerian youths must wake up, dust themselves up and join this worthy campaign."

Okorafor stated that Kebbi State had already harvested one million tons of rice, adding that Ebonyi’s harvest had outstripped the  production target for the year.

AGRICULTURE AS AN ALTERNATIVE FOR BOOSTING NIGERIA’S ECONOMY

At the recently concluded KITs Essay Competition in Abuja where I was privileged to judge, one of the contestants stood out.
A thirteen year old with a depth of understanding.
Please enjoy.

NAME: SAMUEL OKWUCHI AKINOLA

AGE: 13 YEARS

School: Command Secondary School Zuma Barracks Kaduna Road Suleja Niger state

It is no longer surprising that at thirteen, children such as myself are fully aware of the poor economic situation in the country. The television which mom insists that I watch in order to listen to the news every day inundates us with

news on the fall of oil price and how Nigeria’s economy is negatively affected by this fall. In my home we have come up with different types of sauces to counter the lack of tomatoes. We have also resorted to pasta to deal with high cost of rice. This is what my teacher would call improvisation! That is, providing alternatives, like when my teacher would say that one could use green leaves as a substitute for green colour, charcoal for pencil, smooth rock for sharpener and so on, this is what thinking out of the box is all about, which is what Nigeria really needs at this time. Necessity they say, is the mother of inventions.

I have often wondered what Nigeria would be like if every one were to plant a tree or any other sort of plant. I am told that there are over 190 million people in Nigeria, imagine if all of us, each planted something! The trees would serve as protection from erosion, flood, provide shade, and when cut will provide endless job opportunities in factories and industries where furniture is produced. The sap from trees could be used for many purposes, the wine from the palm tree can be processed for export as a drink, and the oil from the palm kernel can equally serve as a cash crop. Wouldn’t it look wonderful if there were flowers planted all around? If flowers and trees were planted in some certain sites in Nigeria these could serve as beautiful tourist attraction that people from all over the world would come to see and this would boost

Nigeria’s economy.

My grandma used to tell us about the groundnut pyramids in the north which I once saw on the television, a magnificent sight to behold! Can you imagine if most of us planted groundnuts, how many pyramids we could have?

This will not only serve as tourist attraction but also provide an enormous boost to the Nigerian economy through groundnut oil. If we could all have a tiny fish pond and garden in our back yards every child would learn how to nurture and grow something, I could go on and on and on but my conviction and conclusion is that with the exploitation of agriculture Nigeria’s economy would continue to boom!