NIGERIA INCREASE INVESTMENT IN AGRIC

Indigenous investors who have
made fortunes in other sectors
of the economy are now
increasingly investing in
agriculture under the new
dispensation of agricultural
transformation agenda.
The new commercial farmers,
seeing the prospects in the
agricultural sector, are putting
huge investments into
agribusiness investments.
The Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi
Adesina, disclosed this to the
audience at the Agribusiness
Forum 2013, an annual
programme for Africa, organised
by the European Marketing
Research Centre (EMRC) based in
Brussels, Belgium. "Our
billionaires used to make money"
from other sectors, including oil,
"now, they are moving back to
the farm," he noted.
The theme of the EMRC forum
2013 is 'The Agri-Food Sector: A
Catalyst for Sustainable and
Inclusive Growth in Africa.' The
minister was optimistic about
the prospect of agriculture, as he
said "the future of Africa is
bright. We need to secure that
future," and "agriculture as a
business is what is needed to
secure that future." The minister
gave specific examples. "We have
treated sorghum as a
subsistence crop before now. We
are now turning sorghum into a
cash crop," he said.
The minister vowed that "Nigeria
will be the largest processor of
food sorghum," as he explained
that "Dansa is investing 36
million euros into the production
of high energy foods," using
sorghum as one of the inputs.
"Food Concept," a Nigerian
investor, he added, "is partnering
a Rwandan counterpart in a $27
million investment in poultry."
Adesina, concurred, however,
that "investing in infrastructure
is very expensive, but, in Nigeria,
to overcome that constraint, "we
have developed staple crops
processing zones," which are to
set up food manufacturing
plants, a cluster of infrastructure
"to close the missing link
between agriculture and
industry.
Another example given by the
minister was cassava, a low-value
crop, which is now being
changed to a high-value crop.
"We are working on derivatives
of cassava," he pointed out,
adding that "we can produce
lowland rice, irrigated rice and
floating rice in Nigeria." Among
other reasons why he said
agriculture needs to be re-visited
is the "slowing down of the oil
economy." He emphasised that,
on a continental scale, "this is
Africa's time," and "Nigeria is the
fourth fastest growing economy
in the world."