Nigeria aims to transform agricultural sector #nigeria

Nigeria's government plans to wean the country from years
of overdependence on oil production by transforming the
agricultural sector into the cornerstone of the economy,
according to Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina.
Some Nigerians say lack of leadership and political will by
several governments led to the neglect of the agricultural
sector, the backbone of the country's economy before the
discovery of oil. Nigeria is currently Africa's biggest oil
producer.
But Agricultural minister Adesina said the government has
implemented measures to transform agricultural production
to produce food for local consumption in a bid to end the
country's high-rate import bill.
"The objective is to use agriculture as a wealth creator to
diversify the economy to create wealth and to create a lot of
jobs," said Adesina.
Aggressive goals
The target is to produce 20 million tons of additional food
by 2015 according to Adesina.
Analysts say there is no reason why Nigeria should be
importing basic staples such as rice and wheat when the
country is blessed with more than 84 million hectares of
arable land for agricultural production to meet local
consumption and exports.
Adesina admits the dependence on oil production has often
left Nigeria susceptible to the volatility associated with
global commodity prices. He says the administration's
agricultural policy is aimed at sharply reducing the shocks
the economy receives due to the global commodity prices.
"The economy needs buffers and agriculture is what we
have always done. We had agriculture before we had oil.
We were the largest producer of palm oil in the world, we
were the second largest producer of cocoa in the world, we
were the largest producer of groundnuts in the word, so we
can just basically return to back to basics, which is do
agriculture, and unlock wealth," said Adesina.
"An agriculture that is modern, an agriculture that is
commercial, market-oriented, an agriculture that is seen
not as a way of managing poverty," Adesina said. "We are
going to be a global player in the food and agricultural
market and that in trying to do that we are going to unlock
wealth all across the country."
Boosting investment
Adesina says investments in agriculture plummeted
following the country's oil discovery and production.
"We were not investing in agricultural research and as a
result rural poverty grew because of that," said Adesina.
He said the first step was to register all farmers to ensure
proper planning and implementation of policies and to weed
out corruption.
"The second thing that we did was to fix the input supply
system that will get improved seeds and fertilizers to our
farmers," said Adesina. "Because we have the biometric
information of our farmers, we are able to reach our farmers
on their mobile phones. So we send electronic vouchers
tour farmers by phone for their seeds and fertilizers, which
they will then use and redeem straight off from the input
retailers all over the rural areas."
Adesina says the government has engaged the private
sector, which he says is the engine of growth, to boost the
agricultural sector and associated businesses.