Feed Nigeria to boost agric productivity, enhance economy

As part of efforts to promote economic recovery through the agriculture sector, Chief Executive Officer, AgroNigeria, Mr. Richard-Mark Mbaram, has disclosed that Feed Nigeria Summit will enhance agricultural productivity and boost the economy across the country.
The summit, organised by AgroNigeria with the theme, “Feed Nigeria, to Feed Africa,” slated for April 6 and 7, 2017 at the Intercontinental Hotel, in Lagos, seeks a homegrown, private sector-inspired, solution provision for the numerous problems facing the agricultural sector in the country.
Mbaram, who doubles as Director General of Feed Nigeria Summit stated at a press conference in Lagos, recently that the programme will address key national agricultural productivity issues such as storage facilities, finance, access to market, research, infrastructure, mechanisation, farm inputs and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), while guaranteeing a mainstreaming of gender and other related issues.
Speaking on the Homegrown School Feeding Programme (HSFP) as a driving force to enhancing agricultural productivity, he said there is need to bring the private sector into it to ensure its sustainability, adding that the HSFP has profound impact on productivity from agriculture perspective and develop the scale of the rest of the economy.
He added: “Here in Nigeria, we are advocating that we need to invest some money into the economy during this recession and we have identified the HSFP as a major means by which you carry over stimulus to the economy. We are looking to spend N300 billion in the space of 13 months and we are insisting, from agriculture perspective, that it is only through agriculture that you can truly turnaround the Nigerian economy out of recession and back on track in terms of productivity.
“If you are looking at agriculture and you are looking to spend N300 billion within 13 months on feeding children in schools, we are saying the concept of homegrown within the school feeding programme, we are supporting that we should source some food from local producers and we are insisting not to source the food from local market but from farmers directly producing for that purpose. That is why we are putting the HSFP at the fore front of this event,” added.
According to him, some key policy issues would be addressed during the summit, which will have positive effect on farmers at the end of the day. He added that a farmer may be far removed from a policy, which makes no sense to him but that people who are educated and enlightened are taking such issue up at the summit in order to address the challenges facing farmers.
He explained that as some farmers produce foods and find it difficult to make it to the market, the school feeding programme will provide farmers a guaranteed market of off-take, which means they would no longer look for market after they produce.
He said AgroNigeria believes that operators in the agricultural space who are making things happen, deserve to be recognised, hence, the Nigeria Agriculture Awards 2016/17 designed to celebrate individuals who have performed exceptionally in contributing to the development of the agricultural sector in the country across varied value chains, will be holding alongside the Feed Nigeria Summit.

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