Economic diver-sification: Kebbi govt set to back farmers
Speaking at an NUJ’s meeting which was attended by Journalists from across the seven States of the North /West, the Governor noted that Nigeria’s land mass is not enough for farming as widely believed.
He said “we do not have the land. We are only imagining that we have land”
According to him, most Nigeria’s land is threatened by either desertification or erosion.
He also said that, Kebbi which is one of the leading states in Rice production in Nigeria is being threatened by desertification which reduces it’s land mass.
The Governor further expressed his passion about ensuring realisable value for smallholder farmers.
His words, “My desire is for the federal government to create enabling environment for farmers, by making it so attractive to them,
“more technical methods of agriculture are not known to farmers, modern method of planting, including spacing are not known to farmers and you don’t have the luxury of farming the way you are used to, if you need higher yields” He explained.
The Governor further urged farmers to exercise patience as his government is committed to helping out, especially by mobilising for soft facilities for them.
He said, “though government does not have enough to satisfy all your needs, we shall get in touch with financial institutions that would partner with us in that direction and as such in the next few years the state aims at millions of metric tonnes of rice per annum.”
Presenting a paper at the event which was titled “Revitalising Agriculture As a tool for Economic Growth” an Agric don, Professor Lawali Abubakar, who spoke on the need to revitalise the agricultural sector, said that the instability in international crude oil market, as well as local political realignments within the country has necessitated for diversification of the economy.
He added that it was best for government to move from solely depending on a mono economy to having additional sources of income.
“Agriculture in addition to solid minerals are two critical sectors been viewed for improvement, so that nation can actually express its full potential in this respect” he added
Post a Comment