Nigeria’s continued neglect of its agriculture sector is costing a loss of about $10 billion to its economy every year, the World Bank has said.
, Adetunji Oredipe, described the country’s neglect of agriculture as a calamity and disaster.Rather than focusing all its attention on the revenue from crude oil exports, the specialist urged government at all levels to diversify the country’s economic base by investing in the development of the country’s agricultural sector.
”Each time we spend money to import rice, Nigerian local rice farmers are negatively affected, in terms of morale, sales, and realisable incomes,” he added. “Sadly, till date, Nigeria’s agricultural potential remains untapped, with only 34 million hectares, about 48 per cent, currently being utilised for agricultural uses,” he said. report on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa, which shows that Africa, especially Nigeria and Mozambique, have vast areas of savannahs that can become the breadbasket for the rest of the world, if properly harnessed.
“In the 1960s, we had the glory that was visible and significant for the global community to recognise and applaud. Nigeria accounted for 42 per cent of the world’s exports of shelled groundnuts. “We must adopt an ambitious agricultural promotion strategy focused on a combination of transformational policy reforms and private capital investments with a promise to expand the benefits to millions of Nigerians,” he said.Meanwhile, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo pledged the federal government’s commitment to developing agriculture, a cardinal sector for the government’s economic diversification programme.
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