‘Nigeria will become net exporter of agric products by 2020’

Chief Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, has said Nigeria is projected to become a net exporter of key agricultural products such as rice, cashew nuts, groundnuts, cassava and vegetable oil by 2020.
 
China-Nigeria Agricultural Modernization Cooperation Forum 
Ogbeh who disclosed this at a meeting tagged “China-Nigeria Agricultural Modernization Cooperation Forum 2017” in Abuja on Tuesday said the government is working very hard to make agriculture the main driver of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with an average growth rate of 6.9 percent.

Agriculture currently accounts for 23 percent of Nigeria's GDP and employs 38 percent of the working population.

The forum which was organized to discuss how China can assist Nigeria to achieve an increase in agricultural productivity, food security and poverty reduction toward overall sustainable diversification of its economy is part of an effort to strengthen agricultural cooperation between Nigeria and China.

In his welcome address to the forum, the minister remarked that China was able to pull over 400 million people out of poverty within 10 years because the country’s leaders do not pay lip service to agriculture.

He said the Nigerian Government hopes to emulate China's agricultural growth through the transformation of the agricultural sector with the recently launched Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP).

Zhou Pingjian, Chinese ambassador in Nigeria said China, as a strategic partner to Nigeria, is willing to share its experience in agricultural development and provide financial and technical support towards the country's realization of its agricultural and food security plans.

"We are willing to work with Nigeria to provide a more effective platform to mobilize more Chinese investment in Nigeria's Green Alternative," Zhou said.


The Abuja forum, organized by the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC), China Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria and a Chinese firm, Green Agriculture West Africa Limited (GAWAL), was attended by representatives of the Chinese embassy and firms, senior Nigerian officials and stakeholders from various agricultural departments, federal legislators and researchers.

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