NABG/Agrikexpo: Stakeholders want increased access to modern agric tecniques

Stakeholders at the recently concluded Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) conference and Agrikexpo in Abuja have called for increased access to modern agricultural techniques to boost food production in the country.
 
Audu Ogbeh
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Devt
According to them, unless Nigerian farmers embrace new technology, it may be difficult to feed the teeming population of children, men and women across the country.

Speaking on the Challenges Facing Agribusiness in Nigeria, Aliko Dangote, Chairman of Dangote Group, said technology is vitally important for success in every aspect of the agricultural value chain, as it could help reduce 95 per cent of the drudgery in the sector.

Dangote, who was represented by Mansur Ahmed, Executive Director, Stakeholders Management and Corporate Communications, noted that if Africa must exit from current challenges bedeviling the continent, it must focus on agriculture “because there lies our capacity all the resources that we need and therein lies the essence of the people.”

Abdulwaheed Aliyu, Managing Director of the Nigerian Insurance Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), stressed that the agriculture sector must be modernised before young Nigerians can be attracted to it.

Sani Dangote, NABG Chairman, commended the government for successfully turning the mindset of Nigerians mindset towards agriculture, saying that stakeholders should support government in addressing some of the challenges in the sector.


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