Leadership (Abuja)
16 May 2008
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua has approved the utilisation of 1.65 per cent of the federation account as a special intervention fund for agricultural development.
Minister of agriculture and water resources, Dr Abba Sayyadi Ruma, made the announcement yesterday in Abuja at an interactive session with members of the House Representatives Committee on Agriculture in his office.
He said the current balance in the account was N80 billion and that discussion had commenced between the ministry and stakeholders on the utilisation of the fund.
"This has become necessary because the 2008 agricultural budget is very inadequate to meet the requirement of agriculture in the country," he said.
Ruma said government was committed to the development of agriculture to achieve food security.
He said government had announced 100 per cent tariff waiver on rice importation from now till October in order to cushion the effect of the soaring price of the commodity.
Furthermore, the government has also provided a N10 billion credit facility from the federation account to enable rice processors access credit, he said.
The loan, he said, had a moratorium of five years and a repayment period of 15 years.
"This is to allow the producers acquire the necessary facilities to process the more than 2.6 million tonnes of paddy rice on ground across the nation," the minister said.
He commended the house committee for its concern for the development of the agricultural sector and promised to give the members necessary support and cooperation.
Earlier, chairman of the committee, Hon. Gbenga Makanjuola, said the essence of the one week visit was to gather adequate information on the activities of the ministry, its challenges and achievements.
Makanjuola said the committee wanted to have adequate information on fertiliser procurement and distribution, grains distribution, silos contracts, the Fadama programme and all other projects facilitated by donor agencies.
He said the information would be useful for the National Assembly to chart a way forward for the development of agriculture.
According to him, the information will also be useful for the national agricultural summit being planned the committee.
Makanjuola expressed the hope that the ministry would be able to furnish them with useful and satisfactory information.
He said the committee would also undertake field visits to relevant organisations to confirm their findings. (NAN)
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