Abuja — The African Development Bank (AFDB) said it was committing $250 million to the development of the downstream sector of agriculture in the country.

The Country Director of AfDB, Mr. Herve Assah, said he was struck by the components of the Nigerian food basket because it was "diverse".

This is coming as the Federal Government has indicated its determination to grant subsidies to farmers in Nigeria.

According to Assah, the country was on her way to achieving food security but needed more help, and greater focus, in the development of the downstream sector. He said the fund he pledged on behalf of the regional bank would be used for improve processing and marketing.

World Bank country director, Mr. Onno Ruhl, also announced the release of $30 million for Fadama III, which should commence July 1. He said that he saw "an opportunity" for the Nigerian farmer in the current world food crisis, and called the Nigerian food agenda "a rational response" to the situation.

Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Abba Sayyadi Ruma said the green revolution which is being pursued by the Yar'Adua administration would not succeed without a proper financial infrastructure, including subsidy, to drive it. The goals of the new programme include making the sector competitive and to involve youths and the private sector.

Dr. Ruma spoke at a dinner to kick off an emergency meeting of the National Council on Agriculture in Abuja. The meeting, the second since Yar'Adua came to power a year ago, is to look at, and finalise the draft national food security programme, prepared and launched last month by the agriculture ministry.

Ruma said that the World Bank preaches against financial assistance to farmers, but "no World Bank language can say agricultural subsidy" is not needed in Nigeria.

According to him, no serious nation can afford not to subsidise agriculture. "Agriculture must be subsidized," the minister added. "The US government takes agriculture serious. As we are copying the US, we must take agriculture seriously."

THISDAY checks reveals that agricultural subsidies are the main problems with the current negotiation of the Doha Development Agenda at the World Trade Organization. The World Bank estimates that rich rich countries spend $280 billion on subsidy a year. (European Union spends $134 billion, Japan $47 billion and the US $43 billion a year as government hand-outs handouts.)

According to the bank, the amount is more than three times the level of 2005 global overseas aid to developing countries.

The meeting of the council is to consider a framework for the management of subsidy. Ruma said that one of the main problems with agriculture in Nigeria is that farmers are not organised to receive financial assistance. Under the new agricultural programme, the minister looks at a situation where cooperatives are vibrant and are capitalised to at least N250,000.

"Farmers have not sufficiently organized themselves to get assistance," the minister said. "This time, cooperatives have to be capitalised."

"States are to organize their farmers into cooperative societies, capitalise the cooperatives, give credits and make guarantees the credits. They are to make the sector attractive for graduates and young secondary school leavers, Ruma added.