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Nigeria: Agric - FG Commits 1.68 Percent Fed Account
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Leadership (Abuja)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Justus Nduwugwe
Abuja
The federal government is earmarking 1.68 per cent of the federation Account as a special intervention fund for agricultural development within the next four years, with a take-off fund of about $700 million.
Also, the government is seeking a $1 billion grant/loan facility at highly concessionary terms from Food and Agriculture Organisation, World Bank, African Development Bank and other donor/investment partners to support Nigeria in developing factory driven commercial farming.
President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua made the disclosure yesterday, while declaring open, a two-day international conference on food security with the theme 'world food challenge: Nigeria's economic opportunity' organised by the First Bank of Nigeria in collaboration with The Nigerian Economic Summit Group and AgroNigeria.
The President explained that the special intervention programme has taken an agricultural value chain approach, covering production, processing, storage and market development in an integrated fashion with the strengthening of research and development.
According to the President who was represented by the minister of agriculture and water resources, Dr. Abba Sayyadi Ruma , "Nigeria is currently repositioning agriculture within the global best practices and increasing budgetary allocation for agriculture has been enhanced from three per cent to seven per cent of the total budget in 2008, and the shortest possible time to increase to 10 per cent in consonance with Maputo declaration on agriculture.
"In the area of production, there is major emphasis on ensuring that production, inputs such as fertilizers, seeds and seedlings, agriculture credit, extension support, land preparation support through tractor hiring service provision etc reach farmers at subsidized affordable prices".
The President said the framework was being put in place, for the development of the concept as well as a subsidy management arrangement with easy access by the farmers.
He noted that Africa, especially Nigeria being more than 90 percent dependent on rain-fed agriculture is highly at risk in the areas of food production and nutrition security, poverty and hunger reduction, economic development and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG's).
He said that Nigeria has a highly diversified agro ecological condition with a total agricultural land of 79 million Ha, surface water of 267 billion cubic meters, underground water of 57.9 billion cubic meters, and a potential irrigable area of 3.14 million Ha.
He regretted that despite the rich endowment, less than 50 per cent of the country's cultivable agricultural land, is under cultivation, adding that about 14 million smallerholder and traditional farmers who use rudimentary production techniques, cultivate most of this land with only 220,000 Ha of actual irrigated area.
Also in a welcome address, the chairman of First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Dr. Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, assured that the bank would continue to provide necessary assistance in support of agriculture development.
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The Agriculture conference was necessitated by the current food crisis and the need to take measures to protect Nigerians from the effects.
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