The Nigerian government says it is committed to propagating right policies and programmes that will encourage private investor participation in Agriculture and its value chains.
It says this commitment is part of the efforts to boost development drive through economic diversification.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Heineken Lukpobiri, gave the assurance at the weekend in Ogun State after a meeting with some selected farmers and tour of some palm plantations in Odogbolu Local Government Area of the state.
While assuring the farmers that the agriculture sector of the economy remains the only sector that could pull the country out of the current recession, the Minister, however, reassured farmers of government’s readiness to support Local Farmers with necessary incentives.
Nigeria’s economy has slipped into recession in the second quarter of the year, with Gross Domestic Product contracting by 2.06%, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
The nation largely depends on crude oil sales for revenue, but the government is pushing to shore up revenue from agriculture which was the nation’s major source of revenue before the discovery of crude oil.
It is a sector that will create jobs for the nation’s unemployed youths, a position that the government has emphasised since the price of crude slumped, affecting the revenue of the oil-rich nation.
Adequate policies in the agriculture sector will enable more investors come into the sector to create jobs, since the nation has vast arable land.
