By Aaior K. Comfort

In a strategic effort to tackle soaring food prices, the Federal Government (FG) is launching an initiative to distribute high-yield seedlings for dry season cropping. This initiative was announced following a high-level meeting led by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr. Wale Edun, along with officials from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, the African Development Bank (AfDB), and Flour Mills of Nigeria.

According to a statement from Mr. Mohammed Manga, Director of Information and Public Relations at the Ministry of Finance, the initiative aims to “revolutionize Nigeria’s agricultural sector” in alignment with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration. The meeting focused on accelerating the implementation of the National Agricultural Growth Scheme – Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP).

*Key Focus Areas*

During the discussions, the critical need for an efficient input system for the dry season was emphasized, particularly the importance of high-quality and adaptable seeds to achieve optimal yields. The NAGS-AP team provided updates on their implementation strategies and presented a finalized work plan for the 2024/2025 dry season.

The NAGS-AP initiative is designed to boost productivity and yield among farmers, significantly impacting food production and agricultural growth nationwide.

This meeting marks a significant step toward ensuring food security and driving economic growth, reflecting the policy priorities of the current administration.

By Helen Ochie

The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Mr Joseph Utsev, says food sufficiency in Nigeria remains a priority of the administration of President Bola Tinubu.

Utsev said this on Wednesday while on an assessment tour of the solarisation of the Centre Pivot Irrigation Unit of the Middle Ogun Irrigation Project, Iseyin, Oyo State.

According to the minister, the mandate of food production, creating jobs and enhancing the country’s economy is in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the president.

He emphasised the commitment of the Federal Government (FG) to the provision of necessary facilities that would enhance food productivity.

He said the ongoing solarisation of the Middle Ogun Irrigation Unit and the connection of the centre to the national electric power grid were parts of efforts to encourage irrigation farming.

“The Middle Ogun Irrigation project started in 1990, and the aim of the project was to put about 12,000 hectares of land into production.

“When the project started, it was to use diesel for its power generating plants but now we are changing the diesel method of powering our irrigation facilities to solar and the national grid power because of the high cost of diesel and other reasons,” he said.

The minister revealed that the connection of the centre to the national grid had reached 95 per cent completion, while the solarisation project had reached a completion stage of 85 per cent.

“From what we have seen now, we are okay that the ongoing procurement process will be able to complete the projects.

“Moreso, the rehabilitation of all other irrigation facilities will commence soon, and the centre will be fully operational in the next two to three years.

“So, all the 12,000 hectares of land we envisaged to put into production will be activated,” he said

Alhaji Dauda Ademola, Chairman of Middle Ogun Irrigation Project Farmers Association, Iseyin, appreciated the FG for ongoing projects at the centre.

Ademola urged the government to put in more interest in ensuring the speedy completion of the projects and other facilities that would enhance irrigation farming.

… As NECA lauds Mbah on economy, ease of doing business

As part of the effort of his administration to grow the state’s economy from $4.4bn to $30bn and ensure food security, tractors needed for farming in Enugu State will be produced in the state before the end of the year, governor of the state, Dr. Peter Mbah has announced.

The governor stated this when he received the newly elected president of the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, NECA, Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, and other leaders of the association at the Government House, Enugu, at the weekend.

He reiterated his administration’s commitment to creating a business-friendly environment and helping to de-risk investment in the state, calling on investors to key into the growing investment revolution in the state.

“We are ready for business and we are open for business. You could not make a better choice than Enugu when you are thinking about where to invest or where to grow your wealth because you are dealing with a government that is business-friendly and we do not only think about creating the environment for businesses to thrive, we are also interested in working with you collaboratively either as a Joint Venture (JV) or Private Public Sector Partnership (PPP) or even helping you to de-risk the investment flow. We are interested in listening to you, knowing what areas that would make it possible for you to invest.

“We have just signed an order with a Danish company that is coming here to manufacture their tractors. So, our target is that before the end of the year, we would have been able to assemble over 300 tractors. Our ultimate target in the medium term is to get up to 1,000 tractors before the end of next year.

“What this means is that you would not have to import the machinery and the implements you need to be able to farm in Enugu State.

“Again, we are interested in value addition and processing too. We are building a Special Processing Zone where we expect that as we plan to scale up our production in the agricultural space, we also have produce cities where those things can be processed. It is not just producing and exporting them raw. We are planning to add value, create and capture those values,” Mbah said.

He added that the government was taking measures to ensure the availability of the necessary infrastructure, ranging from urban roads to access roads to farm, power, and water, while also making huge investments in security and collaborating with security agencies to sustain and strengthen the relative security attained by the state in the last 15 months.

“In the area of roads, our target is to make sure that all our streets, all our roads in the city are paved and we are already achieving that. Just recently, we completed the 71 roads we awarded last October and we again awarded another 141 roads. We are also making sure that we also get our rural roads paved, most importantly the access road to the farmlands because we have some ambitious target in our agricultural sector where we now have over 300,000 hectares of land in our landbank,” he said.

Mbah congratulated Dr. Okoye, who is also the Managing Director of Juhel Nigeria Limited, on his emergence as NECA President, assuring of his administration’s readiness to collaborate with NECA to create more economic opportunities in the state.

Speaking earlier, the NECA leadership pledged unwavering commitment to fostering partnerships that will catalayse socio-economic development in Enugu State and the South East, having observed the governor’s vision and business-minded approach to governance.

“We have closely observed your outstanding leadership, coupled with your clear vision for the transformation of Enugu State. Your administration’s focus on economic diversification, infrastructure development, and human capital enhancement aligns perfectly with NECA’s objectives.

“We believe that through strong collaboration between the public and private sectors, we can collectively drive growth, create jobs, and improve the overall well-being of the citizens,” the NECA president stated.