Gov Bagudu asks govts to invest more in agriculture

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has said governments at all levels need to invest more in agricultural sector if the nation’s food sufficiency drive is to be met. The governor, while speaking during the Farmers Interactive Forum and Exhibition organised by Daily Trust in collaboration with the Kebbi State Ministry of Agriculture in […]

Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State has said governments at all levels need to invest more in agricultural sector if the nation’s food sufficiency drive is to be met.

The governor, while speaking during the Farmers Interactive Forum and Exhibition organised by Daily Trust in collaboration with the Kebbi State Ministry of Agriculture in Birnin Kebbi on yesterday, said countries like China, America and Britain, over the years, had been giving billions of dollars as subsidies to their agriculture sector to protect their farmers.

He said, “Nigeria has the largest absorptive capacity in agricultural investment. The European Union protects its markets by giving 90bn euros to the farmers. Nigerians can begin to imagine if we put more money into agriculture than we put in subsidising petroleum.”

The governor added that over N200bn was wasted on petroleum subsidy, noting that if such amount was invested in agriculture it would go a long way to solve the nation’s sufficiency problem.

“What has gone to agriculture from the Anchor Borrowers is less than N100bn. If we had put N1trn into agriculture we would have realised our food potential capability,” he said.

Bagudu further stated that the country, in the last two years, witnessed development in the agriculture sector because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s initiative in the production of rice and other crops.

“This is why Kebbi and Lagos partnered in rice production. Thank God Lake Rice is now a household name and the evidence of the agricultural transformation started by President Buhari. 700 metric tonnes of rice is produced worldwide. Nigeria is today aiming at 70 million metric tonnes of rice,” he said. 

While commending the publishers of Daily Trust for initiating the agricultural event, he said the media had a prominent role to play in value addition in the agriculture sector. 

“We are sitting on top of a huge diamond in agriculture in this country. It is time we put more money into agriculture,” he said.