COVID-19: FG to Launch Agric for Food and Jobs Plan
……targets 2million smallholder farmers on Food Production
Ogunrinde Victoria, Abuja
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono has said that the Ministry is set to launch the Agric for Food and Jobs Plan (AFJP) to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and boost food production in Nigeria while targeting over 2 million smallholder farmers for its implementation.
Alhaji Nanono disclosed this in Abuja on Tuesday at a press briefing noted that coronavirus has negatively impacted on businesses and the economy of the nation, thus, it has become imperative to forge paths and cultivate ideas that protect not just jobs and the economy, but the survival of Nigerians as a whole.
To this end, Nanono said the Federal Government in collaboration with State Governments through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) , is set to launch a revolutionary agric-focused intervention scheme in the form of Agric For Food and Job Plan (AFJP).
He added that the Joint Venture between the FMARD, State Government, as well as other relevant stakeholders including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) , private sector via out-grower schemes, and farmers across the country, is aimed at increasing locally grown food supply, while also creating employment opportunities in the agricultural sector.
“This will be achieved through investment in the sector by way of providing zero-interest input financing options such as fertilizers and seeds to farmers across the 36 states of the country and the F.C.T, to produce a harvest that can sell domestically and internationally”.
Furthermore, the Minister noted that the Programme will run for a duration of 12 months with an aggregate of 2 million hectares of land, and livestock targeted across the country.
According to Nanono, the project aims at providing zero interest input finance to smallholder farmers, link farmers to market for off-take through out-grower schemes and improve yield per hectare while eliminating post-harvest losses by collaborating with existing channels for take-off and storage such as existing commercial processor, aggregators, commodity exchanges, warehousing and strategic grain reserves.
“This will, in turn, ensure food security in the post-COVID era and position smallholder farmers` to be drivers of economic growth by evolving from subsistence farming to commercial production”
“The AFJP targets two million smallholder farmers across the 36 states of Nigeria and FCT and aims to produce 10m tonnes of food which include carbohydrates, animal protein and edible oils within the next 12 months”.
He stressed that priority crops and livestock targeted by the AFJP for local markets are Rice, Maize, Sorghum, Groundnuts, Cowpea, Cassava, Millet, Livestock, Horticulture, Palm Kernel and Cotton; while Sesame seeds, Hibiscus, Cocoa, Hides and Skin; and Horns and Hoofs are targeted for the export market.
He thereby reiterated the Federal Government`s Commitment to the production of quality and affordable agricultural produce, as well as the creation and protection of jobs in the sector to mitigate the impact of the pandemic