AFAN Boss Tasks FG On Agric Dev

The President of  All
Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Architect Kabiru Ibrahim, has said that good policies without adequate funding  and effective implementation cannot improve the agriculture sector.
Ibrahim, who spoke against the backdrop of the recently inaugurated  policy working group for the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in Abuja,said in order to make agriculture an  attractive business, a holistic approach must be adopted.
It would be of recalled that the Minister of Agriculture and Rurual Development,  Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, constituted a 15-member committee made up of 14 Professors and a doctor to fashion  out policies that would effectively  drive the country’s agricultural  transformation programme.
Reacting to the setting up of the committee, the AFAN boss said it was a good initiative, adding that “no amount of good policies without adequate  funding  and effective implementation of such policies  can make the required  change in the agricultural sector of the country.
According to him, agriculture  must be capital intensive to  make it an attractive business in the country.
He said even the 10 per cent  enshrined in the  Maputo Declaration which Nigeria was yet to meet is not enough to activate the  process.
He advocated for the dedication of  20  per cent of the  country’s national budget to agriculture for proper impact to be  made in the sector.
The AFAN boss further urged  government to go beyond making sound  policies and ensure implementation of same to move sector forward.
On the agricultural machinery and equipment  hiring services programme launched  in Abuja recently, Ibrahim,  who is also a poultry farmer, advised the government to  take the  programme beyond  the  present level  by making  tractors and other relevant  equipment readily available  to farmers across the country.