Farmers Advocate Improved Investment In Agric

Some stakeholders in the agriculture sector have called on the Federal Government to invest more in the sector for increased food production and direct access to food.
In separate interviews with our correspondent in Port Harcourt on the sidelines of the event in Port Harcourt, the president of the Etche Cooperative Union, (ECU) Mr Godwin Akandu said it would be disastrous in the future if the government focuses on oil as its economic mainstay.
He expressed sadness that most of the wars on corruption centred on oil money and wondered what has happened to agriculture.
On his part, the chairman of Oil Palm Millers Association, Ahoada East chapter, Mr Nwaneri  Okirigwe  lamented the neglect of the sector.
He opined that until government does away with portfolio farmers and deals directly with the real farmers the sector would not make the desired impact to the nation’s economy.
Also speaking to our correspondent in a telephone interview, the Managing Director of Baron Investment, Mr Isiaki Clement the present government under President  Muhammadu Buhari should sustain the E-Wallet System of the immediate past administration.
Clement who is into fish farming said more money needed to be put into the E-Wallet process to enable more genuine farmers access funds and agric inputs.
An update obtained by our correspondent, from the National Technical Adviser, All  Farmers Association of Nigeria, (AFAN) Dr Tunde Arosanyin, shows that most of the world’s poor and hungry people belonged to rural families who depended on agriculture for their daily livelihood.
The AFAN technical adviser said the government needed to invest heavily in agriculture by increasing its budget from the current eight per cent to at least 20 per cent to make food available for the rural dwellers.