Agriculture
World Bank Tasks Nigeria On Cassava Exports
The World Bank says Nigeria, as the largest producer of cassava, can develop its economy by exporting quality cassava and other commodities other than oil.
Mr Onno Ruhl, the World Bank Country Director in Nigeria, said this while answering questions from newsmen in Abuja .
“ You have the most cassava in the world but apparently it is not the best; the quality may not be there so let us focus on how we increase the standard,’’ he said.
The country director said one of the greatest problems with the Nigerian economy was its over reliance on oil, as well as the mono-revenue and export economy system.
“Nigeria is not a mono-product economy, it is a mono-revenue economy and a mono-export economy because in the other sectors there are no exports, very low fiscal revenues, that is where your challenge is but oil is only 17 per cent of your GDP, 83 per cent is everything else taken together,’’ Ruhl said.
He said that Nigeria stood to benefit a lot in developing its agriculture and the wholesale and retail services sectors which, he said, were actually bigger than the oil sector.
“Oil is actually the fourth largest sector of the Nigerian economy; the largest sector is agriculture, the second largest sector is wholesale and retail and services is the third largest.
“So what Nigeria should do is focus on propelling these other sectors forward so that they can also export, so that you are less dependent on oil and finding ways of generating revenues for the government for legitimate investment in infrastructure, health and education,’’ he said.
Ruhl stressed the need for Nigeria to ensure quality products and also create an enabling environment for business to thrive.
He described the growth of Nigeria ’s economy as commendable, but maintained that a lot still needed to be done for the country to achieve Vision 20: 2020.
Ruhl said that the proper implementation of the road map on power and the removal of all bottlenecks and bureaucracy, especially at the ports, would ensure the evolvement of a better economy.
Federal Government and the Ogun State Government, on Wednesday, distributed farm inputs to farmers as part of effort to address food security challenge.
The State Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Toyin Ayo-Ajayi, during the flag-off ceremony of Inputs Redemption Under The National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP), in Ogun State, disclosed that beneficiaries of the gesture were primarily rice, maize and cassava farmers across the State.
Ayo-Ajayi commended the Ogun State Government for partnering with the government at the centre for the effort in supporting farmers with inputs that would bring about yieldings for local consumption and likely exportation.
She noted that government is supporting rice, cassava and maize farmers with inputs worth N212,000; N189,000 and N186,000 respectively.
The Permanent Secretary in the State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs Kehinde Jokotoye, who represented the Commissioner in the Ministry, Bolu Owotomo, stated that traditional farmers are critical in food production, hence the need to encourage and support them with inputs that would bring about desired results during harvesting.
Owotomo said: “Let us make good use of this opportunity, so that the success of this phase will make farmers benefit more from the state and federal governments of Nigeria.”
Earlier, State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr. Oluwatoyin Ayo-Ajayi, appreciated the present administration for partnering with the federal government for the initiative, adding that the programme is designed to support farmers at the grassroots level in cassava, rice and maize with inputs such as, seeds, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers, to boost their production and enhance their livelihood.