Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwumi Adesina speaking as a panelist on Promoting African Agriculture: New Alliance for Food and Nutrition Security Agriculture today in London has articulated with exuberance and resolve Nigeria’s aggressive agriculture policy.
Leveraging mobile technology has enabled efficient distribution of seeds and fertilizers among farmers by registering 4.2 million farmers through full biometrics, to ensure we (Ministry of Agriculture) know who received what. In the past, seeds and fertilizers were distributed through middle men, which cost the government millions of dollars over decades.
At the core of Dr. Adesina’s vision is to take agriculture fully out of the sphere of development and into the sphere of business. This vision is coming into fruition as 22 local companies will be investing in Nigeria’s agriculture to bring forth a robust agribusiness sector.
Dr. Adesina also highlighted and urged the need for doing business with women “We have to focus on linking women farmers and scientist and a special facility to incentivize them and support women owned agribusiness.”
With a strong focus toward being self-sufficient, Dr. Adesina articulated a target to lift rice dependency by 2015.
Africanalyst 