Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has advocated
a paradigm shift in the agriculture sector. He said agriculture must be run as
a business and not as a development programme, if Nigeria must regain its lost
glory as a major world producer and exporter of farm produce.
The Minister spoke yesterday while delivering the 11th Public
Lecture Series of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State. The
lecture was titled: “Unlocking the Potential of Nigerian Agriculture”.
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Adesina said the focus of the lecture was to get Nigerians to
understand that the days of treating agriculture like a Father Christmas sector
were over.
“Nigeria must learn from Asian countries. We must tap into
all the resources of our farmers across our nation and deliver a green
revolution that will make Nigeria self-sufficient in food production. We must
turn Nigeria into a breadbasket - a power house for food production. To do so,
we must make a fundamental paradigm shift: Agriculture should be seen as a
business, not a development programme.”
The Minister, who regretted that Nigeria’s agricultural
potential remained untapped, said the report of the Food and Agriculture
Organisation on Competitive Commercial Agriculture for Africa, indicated that
Africa, especially Nigeria and Mozambique, have vast areas of savannah that
could become the breadbasket for the rest of the world, if properly
harnessed.
He added, “According to the International Food National
Research Institute, the value of Agriculture in Nigeria at constant 2010
dollars was 99 billion dollars. This is projected to grow to 256 billion
dollars by 2030.”
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