Nigeria Spends $20B On Food Importation Yearly, Says Ogbeh
Audu Ogbeh
THE Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has lamented the exorbitant amount Nigerians spend on importing food into the country, saying that the total amounts to $20b per year.
Making the disclosure at the closing of the 41st National Council on Agriculture held at Kano Government House, the minister expressed worry over this over-dependence of Nigerians on foreign food.
According to Ogbeh, many things were responsible for the downturn in the agricultural sector in the country, saying that programmes like Udoji of the 1970s were responsible for some of the tragedies facing the agricultural sector in the country.
He said that “It was Udoji programme that made people run away from farms and pursued to become contractors.”
Condemning what he described as ‘elite arrogance’ in the nation’s agricultural sector, Ogbeh assured farmers across Nigeria that his ministry would work hand in hand with them in the formulation of policies affecting agricultural development in the country.
He called on commissioners of agriculture attending the conference from the 36 states of the federation to put more pressure on their governors to ensure that modern ways of agricultural development were employed in their various states.
Noting that irrigation should be looked into as a way to address problems associated with cattle rearing, the minister said that the simple solution to cattle rearing was to grow grass and feed cattle. “We should not depend on using improved grass from Brazil, Argentina and other places. I am also advising all on engaging in cattle rearing modern mechanism.”
The governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, assured all farmers in the state that his administration would do everything possible to help develop agricultural sector for both local and foreign advantages.
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5 Comments
Sir, with due respect, what concrete measures are you putting in place at the moment to accellerate food production. Introduce higher tariff measures on imported food items while you suside local producers of food items. Youths must be given incentives to go into agriculture.
Yes Minister but really could Udoji be blamed for the mess we have in Agriculture or the totality of the leadership? Udoji’s report was selectively implemented by the powers-that-be and thee was nothing he could have done or do to stop a self-centred elite from hemorrhaging the economy. For example take your own very exhortation to the Commissioners of Agriculture “to put more pressure on their governor” could any commissioner put pressure on is governor whereas the commissioner holds “his office at the pleasure of the Governor”? Lets be realistic of we are to stop the dependency syndrome that has stymied Agriculture and development not rhetorical.
Nigeria has to waste $20bn per annum importing food because of some people have been benefiting from issuing import certificate & food import duty wavers.
Land should be sufficient as collateral security to borrow money for agriculture & agribusiness in Nigeria instead of banks demanding 110% cash or 150% assets as collateral security for LC to import plants & machinery’s excluding the project land. .
These people rather waste our $20bn per annum foreign reserves importing food, exporting our jobs rather than give loans to our people to produce & add value to our primary products as a bases of jobs creation & diversifying our economy away from Oil
Udoji did not ask Nigeria not to finance agriculture & agribusiness value chains or expect illiterates & Old retired half educated people to produce food with stone age tools.
Agriculture & its value chains are subsidized all the World, because of National food security implication of food import dependence. 60% of our 82million hectares arable remain uncultivated.
Yes nigerians should have made progress by talking agric and tax subsidies etc rather than fuel subsidy. Now this gentleman minister looks like a recycled old battery from the second republic and does not seem able to key into the modern trends in agric productivity like combine harvesters,tractors and tractor assembly,organic inputs etc. He is more likely to talk old gas like hoes,cutlasses,udoji and other gas bags yet lets give him a benefit of the doubt
Thanks for your complement. I have followed Chief Audu Ogbe Campaign for funding Agriculture over the years. He is a FARMER & the best man for his job.
I expect more from Chief Audu Ogbe as minister of agriculture than the last Minister a theorists without experience as a farmer or angered by waste of our foreign reserves importing food as Chief Audu Ogbo.
We will review and take appropriate action.