FG seeks legislative support for agric sector devt.


    The Federal Government has called for the support of the legislative arm of government towards the sustainable growth and development of Nigeria’s Agricultural sector.
    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, made the call during an interactive session between members of the House Committee on Agriculture and officials of the Ministry. led by the Minister.
    The Minister maintained that the legislative arm of government was a major player in the determination to move the country forward.  In the words of the Minister “You (Legislators) are the major player in every attempt to move the country forward; you are here to make necessary laws”.
    Chief Ogbeh expressed the readiness and determination of the Ministry to reposition the nation’s agricultural sector; he appealed to members of the House Committee on Agriculture to support various initiatives and reforms put in place for the sector.
    The Minister highlighted various reforms and initiatives to be put in place by the ministry in order to achieve food security, job and wealth creation and value addition to the economy. He explained that high technological development would be adopted to grow food crops thereby achieving food sufficiency while stringent measures would be taken to ensure that an end is brought to the smuggling of food items into the country.
Chief Ogbeh said efforts at reducing   the importation of food items into the country would go a long way at reducing the huge sum of money spent on importation thereby increasing the nation’s foreign exchange earnings. He added that the present administration would work assiduously to ensure that food processing mills are established across the rural areas to create jobs for the rural women.    
He said the ministry would collaborate with relevant Ministries like the Ministry of Environment to develop the local production of organic fertilizer using organic wastes.
At the interactive session which came at the instance of the House Committee on Agriculture, the Chairman of the Committee, Alhaji Mohammed Monguno congratulated both the Minister and the Permanent Secretary on their appointments. He said the interactive session was meant to identify ways and areas of moving the nation’s agricultural sector forward.
The Chairman noted that Agriculture would play a major role in Nigeria’s economy if properly and adequately harnessed and explained that aside food security,  sustainable agricultural development would achieve its role in creating jobs  and reduce the insecurity challenge facing the country.

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