Agribusiness needs more than FG intervention – Agronomist
An agronomist, Mr Temi Kpogho, has said that Nigeria’s agribusiness development will need more than the Federal Government’s intervention.
Kpogho, a UK-based agronomist told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on telephone on Monday that the illusion that only the government should develop the sector had become problem.
He said that there should be increased funding for research in universities of agriculture to strengthen the sector.
According to him, the sector is open to everyone who is interested in profit making because agriculture is a very serious part of any economy.
``We need to raise more entrepreneurs and equip them with the right information to invest in the sector and there is a role for the Federal Government.
``It includes but not limited to things like supporting farmers with access to credit or finance so they can acquire modern farming equipment.
``Increased funding for our universities of agriculture so they can carry out more research to strengthen our agriculture sector,’’ he said.
Kpogho also told NAN that climate change was another issue that the government should tackle frontally.
``There are climate change issues that the government can also take more serious.
``Increased desertification has led to nomads moving down south for their animals to graze leading to hostilities with farming communities from the middle belt down to the east of the country.
``The government needs to engage with the nomadic farmers and develop a modern husbandry system that will include them settling in one place,’’ Kpogho said.
The agronomist urged government to work with funding agencies like Africa Development Bank (AFDB), World Bank among others, to develop funding for the sector.
He said that the Nigeria Stock Exchange needed to commence a robust engagement with the sector to see how they could develop areas of mutual cooperation.
Kpogho, however, urged the Federal Government to use tariffs as a way of reducing importation and to ensure that there was food sufficiency.
``The government can also use tariffs to ensure that we have food sufficiency. We have tomatoes in abundance but continue to import tinned tomatoes from overseas, while our local produce rot away.
``Higher tariffs would stop this trend and support our local farmers; we need to hear success stories in the agriculture sector to encourage our young ones to be involved in the sector.
``We only seem to be interested in agriculture when the price of oil drops.
``We need to change this attitude and develop a long term attitude to our agriculture sector that involves all stakeholders not just the Federal Government,’’ he said.
Kpogho, a UK-based agronomist told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on telephone on Monday that the illusion that only the government should develop the sector had become problem.
He said that there should be increased funding for research in universities of agriculture to strengthen the sector.
According to him, the sector is open to everyone who is interested in profit making because agriculture is a very serious part of any economy.
``We need to raise more entrepreneurs and equip them with the right information to invest in the sector and there is a role for the Federal Government.
``It includes but not limited to things like supporting farmers with access to credit or finance so they can acquire modern farming equipment.
``Increased funding for our universities of agriculture so they can carry out more research to strengthen our agriculture sector,’’ he said.
Kpogho also told NAN that climate change was another issue that the government should tackle frontally.
``There are climate change issues that the government can also take more serious.
``Increased desertification has led to nomads moving down south for their animals to graze leading to hostilities with farming communities from the middle belt down to the east of the country.
``The government needs to engage with the nomadic farmers and develop a modern husbandry system that will include them settling in one place,’’ Kpogho said.
The agronomist urged government to work with funding agencies like Africa Development Bank (AFDB), World Bank among others, to develop funding for the sector.
He said that the Nigeria Stock Exchange needed to commence a robust engagement with the sector to see how they could develop areas of mutual cooperation.
Kpogho, however, urged the Federal Government to use tariffs as a way of reducing importation and to ensure that there was food sufficiency.
``The government can also use tariffs to ensure that we have food sufficiency. We have tomatoes in abundance but continue to import tinned tomatoes from overseas, while our local produce rot away.
``Higher tariffs would stop this trend and support our local farmers; we need to hear success stories in the agriculture sector to encourage our young ones to be involved in the sector.
``We only seem to be interested in agriculture when the price of oil drops.
``We need to change this attitude and develop a long term attitude to our agriculture sector that involves all stakeholders not just the Federal Government,’’ he said.
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