Ban exportation of raw agricultural produce - Aregbesola


PORT HARCOURT : Federal government has been told to ban exportation of raw agricultural produce as a way to consolidate local gains in the agricultural sector,

Governor of the state of Osun , Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,  gave the advise in Port Harcourt, Rivers state weekend at the executive session of the just concluded Guild of Editors conference with the theme Agriculture as option for a prosperous Nigeria.

The governor said it was high time the nation took steps to commence exportation of secondary agricultural produce.

He said nutritionists and food technologists should begin to add value to raw agricultural produce in the country.

The governor said it was pathetic that the nation had remained the biggest producer of cassava in the world yet no value had been added to it. According to him, Nigerians had continued to consume cassava the same way their forebears did.

"We should stop exportation of agricultural raw materials. We should rather add value to these raw materials. We should bring innovation into agriculture for farm produce to be converted into secondary product if we want to make money from agriculture.", he said.

"Nigeria is the biggest producer of cassava but sadly we have not added any value to it. We still eat it the same way our forefathers did", he said.

He gave an example of conflakes that has evolved into different variations in the market, stressing that nutritionist could do similar thing to cassava.

Governor Aregbesola said it was worrisome that approximately 40 billion dollars was being expended yearly in the country to import foreign foods accessible to only a few in the country.

He said his administration had invested heavily in the agriculture, feeding about 252000 pupils every school day from harvest of farmers in the state.


Aregbesola said a ban of further exportation of raw agricultural produce in the country will help the nation achieve food security.

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