FG targets 10m mt of food export by 2019



ABUJA- THE Federal Government has disclosed that 10 million metric tonnes of food will be exported from the country to other parts of Africa and beyond by 2019.
This was stated by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, while giving the assertion that with development of the agricultural value chains the feat could be achieved based on the current performance and contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, GDP, by 22 per cent and 75 per cent share of total non-oil exports by the sector.
Ogbeh also acknowledged that the sector could achieve this if the private sector remains driver of agribusiness activities, and are expected to take the lead, while government plays the role of regulator and policy maker by providing the enabling environment for the sector to thrive.
He said: “Our population of over 170 million makes us a huge market. We must not be market for others. We must grow our own food. We must feed ourselves. We must create markets locally and internationally for our farmers, and unlock our enormous potentials in agriculture to free Nigeria from Economic Recession within six months.
“Our new goal is to attain self-sufficiency in food production and export 10 million metric tonnes of processed food annually to the ECOWAS sub-region and beyond by 2019.
“It is in the light of this that my Ministry launched a time-bound aggressive plan to unlock Nigeria’s agricultural potential through the Agriculture Promotion Policy (2016-2020), ‘The Green Alternative’, the purpose of which is to provide a disciplined approach to building a resilient agribusiness ecosystem that will solve the core issues at the heart of limited food production and delivery of quality standards.”

According to the Minister the policy intends to unlock the potentials of the agricultural sector through the creation of enhanced opportunities for private sector investment, and ensuring additional steady inflow of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the sector.

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