NIHORT empowers farmers, youth on food security, waste management for wealth creation

The National Horticultural Research Institute, in fulfilling its drive to develop horticultural produce and products for local and export markets with attendant health, industrial raw materials and employment generation benefits, organised a two-day training workshop for more than 200 people in Ibadan, Oyo State, toward increased income and prosperity.

AfDB, NIRSAL partner on $300m youth agriculture project

Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), has disclosed that the Africa Development (ADB) is investing about $300m on a project called ‘Youth Enable’ that will create a successor farmer generation to replace the ageing ones.

FG inaugurates steering committee on recapitalisation of BoA

Inaugurating the Steering Committee and Project Delivery Team on behalf of the Vice President, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who chairs the committee, informed that the approach was to make the BoA more responsive to its mandate of serving as a veritable platform for providing loans to MSMEs, rural farmers, cooperatives and agro-allied industries, among others. 

The Minister said the approach was being preferred by the Federal Government as a pre-privatisation strategy to pave way for injection of financial and other requisite resources. He added: “It is therefore the conviction of my ministry that the approved restructuring and recapitalisation are critical to the revitalisation of the bank’s operations, as it will enable the bank serve as a strong catalyst for achieving government’s objectives.”

Minister of Agric Inaugurates Committee on National Farmers’ Day

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has inaugurated a committee to plan and organize the first ever National Farmers’ Day celebration in Nigeria.

Inaugurating the Committee in his office on Tuesday, 10^th January, 2017, the Minister stated that the National Farmers’ Day is to showcase agricultural equipment and products in Nigeria to encourage farmers to do more and return farming/agriculture to its place of pride.

He averred that getting agriculture into the psyche of Nigerian elite was still a problem, even among those in Government. Thus, the need to attract younger people into agriculture by presenting it as an enterprise worth participating in

He stated that the National Farmers’ Day will be an annual event where each State will showcase their efforts in agriculture, with the aim of lifting the sector to where it belongs, as well as make Nigerians respect and recognize farmers as major nation builders.

Nigeria’s agric minister Ogbeh wants Nigerians to adopt safe food processing, packaging technology

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has appealed to Nigerians to adopt safe food processing and packaging technology so as to reduce health challenges in the country.

In a statement by Dr Olukayode Oyeleye, the Special Adviser to the Minister on Media in Abuja on Monday, Ogbeh said that most food poisoning cases were caused by deficient food processing and packaging practices.

FG, AfDB to spend $175m on irrigation, markets

The Federal Government says it will spend $175 million to rehabilitate agricultural and ancillary social infrastructure in seven states under its Agricultural Transformation Support Programme Phase one.
Haruna Akwashiki, the National Coordinator of ATASP-1, disclosed the plan while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.

Making agriculture work for Nigeria

Following the alarm raised by the Minister of Agriculture, Audu Ogbeh, the Federal Government has appropriately come out with a bold plan to boost food production towards the Sustainable Development Goal of achieving food security by the year 2030. However, it is important that all the factors in the food production chain are included in the planning and implementation.

Has Boko Haram been destroyed?

The extent to which the military and the Federal Government have effectively disrupted, degraded, or destroyed Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East of the country is heavily contested. While President Muhammadu Buhari and the military high command believe vigorously that Boko Haram has been disrupted and dislodged from their base in many parts of the North, some people disagree.

Business | Industry Government moves to boost fish production, value-chain

Investment in shrimp production, export to aid economic growth

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has concluded plans to increase its support and commitment to boost fish production in the country, noting that fish business is a venture with a lot of potential investment opportunities in the country.

FG Seeks Private Sector Partnership to Boost Agricultural Sector

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has said that the federal government is currently looking to partner the private sector to boost agriculture value chain.
Also, Stanbic IBTC has also restated its commitment towards advisory and financing all components of the agricultural value chain.

CBN to consider Anambra’s request for N5bn Agric Intervention Fund – Emefiele

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has promised to consider Anambra State government’s request for N5b mechanised agriculture intervention fund to farmers in the state.
CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, disclosed in Awka, yesterday, during a one-day assessment visit

Mining and Agricultural Sectors Is Key Nigeria’s Quest For Improved Export Earnings

The Nigerian Government’s plan to diversify it’s revenue base will be largely driven by improved export earnings and has identified the mining and agriculture sectors as the key drivers towards achieving this.