By Victoria Onehi
The Minister of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, has commended the Government of Gambia for seeking to partner with Nigeria to improve food production and economic growth.
Sen. Kyari made this commendation during the courtesy visit of the Gambian delegation led by the Gambian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, FMALFS, Dr. Dembal Sabally to his office in Abuja, recently.
He stated that it has been a tough journey for the present government to arrive at being food sufficient and have opted the game in terms of production through development partners like FAO, World Bank amongst others to increase production.
The Minister pointed out that since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into power in 2023, and has been committed to making sure that Nigeria is food secured, which propelled him to give a marching order that Nigery must achieve food security and food sovereignty.
Sen. Kyari further revealed that the President declared a state emergency on Food Security and changed the Ministry’s name from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security which was a deliberate attempt to tackle food insecurity arising from climate change, Covid_19, devastating effect of flooding amongst others.
Speaking further, he noted that due to that effect , the Ministry has invested over N200 billion in terms of intervention and has also given out free of charge Two Million, One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira fertilisers to support farmers across the country.
In a statement, Sen Kyari added that the Ministry also felt the need to take up Mechanisation to make agriculture a business and ease off because of the dredging involved in agriculture.
He also pointed out that in 2023 farmers were also assisted with imported wheat seeds and as at last year, no seed was imported, because we have developed our own seeds internally and were able to cultivate almost 500 metric tons of wheat within Nigeria to boost productivity through our various research institutes and Agencies under the Ministry.
The Minister highlighted the challenges of rice in Nigeria to include affordability and availability, which is one challenge Mr. President has given them to tackle.
He, therefore, stressed on the benefits of the out grower scheme, noting that the scheme has turned Agriculture around. “For us, the scheme covers the challenges because we believe that the small-scale farmers should also have access to long term financing. The out grower scheme is a short term between planting and harvesting (which is within 4-5months), so there is no long-term investment””, the Minister revealed.
In his remarks, the Gambian Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security, Dr. Dembal Sabally expressed satisfaction and appreciation over the reception and thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support.
He stated that Nigeria has overcome rice insufficiency, of which Gambia is still struggling to achieve self-sufficiency in rice production, pointing out that they import over 80% of their rice, which is affecting their economy.
The Gambia Minister revealed that his team, who had been on ground to understudy Nigeria’s rice cultivation processes, visited Kebbi State, one of the rice mills and saw the irrigation processes. He said they intend to go and replicate the same in Gambia.
He further stated that few things that stood out to them, was the out-grower scheme success in Nigeria which is one thing his team has picked up, from post harvest management, mechanisation, seeds, packaging, and the trade of rice.
Dr. Sabally, therefore, seeks for a Rice Ambassador to accompany them to replicate what they have learnt to enable them to be rice self sufficient.
The highlight of the event was the presentation of the Ministry’s documents, NAPTIP 2022-2027, National Agricultural Transformation Agenda, and a plaque to the Gambian Minister.
In attendance were Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, the Permanent Secretary, FMAFS, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, Permanent Secretary of the Gambia, Directors of the Ministry and Development Partners of the Ministry.
