Nigerian economy would increase exponentially from the current 23 per cent to over 50 per cent in the next 10 years.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Abubakar, said that the growth would be propelled by the contribution of agricultural entrepreneurs.
The minister said adding value to agricultural produce would ensure that President Muhammadu Buhari’s vision of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next decade is actualised.
He spoke at the opening of a roundtable discussion with stakeholders in agro-preneur and food safety segment and award presentation as part of activities to mark 2021 World Food Day ceremony, themed: “Our Actions are our Future, Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Life.”
The engagement was organised by the ministry in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) to commemorate the 2021 World Food Day celebration.
The minister said sharing success stories and accomplishments among operators in the agriculture value chain would serve as motivation to the teaming youth, “who are the future of the country to see agriculture as promising sector they could build a successful career.
It is the involvement of entrepreneurs like you that would provide innovative solutions to the immense challenges in the sector.”
He assured that the drafting of the forthcoming National Agriculture and Technology Innovation Plan (NATIP) of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, would consider the report of roundtable discussion for possible inputs.
He pointed out agriculture had a long-standing role in Nigeria’s economy with 70 per cent of the population being engaged in the sector.
Citing data by the National Bureau for Statistics (NBS), he said the sector contributed 23.78 per cent to GDP thus topping seven other sectors with the most contribution.
