The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Abubakar, on Friday, said that 4.2 million Nigerians have been lifted out of poverty, through the agriculture sector in two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The minister disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja, to commemorate the 2021 World Food Day under the theme: \u201cOur Actions are our Future. Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life\u2019\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs part of our effort to ensure food security, a total of 446 potable water points were provided to rural communities nation-wide with 286,500 households having access.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have also installed 11,952 electrical facilities, as well as the provision of 5Nos, 500KVA transformers to the rural areas, to facilitate access to electricity for food processing activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn addition, through our various empowerment initiatives along production, processing and marketing of agricultural commodities, we have lifted a total of 4,205,576 Nigerians out of poverty in the last two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is going to continue as part of Mr President\u2019s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within the next 10 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is on record that agriculture was the only sector in Nigeria that recorded marginal growth during the COVID-19 lock-down period, spanning through the 4th quarter of 2019 to the first and second quarters of year 2020 with an average contribution of 24.23 per cent to the country\u2019s GDP,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe impressive 2021 second quarter growth rate of 5.01 per cent of the country\u2019s Gross Domestic Product released on Aug. 19 by the National Bureau of Statistics has crop production and food manufacturing as major contributors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Green Imperative programme, which is expected to address the long standing problem of agricultural mechanisation is underway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe programme would ensure adequate supply of tractors and other implements to farmers on a public-private partnership arrangement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe model adopted is sustainable and would ameliorate the challenge of low production, due to lack of sufficient machinery,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also disclosed that the Agricultural Trust Fund Bill had passed second reading at the National Assembly which, if passed into law, would address emergency funding for agricultural activities in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the minister acknowledged the challenges bedevilling the sector\u2019s productivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe insecurity bedevilling many farming communities in the North has greatly affected food production in the last three to four years, and the farmer\/herder clashes, banditry, cattle rustling all posed serious setbacks to our food systems,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He expressed optimism that the National Livestock Transformation Plan, would address all the problems associated with the country\u2019s livestock production activities and guarantees adequate supply of quality meat for domestic consumption and for export.<\/p>\n\n\n
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Mohammed Abubakar, on Friday, said that 4.2 million Nigerians have been lifted out of poverty, through the agriculture sector in two years. The minister disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja, to commemorate the 2021 World Food Day under the theme: \u201cOur Actions are our Future. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[701],"tags":[71],"class_list":["post-37335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-agriculture","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"yoast_head":"\n