A friend once told me how tomatoes and other stuff literally rot away in the sun in Benue after harvest. Thus I was very happy when President Good Luck, Governor Suswan attended Tony Elemelu and Transcorps new Terago Juice Plant opening, a new first of it's kind, juice concentrate facility in Nigeria in Benue. The plant I hear can produce 26,000 metric tons of orange, mango juice concentrate per annum. I also hear Nigeria spends $1b importing juice concentrates so this is a good example of import substitution and a welcome jobs, jobs, jobs to Benue.
I am also reading how Governor Amechi of Rivers is getting into joint venture with folks to turn Rivers to an Agric exporter, he has a Cassava initiate with the Dutch, large scale poultry with the Zambians, a banana plantation with the Mexicans, large scale fish farming in Buguma, an upcoming sea fish project with the Chinese and the injection of N20b into RISONPALM. The $140m Israeli backed farm settlement system involves the creating of an Agro Industrial City Project. The Israeli firm LR Group will contribute $40m and Rivers $100m. It involves over 3000 hecters of virgin land which will be developed, and will build from scratch 100 homes in 3 centers close to each other, with water, power, schools, hospitals etc. These centers will do commercial and Agro processing. The selected farmers will work for the project but will also have their own 2 hectare farms within The complex. In effect a kibbutz. Again Jobs jobs jobs
The Lagos state government is now tapping into the FGN rice transformation plan, Governor Babatunde Fashola has a Special Assistant on Rice, and the chap is developing rice fields, putting graduates to work in farms and Fashola even wants to buy land outside Lagos (in the Ogun Osun River Basin Authority) to grow rice. The State has also set up a joint Private and Public sector Rice transformation committee to benefit from the FGN NIRSAL project. All I see is jobs jobs jobs
I am also reading how the TY Danjuma foundation is launching a Agro Business grant scheme with the NYSC that will provide seed grants to NYSC graduates interested in starting sustainable Agro business. Yep jobs jobs jobs
If you notice, I have posted Private sector, State and Individual initiates all tapping into agriculture. Agriculture is 44% of our GDP and employs 80% of Nigerians. Any push or vision to industrialize and reduce poverty in Nigeria that does not focus on Agriculture is a non starter. Keke Napep cannot eliminate poverty, Agriculture can.
So ask your Governor, even your LGA what they are doing about Agriculture today.
