FG Pledges To Increase Agric Output Next Year

The federal government has rolled out its 2025 measures to achieve food security, aiming to ensure no Nigerian goes to bed hungry.

The measures were disclosed when the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, hosted a delegation from the National Defence College, Kenya, led by Major General (Rtd) Stephen Mutuku, in his office in Abuja.

He stated that the ministry had been mandated by the present administration under the leadership of President Bola Tinubu, to focus on tackling food insecurity while developing Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

This, he noted, prompted the renaming of the ministry from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to FMAFS, underscoring the president’s emphasis on food security as a key component of his Renewed Hope Agenda.

He said, “Food security is directly our major focus. We are to act in a manner that we can engender the growth of our economy through diversification and, most importantly, create jobs for our teeming youths.

“We are to also promote inclusivity because in agriculture if you can bring in women, for example, into various value chains of your activities, you will increase the productivity of that sector.

“Come the year 2025, the ministry will be having more programmes coming on board with target beneficiaries, expected deliverables, and outcomes,” he said.

Speaking further, Abdullahi decried the current post-harvest losses, which have led to low yields for the country’s farmers.

THE WHISTLER had reported that Nigeria may lose its position as the world’s second-largest ginger producer following a 70 per cent loss of the crop. This comes as ginger farmers have incurred financial losses amounting to N12bn due to an outbreak of ginger blight, also known as ginger tuber rot disease.

Addressing the challenges of pre-and post-harvest losses, Abdullahi assured that the trend would be controlled, expressing optimism about increased agricultural productivity by 2025.

He further congratulated the delegation for being part of the National Defence College, which he described as a very prestigious institution.

He noted, “In every country, National Defence Colleges are prestigious institutions, and we expect nothing less than looking at national security strategy and how it will help improve national, regional, and global security.”

In his remarks, Mutuku stated that the delegation, from Course No. 27, was visiting the western region to learn about Nigeria’s security and strategy efforts.

He emphasized that for the team, food security was central to national security and strategy because, without it, the nation’s stability would be jeopardized.

FG Pledges To Increase Agric Output Next Year is first published on The Whistler Newspaper