Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba
The Federal government has commenced the process of drafting policies and instruments to help with the urgent diversification of the Niger Delta economy into agriculture.
The plan is in collaboration with technocrats and development partners and supported by the Rome-based Agencies (RBAs): the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, while declaring the stakeholders’ meeting open in Abuja, said the region has more than oil to offer the country.
He noted that the initiative seeks to launch emergency agricultural intervention projects to quickly diversify the region and create jobs for the vast majority of youths who are without jobs.
According to him, the move is further expected to shield the country from the negative consequences occasioned by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and will be accommodated in the proposed successor national development plans which are presently being drafted by stakeholders.
He said the initiative was particularly timely, given that the diverse and severe impacts of the pandemic continued to be felt across the world especially the considerable reduction in the demand and prices of oil in the global market and the ravages in most sectors of the economy.
The Minister described the region as the largest wetland in Africa endowed with loamy soil which is suitable for the production of both food and cash crops.
‘‘The region falls within the tropical rain forest zone with an ecosystem that is highly diverse and supportive of numerous species of terrestrial and aquatic, flora and fauna and human life.”
‘‘The present economic realities underscored the compelling need for the country to pay attention to agriculture as low hanging fruit and an alternative to oil.”
“It is no longer news that the global narratives and trends are fast changing, as oil is gradually losing its relevance. Countries are moving towards electronic machines and automobiles as well as solar energy. “It is imperative that government must change its policy direction and do something different this time around,” he said.
Agba while speaking on the initiative, maintained that the agricultural projects is designed to benefit the Niger Delta and the nation’s non-oil economy especially in the production of food in appreciable abundance and the attendant creation of additional industries, reduction in the unparalleled economic shock due to the ongoing pandemic, and reduction in security issues in the area thereby leading to improved security for all.
He however called for the support and cooperation of the states and local governments, private sector, domestic and foreign investors, development partners, traditional institutions, farmers associations, host communities and all well-meaning Nigerians to enable the project to succeed in repositioning the economy to the sustainable path of growth.
He said, ‘‘The ultimate objective of the federal government is to achieve positive impact in the provision of jobs for the huge population and lifting of 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in line with the desire of President Muhammadu Buhari within the next 10 years.’’
In his contribution, the representative of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Country Representative in Nigeria, Mr Suffyan Koroma, said that IFAD is at present funding a $60 million- rural development projects in the Niger Delta.
Koroma, however, informed that the financing window had just begun under the technical leadership of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Federal Ministry of Finance as the representative of the borrower.