Nigeria To Spend 26bn Naira On Dry Season Farming

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President Goodluck Jonathan has approved the release of 26 billion Naira to cater for the 2015 dry season farming in Nigeria.

The President announced the release of the funds on Friday at the AGRIFEST 2015, organised to mark the fourth year of aggressive agricultural reforms and implementation of his administration’s agriculture transformation agenda.

President Jonathan said the approval was to appreciate the contributions of rural farmers to massive food production in the oil rich nation and to encourage the farmers to crop three times within a year. He said that the strategy was expected to boost food production and eliminate hunger and poverty.

The event was held at the Eagle Square in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

‘The Farmers President’

The square came alive as over 20,000 farmers drawn from the 36 states of the federation converged on Abuja for the one day agriculture festival designed to showcase the results of the agriculture transformation agenda.

To attend the event, President Jonathan took a break from the presidential campaign tour.

He called himself ‘the farmers president’, as he receives cheers of acknowledgement from the farmers who thronged the various stands.

Before announcing the approval of the fund, President Jonathan kicked against importation of food items like rice, emphasising that the government would support Nigerian farmers to increase yield that would be enough for Nigerians.

The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, thanked the President for the foresight in the Agriculture sector.

“No other time could be appropriated to celebrate agriculture in Nigeria than now,” he said, calling on the farmers to ensure that they give full support to the President in order to receive more.

Some farmers that had benefited from the agriculture transformation programme expressed their gratitude to the government, saying that the grants had boosted their produce.

The event also showcased the advancement in the agriculture sector and the glamorous display of cultural dances to celebrate their belief that agriculture works.

Agriculture was the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy before the discovery of crude oil. After crude oil mining activities began in Nigeria’s south-south, attention shifted from agriculture to crude mining, making it the mainstay of the nation’s economy till date.

In the last few years, the government had laid more emphasis in diversifying the economy and shifting focus back to agriculture, something the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi okonjo-Iweala had stressed on several occasions.

Critics have, however, said that the government was not doing enough in its efforts to diversify the economy in the face of dwindling crude oil price.