Stakeholders in the nation’s agricultural sector have called for the modernisation of the agricultural sector as one of the ways of fixing Nigeria’s food systems to meet present and future demands.
This was contained in a 17-point communiqué issued at the end of the recently held 2021 Feed Nigeria Summit (FNS).
This year’s summit was hosted in collaboration with agencies including the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), among others, with the theme: “ POST-COVID19: A Repaired Food System, Pathway to a Revived Economy.”
The summit said the Federal Government must provide institutional support to enable SMEs to build the organisational structures and operational capacity necessary to attract investments and work with the private s e c t o r t o d e s i g n a n d implement agricultural blueprints and deploy more improved technology and mechanised agricultural equipment, while the National Assembly should lock in agricultural policies in order to prevent arbitrary reversal, and appropriate financing for the sector.
Stakeholders also advised that government to dialogue with the private sector on how to incorporate extension workers from l a r g e b u s i n e s s e s t o smallholder farmers, consult with key stakeholders including the various farming associations, development partners and state ministries o f a g ri c u l t u r e f o r t h e effective implementation of the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Plan (NATIP), develop agricultural i n t e r n s h i p s a n d s k i ll acquisition institutions, and also in partnership with interested s t a k e h o l d e r s, educate food exporters and producers on the dynamics and relevance of compliance to standard, among other recommendations.
The two-day summit which was held in Abuja, featured the Mezzanine Deal Brokerage Room, which was wholly d e d i c a t e d t o f o r g i n g partnerships for prosperity between farmer groups and service provider s in the ecosystem and also served as a bridge which connected various sectors, including traders, retailers, processors, providers of advisory and legal services; and technology stakeholders with the primary aim of revolutionising the broader agricultural community.
