Nigeria can be food-secured if its estimated 170 million farming population is empowered to triple the yields, Sen. Abubakar Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, has said.
Bagudu spoke in Abuja during an interactive session and workshop on developing bankable business proposals for youths and women in agriculture.
The activity was organised by the African Development Bank Group.
The minister advocated effective training of youths and women in the application of science and technology to the agricultural value chain.
“That will not only improve the processes and increase yield, but will also make them bankable,” he said.
Bagudu said that investment in agriculture was critical and pointed out that Nigeria, with its huge absorptive capacity, was primed to utilise verse investments in all aspects of its national life.
“One of the amazing features of the Nigerian economy is its absorptive capacity, meaning the ability to absorb investment in various facets of our national life.
“The country’s population and stage of development has made it investment-ready,” he added.
The minister said that the role of public policy was to identify the needs of the people and help them surmount their challenges.
According to him, the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, in conjunction with the Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Communication and Digital Economy, have put in place a governance system at the 8,809 wards of the federation.
Other ministries involved in that initiative are youths development, arts, culture and creative economy, he said.
“The aim is to maximise the opportunities in the agriculture value chain,” he said.
He urged the youth to take advantage of the President Bola Tinubu administration’s focus on agriculture and food security under its Renewed Hope Agenda, and lead the way in modernising agriculture.
They can do this by applying science and technology to the development of their business plans, he explained.
Bagudu praised his colleagues, especially Sen Abubakar Kyari (Agriculture and Food Security); Mr Bosun Tijani, (Communications and Digital Economy); and Ms Jamila Bio-Ibrahim (Youth Development), for the collaborative efforts to improve the agriculture value chain.
He equally praised Ms Hanatu Musawa, the Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy, for the collaborative effort targeted at making the nation food secured.