FCTA Agribusiness will drive technology in food production – Minister
By Idu Jude
FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has observed that the upcoming Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo, would help to complement the administration’s efforts in providing the enabling platform for farmers to take agriculture to an enviable height before the global community.
The minister made this observation during a sensitization dinner organized by the FCT Administration towards the hosting of the 3rd Edition of the Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo, come next year.
Aliyu noted that the conference has become a platform where farmers and investors engage with Agro-allied companies for the purpose of injecting new technologies and practices that would help facilitate the adoption of global best practices in all aspects of production and processing in the Agricultural sector.
She further noted that faced with the challenge of the daily influx of Nigerians into the nation’s capital for greener pastures, the administration has placed priority on creating opportunities in the agricultural sector with a view to engaging the teeming population in meaningful ventures.
The minister affirmed that as the nation grapples with the threat of insecurity and climate change, all hands must be on deck to create an atmosphere for stakeholder synergies that guarantee efficient and sufficient food production in the context of social equity and threat mitigation.
She said: “It is a responsibility that must be addressed collectively and not just by government alone. With this in place, we will continue to grow our economies together, eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and youth restiveness, thereby entrenching food security”.
On his part, the FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, said the agricultural sector has continued to be among the contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
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He added that the sector had provided the needed foreign exchange earnings, the foundation upon which the initial infrastructural development of Nigeria was built.
Adesola maintained that the convergence of Agribusiness entrepreneurs and exhibitors in Abuja would further open the doors of opportunities to farmers to acquire new skills and technologies that would help boost production and processing activities.
While allying to the fears of business concerns about the security situation in the FCT, the Permanent Secretary assured investors that the administration was working closely with the relevant security agencies and community leaders, to promptly neutralize any emerging security threat.
