Nigeria: National Symposium underway in Abuja
A National Symposium on Resolving the Risk in the Agricultural Value Chain is underway in Abuja, the Nigerian Federal Capital. The national symposium is on focusing attention to fix the bottlenecks in the nation’s agricultural value chain.
Organized by Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), was declared open by Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbe. Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina the president of the Africa Development Bank, AfDB, is a highlight speaker at the event.
According to the Chief Executive of PTCIJ, Mr. Dapo Olorunyomi Chief, the event is the first of its kind in Nigeria and a platform designed to foster productive discussion among all stakeholders ranging from farmers at the beginning of the value chain to consumers at the end of it, all geared towards helping the country sharpen its focus on agriculture and chart a consistent forward-moving course for the sector.
At the end of this symposium aimed at having a compendium of workable, deployable strategies for transitioning the agricultural sector to the frontline of economic sustainability as Nigeria looks beyond oil and gas to agriculture as a viable alternative source of revenue.
The organizers also indicated that for Nigeria’s agricultural sector to take a redoubtable and frontline posture that matches with the vision of a robust national planning objective, there is a need to resolve the challenges and bottlenecks that have constrained the sector for too long.
They decry that the country is losing huge millions in revenue and see clear roadmaps in resolving the risks currently associated with the sector, from importation to infrastructural deficits. The symposium holding at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Central Business District Abuja has Agriculture stakeholders including students of agriculture in various tertiary institutions of around the Federal Capital Territory in attendance.
