Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, said on Tuesday that Nigeria is losing N1.3 billion annually to importation of milk and other dairy products.
Ogbeh said this in Kano when he paid a courtesy call on the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, at the Government House.
The minister said that the money being spent in importing the milk products should have been utilised in reviving the decayed agricultural sector.
He explained that the sector needed to be highly considered in the government’s commitment to diversify the economy in the wake of the dwindling oil revenues.
Ogbeh noted that if Nigeria desired to feed herself by the year 2050, then she should reactivate the agricultural sector to match the growing population, which he said could reach 500 million by that year.
He also revealed that the Namibian Government had recently requested the Federal Government to export 37,000 tonnes of maize at the rate of N4.7 billion.
The minister also called on the government to invest heavily in agriculture for economic development.
According to Ogbeh, agriculture in Nigeria is no longer a seasonal event, but an all-year occupation that involves irrigation farming to enable the government realise its agricultural development dream.
“I solicit for adequate funding to Nigerian farmers by the Federal Government.
“The fund would enable farmers to produce adequate farm produce using various technological and traditional processes, “ he said.
In his remarks, Ganduje said that his administration had recruited 729 extension workers across the 44 Local Governments of the state to boost food production.
He added that the government had provided 5,000 water pumps to be used for dry season farming.
The governor further revealed that the state government had procured 400 motorcycles for the extension workers.
According to him, the motorcycles will be used for supervision of farms even at the remote areas.
Ganduje added that these interventions were some of the state government’s policies toward enhancing irrigation farming and agricultural production in the state.
