By; AMOS TAUNA, Kaduna
An agriculturalist, Alhaji Nuhu Lawal Umar, Kaigaman Zazzau, has noted that for there to be food security in the country, government must allow private participation with the provision of the necessary incentives for the sector to thrive.
He on called on Nigerian elite and traditional rulers to participate more in the development of the sector as the only solution to food insecurity and the current economic underdevelopment in the country.
Umar who is the Kaduna State president of the Commercial Agricultural Development Association (CADA), while speaking with New Nigerian in Kaduna on Sunday, noted with concern that of the three necessary ingredients of sustainable farming, viz production, processing and marketing, the northern part of the country only produces but does not process or market the products.
According to him, it is the Southern part of Nigeria that has so far developed the potential to produce, process and market on a large scale.
“Undoubtedly, our national economy will never improve without the full participation of the North and the only way the North can contribute meaningfully is in the agricultural sector which in turn will never thrive without stimulating the processing and marketing aspects of farming,” he explained.
According to him, this could only be achieved when government hands off agriculture and allows its full pursuit in the hands of true practical farmers who must partner the elite and traditional institutions.
“The only source of job creation for the Nigerian masses is to harness his potential for the development of agriculture. Wealthy individuals and traditional rulers must join in the effort as government alone can’t do it.
“Only entrepreneurs can move the agricultural sector. As things stand, the North is overtly reliant on the South,” he observed.
The agriculturalist noted the importance of food and agricultural products processing in stimulating agricultural development, raising the degree of self-reliance, accelerating economic growth and sustained progress towards elimination of disparities.
He emphasized the necessity for wealthy individuals and traditional rulers in the North to invest in the development of food processing industries based on an integrated approach which would take into full consideration raw material production, post-harvest handling, storage, conservation, processing, marketing and distribution.
All these factors, he said, are interrelated, overlapping and interlocked and could not be planned and implemented separately from each other.
In this respect, he stressed that the food and agricultural products processing industries were fundamental to the solution of the most serious problems of improving food supplies and providing employment to the teaming jobless Nigerian population.
