Lawmaker advocates agri-business for revenue, agricultural exports

NaijaAgroNet:

Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu, representing Remo Federal Constituency, Ogun State, in the House of Representatives, has advocated urgent adoption of wholesale, agri-business as a strategy to earn revenue from processed agricultural exports, NaijaAgroNet reports.

  

Adebutu said, “Nigeria must now as a matter of urgency, adopt wholesale agri-business as a strategy to earn revenue from processed agricultural exports. Agriculture could serve us in several beneficial ways: Apart from becoming the ‘new oil’ and swelling the nation’s coffers, it would generate employment. The non-oil sector of the economy has the potential to serve as a springboard for industrialisation.”  

He added also that the Land Use Act must be amended to cater for small land owners and farmers who because of lack of documentation are unable to access bank and government intervention facilities to raise capital and inputs for their farming. Many economic lands, NaijaAgroNet learnt, are not properly utilised because of the documentary restriction imposed by the Land Use Act. He stated that a holistic reform of the land tenure system will unleash the great potential of the agri-business and reduce the massive unemployment plaguing the nation with its attendant security implications.

Speaking to the media, Hon. Adebutu stated that against the background of the recent Job Creation Report for the second quarter of 2015 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which said job creation in Nigeria has slumped by 70 per cent, he called for a strategic framework to be designed for the agriculture sector which will help transform it into a true platform for urgently creating jobs, directly and indirectly for Nigeria's youths, NaijaAgroNet also reports.

“Nigeria is blessed with swathes of arable land and human resources to pursue sustained local food production as a way of engaging the youth. We should utilise our youth demographics to boost agricultural production and reduce unemployment.

Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE. 

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Bill on mechanised agriculture for youth empowerment on the way--Rep-elect

 NaijaAgroNet

  

 A Bill that will enable the federal government to attract unemployed youths into mechanized agriculture is being planned, NaijaAgroNet reports.

According to information gathered by NaijaAgroNet, Alhaji Abdulsamat Dasuki, member-elect of the House of Representatives (APC-Sokoto) on Sunday promised to initiate a bill that would attract unemployed youths into mechanised agriculture.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto which was monitored by NaijaAgroNet, Dasuki stated that such legislation would ensure the availability of modern farming inputs at government controlled rates across the country.

He  further disclosed that the youth would be actively engaged in the system to enable them to contribute towards the nation’s socio-economic and political growth.

Dasuki, who will be representing Tambuwal/Kebbe Federal Constituency, said that federal and state governments will be encouraged to set up colleges of agriculture to train the youth and women in mechanised farming.

He said that the introduction of mechanised agriculture NaijaAgroNet learnt, will guarantee food security and  discourage food importation.

Cyriacus Nnaji /GEE

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