NaijaAgroNet
Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and
Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has predicted that Africa’s future
billionaires will emerge from the agriculture sector, reports NaijaAgroNet.
Adesina disclosed to NaijaAgroNet that at this time he wanted to help people become rich
through farming
“My goal is to make as many
millionaires, maybe even billionaires, from agriculture as possible,” he
declared.
Adesina revealed to NaijaAgroNet that African Development Bank is financing $170 million,
about N33,915,000,000 billion for a Nigerian project that aims to transform
agriculture, stressing that the project aims to create
agricultural entrepreneurs and producers by providing about 120,000 jobs along
the value chain of priority commodities.
NaijaAgroNet
reports that additional 20 million tonnes of key food crops including cassava,
rice, and sorghum will be added to the domestic food supply each year, if all
goes according to plan.
He explained that a significant part
of the project is developing outreach models in agriculture with young
entrepreneurs, aka youth agripreneurs, with the plan to promote
agriculture among other youth in their regions through peer education, training
and demonstration of agricultural best practices, and business skills in
value-chain development.
Adesina urged youth to
see agriculture as a business, not as a tool for
development. As African governments roll out plans to unlock wealth
from the soil,
Insisting on his prediction that a new,
wealthy population made up largely of young people will create jobs and bring
business opportunities to rural communities across the continent.
Cyriacus Nnaji/GEE
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