The Agricultural Transformation Action Plan (ATAP) of the Federal Government will create 3.5 million jobs and add 20 million tonnes of food to the supply chain by 2015, says the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina.
Adesina, said to achieve this goal, the value chains of several priority crops were being developed under the transformation programme and he listed the crops as cassava, rice, cocoa, oil palm and sorghum as well as fishery and livestock.
"We are transforming this sector now so that we can move Nigeria from being an import dependent country to a self-sufficient country in food production and also become one of the exporting countries.
"The goal of agriculture transformation action plan is to add additional 20 million metric tonnes of food to our national food supply.
The minister said the transformation became imperative because agriculture remained the most crucial sector of the economy, employing 77 per cent of the work force and accounting for 44 per cent of the GDP.
He said it was unacceptable for Nigeria to spend N1.3 trillion annually importing basic items which it had the capacity to produce.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201202021324.html
No comments:
Post a Comment