President Muhammadu Buhari has urged agencies involved in agriculture to further streamline their priorities to include more youths in driving modern methods of farming. He also gave an assurance that an enabling environment will be created for full participation for all those interested.
The President made the call on Tuesday in Abuja at the launch of the National Young Farmers Scheme, designed by the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) to spur more youth interest in farming, the President said agriculture remains the backbone of the Nigerian economy, being the largest contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). “We will do more to expand, modernize and revolutionize our agriculture, which is our most important asset,” he was quoted to have said in a statement signed by media aid, Femi Adesina.
“I have directed that all NALDA’s abandoned farm estates be retrieved to enable thousands of our young men and women to be engaged in farming. This Administration will be achieving agricultural mechanization through this scheme and I am confident that Nigeria under my watch, we will achieve food security in producing most of what we eat. In good harvest years we may even export our surpluses and earn foreign exchange.”
President Buhari also noted that the resuscitation of NALDA will make Nigeria food sufficient and in a few years, the country will begin to earn more revenue from exports of agricultural commodities. “By virtue of my passion and desire for agriculture and also as a farmer myself, I am directly supervising NALDA as an authority under the Presidency.