Sunday, October 06, 2013

Strengthen Agro Policy - NESG Recommends

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) has reiterated the need for a legislative backing for key components of the federal government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). This formed part of the recommendations of the recently concluded Nigerian Economic Summit (NES19) presented by the NESG at the second meeting of the Presidential Eminent Persons Group on Nigeria’s Agriculture, held in New York, USA.

According to a statement, during the meeting, the NESG Chairman, Mr. Foluso Phillips, presented recommendations of the recent NES, which was held in Abuja. It was recommended at the summit that a more holistic approach be taken towards the development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria.

Also, the participants had stressed that more needed to be done to “connect the dots” in relation to ICT, Infrastructure, research and development financing and public-private partnerships, if Nigeria was truly to become a global agricultural power house.

Some other areas by Philips were to build the capacity of ministries, departments and agencies, to understand, own and implement the ATA; accelerating the implementation of Staple Crop Processing Zones; privatising the existing commodities exchange and expanding the size /sustainability of the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme.

The meeting also had in attendance President Goodluck Jonathan; President of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates; President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Kanayo Nwanze; and Former Secretary General, United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, among others.

De Edge Farms

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