Food crisis looms in Nigeria

The North West Regional Manager of Dangote Fertilizer Ltd, Mr Wilson Kolawole has expressed great concern over the looming food crisis in Nigeria if agriculture is not given the desired attention.

He said out of the 70.8 million available arable land in Nigeria, only 43 million of the land is being cultivated currently, saying this posed a danger to food production.

The Dangote employee, however, said there is a need for government to provide all necessary incentives to encourage farmers to boost farming activities.

Mr Kolawole made this assertion in Kano at a workshop organised for 50 journalists to build their capacities on ethics, skills and personal qualities for reporting in the digital age.

According to him, “the food we have today may not sustain Nigeria for the next 10 years” noting that there is a need to step up efforts towards encouraging people to embrace agriculture to avoid the looming food crisis.

Mr Kolawole, therefore, disclosed that in the Dangote company’s determination to help solve the food needs of the masses and make Nigeria self-reliant in food production, the group went into fertilizer manufacturing as a sure way of boosting agricultural yield.

He, therefore, disclosed that in the northwest
region of Nigeria has 26,606,500 hectares of land available for farming, added however only 13.4 million of the land is being utilized for agricultural purposes.

“The Dangote Group now have a mobile soil testing van that goes out to test lands and tell farmers what to farm in their lands for optimal yields”.

He added that the vision and views of the Dangote companies is to enhance Nigeria’s self-reliant in food production by improving crop productivity for the farmers

He then urged local farmers to acquaint themselves with modern ways of applying fertilizer to their farming activities, so as to pave the way for them to reap good harvests.

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