Hardship: Economists advocate massive investment in food

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Former Programmes Director of the Nigeria Association of Economists, Chinedu Nsofor, has advocated for massive investment in food processing in Nigeria as a solution to the current economic situation in the country.

He said that he was not surprised, given the fact that it was earlier predicted for 2022 at their annual conference.

Addressing newsmen in Owerri on Friday, he said that after the prediction, as a way out, we advised the Federal Government to adopt what we called “the Joseph strategy.”

He stated the need for massive investment in food processing and storage in the 36 states and all local governments in Nigeria.

According to him, both the state and federal governments should be able to work in synergy to set up agricultural processing and storage facilities for agricultural products in the 36 states, depending on the commodities produced primarily by the respective states.

He said, ‘If that is done, there would be massive processing and storage of agricultural products in the various states of Nigeria, and this would help in eliminating waste of agricultural products that occurs due to poor processing and storage after harvest”.

He equally recommended that private sector-driven agro-holding firms should be established by both the governments at all levels and the private sector in all 36 states of Nigeria.

These agro-holding firms will invest in all the agro-value chains of their respective states and regions and will primarily be the off-takers of agricultural products in the various states and local governments.

He said: “Where there is a heavy presence of agricultural off-takers and heavy investment in processing and storage of agricultural products, we will immediately see how funds will be massively deployed in the agricultural sector, thereby encouraging the farmers to work harder since there are willing offtakers on the ground who will immediately pay for their products from the farms and convey them to the appropriate destination for processing and storage.”

He expressed optimism that such a strategy alone will address the problem of massive waste in the agricultural sector of Nigeria, thereby ensuring food sufficiency for the country even for exports since every local government and state now mandates agroprocessing and storage facilities.

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