Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said all in the agriculture value chain must leverage innovation, technology, and collaboration to guarantee food security in the country.
Away from the use of cutlasses and hoes, the former president said embracing innovation and technology would revolutionise farming practices, reduce post-harvest losses, and ensure value addition in agribusiness.
The former president identified this imperative at the Agribusiness for Food Security Initiative summit held at the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, on Monday.
Noting that the challenge of ensuring food and nutrition security was now more crucial than ever, Obasanjo stressed that the journey to food security was a shared responsibility that demanded strategic collaboration, transformative solutions, collective action, unwavering commitment, and innovative thinking.
To guarantee a sustainable food system globally, Obasanjo identified agribusiness as crucial, calling on agripreneurs, policymakers, government agencies, and logistics providers to all play their roles in the agricultural value chain.
Obasanjo also called for investment in research, policies that ensure sustainable agriculture and collaboration to develop agribusiness, which will increase the food supply and the livelihood of farmers.
He stressed that food and nutrition security will grow employment generation, increase revenue earning, and generate wealth.
Furthermore, Obasanjo said the government must encourage women farmers to harness the potential of agribusiness involvement.
Obasanjo questioned the commission of funds to the federal ministry of agriculture with little or nothing to supervise, saying the state ministries of agriculture were in charge of land and had more to supervise.
Speaking in the same vein, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State said the state had adopted the idea of working with private investors and development partners to drive the state’s development agenda.
He assured support for farmers in the state with the provision of road infrastructure, water, and energy.
Pointing to the establishment of the Fashola Farms and the benefits to farmers on its corridors, Makinde said he was still keen on fulfilling his promise to establish the Eruwa and Akufo agriculture hubs.
Speaking, the Director General of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr. Simeon Ehul, emphasised the importance of synergy in addressing challenges facing the global food system.
He said leveraging partnerships, policy formulation, and collaboration will help build a resilient, inclusive good system, a world free from hunger, and a prosperous agricultural sector that benefits farmers.
Ehul expressed sadness that Nigeria still expended billions of dollars to import food that could be produced locally.
He described it as unacceptable that Africa suffered food insecurity as a result of the Russia-Ukraine war, whereas the continent had huge arable land that was not cultivated.
The IITA boss cautioned the continent against simply importing technology; rather, technology should be adapted to bring about the needed agricultural transformation.
The Director General, Oyo State Agribusiness Development Agency (OYSADA), said the state was keen to have a paradigm shift in its agribusiness strategy that includes increasing and redirecting the financing system to ensure food security and opening up more expanses of land for cultivation.
During a panel discussion, agribusiness investors in the state, including Mrs Oluyemisi Iranloye, Mr. Tony Jibunoh, Mr Amaju Pinnick, and Ms Ebun Feludu, asked the Oyo State government to be more intentional about clearing land for investors, fixing inner roads, guaranteeing the security of farms, and providing electricity and water supply.
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