The Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development – Alhaji Mohammed Sabo Nanono
AKWA IBOM – University scholars, farmers, representatives of government in agric sector say the impediments to agric business in Nigeria were due to policymakers and poor infrastructure.
They revealed that while poor infrastructure hinders transportation of goods, preservation and expansion, policymakers have not carried out enough advocacy for agribusiness to thrive in the country.
Participants listening to a presentation during the event.
Speaking during the first stakeholders meeting of Agribusiness Enterprise Development Programme, AEDP, a joint partnership programme of Faculty of Agriculture, University of Uyo and the El-kanis and Partners held in Uyo, the Executive Director, El-kanis & Partners Mr Moses Akpan, encouraged farmers to make use of social media to form a link that will attract off takers to their businesses.
He noted that the meeting was organized to ensure an inclusive programme development approach that puts into consideration the different views of trainers, development organizations, federal institutions and even participants in the programme.
“The problem we have in this country is lack of advocacy for agric business. In Nigeria, those benefitting from agric business are not the actual farmers.
“In agric sector, higher academic attainment is not necessary but interpreting the policy to others. The younger generation should be encouraged into agriculture.”
In his words, the Managing Director, El-Kanis & Partners Mr Ekanikpong Ben who set the tone for the event, noted that the meeting was to make participants aware of the innovations the company is pushing out to drive the growth of the agribusiness sector and how a working partnership with the Faculty of agriculture will help scale up this impact through the implementation of AEDP.
“AEDP will be a systematic training process, through which individual will gain agribusiness knowledge, develop skill by instructions and practical activities that will result in improved agribusiness performance* ” he said.
Dr. Aniekpeno Elijah, Head of Department Food Science and Technology, University of Uyo, while speaking, identified Biotechnology (GMO) as one of the globally approved ways to increase farm yields, and urged that such important aspect should not be left out in the training modules.
