United States is set to invest over $15.7million in the agricultural sector to revive it and help make Nigeria become self sufficient in food.
The fund will be managed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity.
According to USAID, the 5-year $15.7million intervention programme seeks to sustainably link thousands of Micro, Small and Medium size Enterprises and producer organizations with high performing commercial actors in seven target states.
The Activity’s Chief of Party and Managing Director, Dr. Adam Saffer, disclosed this in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, during the stakeholders summit to launch the programme in the south east zone
Saffer said the programme will address the constraints of the overall agricultural business environment of Nigeria, and improve the levels of agriculture related investments.
He explained that the Activity will focus on five key value chains, namely rice, cowpea, soy, maize and aquaculture.
“In line with the U.S and Nigerian governments’ commitment to grow the non-oil based economy, this activity is pursuing a unique, robust business-centered strategy to increase the depth, breath, dynamism, and competitiveness of Nigeria’s agribusiness sector.
“The Activity is designed to create an improved environment by working toward four interrelated objectives: mitigate obstructive policies to make it easier to do business in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, broaden access to fiancé and promote investment opportunities in agriculture, and strengthen the capacity of agribusiness to expand and scale up operations”, he said.
Flagging off the programme, Governor David Umahi, who was represented by Secretary to Ebonyi State Government, Dr. Kenneth Ugbala said the USAID activity Is in line with the vision of the state government in ensuring that everybody in the state was committed to something.
“Even for us in the government sector, it is a near capital offence not to have a farm and that is why the Governor directed that even the civil servants should go to farm and they call major address because politics is gradually taking our minds from our mainstay. Our mainstay as people is agriculture and unfortunately, politics is becoming less lucrative”, he said.
The targeted states are Ebonyi, Benue, Kaduna, Niger, Kebbi, Delta and Cross River.