By Joyce Remi- Babayeju
As the FCT prepares for it’s Agricbusiness Expo, the FCT Minister of State, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, has said that the upcoming Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo, would help to complement the administration’s efforts in providing an enabling platform for farmers for best global practices via technologies.
Aliyu made this observation during a sensitization dinner organised by the FCT Administration towards the hosting of the 3rd Edition of the Agribusiness Innovation Conference and Expo which would be hosted in the Federal Capital Territory in 2022.
Aliyu said that the conference is a platform for farmers, investors and Agro-allied companies for the purpose of injecting new technologies and practices that would help facilitate the adoption of global best practices in all aspects of production and processing in the Agricultural sector.
She further noted that with the challenge of daily influx of Nigerians into the nation’s capital for greener pastures, the administration has placed priority on creating opportunities in the agricultural sector with a view to engaging the teeming population in meaningful ventures.
The minister stressed that with the threat of insecurity and climate change challenges all hands must be on deck to create an atmosphere for stakeholder synergies that guarantee efficient and sufficient food production in the context of social equity and threat mitigation.
She said: “It is a responsibility that must be addressed collectively and not just by government alone. With this in place, we will continue to grow our economies together, eradicate poverty, reduce unemployment and youth restiveness, thereby entrenching food security.”
FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olusade Adesola, said the agricultural sector has continued to be among the contributors to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.
He added that the sector had provided the needed foreign exchange earnings, the foundation upon which the initial infrastructural development of Nigeria was built.
Adesola maintained that the convergence of Agribusiness entrepreneurs and exhibitors in Abuja would further open the doors of opportunities to farmers to acquire new skills and technologies that would help boost production and processing activities.
While allying the fears of business concerns about security situation in the FCT, the Permanent Secretary assured investors that the administration was working closely with the relevant security agencies and community leaders, to promptly neutralize any emerging security threat.
