AgroNigeria, an agro-business firm is set to expend N350 million in partnership with Nollywood entertainment and the creative industry to produce movies and television series to upscale youth attraction to agriculture.
Richard-Mark Mbaram, the chief executive officer (CEO), at a conference on Wednesday said the creative industry is an effective instrument to increase youth awareness of the benefits and wealth inherent in the country’s agriculture sector.
He said the fund will be sourced through corporate sponsorship across Africa particularly supporting partners, including the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), OXFARM and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT).
The television series are expected to display Nigeria’s agric potential as capable of driving Africa’s economic development if properly harnessed.
“We want to use the screen to demystify the notion that agriculture is a complex sector; hence collaborating with some renowned figures in the Nollywood industry to showcase the agric sector. The first phase in Nigeria will gulp N350 million while and will be spent at the continental level. AfDB, Oxfam as well as CIAT have merely endorsed the concept. We are raising the funds through corporate sponsorship across the continent,” he said.
Mbaram cited the Cock Crow at Dawn television series of the 1970s aired on Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) as one of the firm’s case study to pursue the Agro-Nolly series.
He said the rural areas where core farming activities were domiciled would be the focal points for the series, highlighting implications of government’s actions and inactions in the sector.
“It is time the political class in Nigeria begins to look at the implications of their actions and inactions. Nigeria must get its acts together to systematically take on the opportunities in the sector. We need to show and talk about issues as they occur like transportation and marketing. In other climes, transportation of farm produce is easy but in Nigeria, it is hard work because of the state of our roads,” he said.
