FAO urges Nigeria to improve value addition in agriculture

As the World Food Day approaches, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has urged the federal government to upscale and support value addition activities in agriculture to achieve zero hunger by 2030, it said in a report monitored by business a.m.

Suffyan Koroma, the country representative of FAO, during a walk  on Tuesday to commemorate the 2018 World Food Day said agricultural production would be accelerated if value addition initiatives are effectively adopted.

“Nigeria should be free of hunger by 2030 but that does not just rest on agriculture. It goes beyond agriculture because the complimentary services that agriculture needs to thrive are also as valuable as the products that we produce. For food prices to be lower, it means the value-added products, the services, the energy, the effective legislation should contribute. It even involves transportation, knowing what to produce and for what market,” he said.

Audu Ogbeh, the minister of agriculture and rural development in a speech at the occasion assured that the government, through the ministry, was working at improving the ease of doing business in the agriculture sector.

The minister, represented by Nasiru Adamu, the director of planning and policy coordination, said key constraints in the agricultural value chain, from the production to the consumption stages have been identified with a view to addressing them.

“This year’s World Food Day marks the 70th anniversary of the FAO and their 40-year presence in Nigeria. The theme can be actualised if the government, private sector, development partners work together to fight hunger, extreme poverty and malnutrition. This administration is bent on treating agriculture as a business,’’ he said.