Obasanjo spoke in Abuja on Friday at the signing of the implementation agreement on rice production between the Federal Government, Taraba and Dominion Rice Integrated Farms Limited of Kenya.
Obasanjo challenges African leaders on food production
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has challenged African leaders to find a lasting solution to food shortages in Africa
Obasanjo spoke in Abuja on Friday at the signing of the implementation agreement on rice production between the Federal Government, Taraba and Dominion Rice Integrated Farms Limited of Kenya.
He said the challenge had become imperative “because a lot of Africans are hungry”.
Obasanjo said stakeholders in agriculture must act fast by introducing measures that would bring about practical solutions to the problem.
He said food shortage should not be treated like a pending matter but one that required the urgency of purpose backed by political will to check civil unrest in the continent.
According to him, no progress would be made in the agricultural sector unless issues concerning agriculture were given the needed attention at the highest political level by the African leaders.
The former president identified non-affordability; non-availability of inputs, poor, ineffective value chain and negative returns on investment in agricultural productivity as some of the challenges hampering the attainment of sound agricultural model in Nigeria.
He expressed optimism that “the agenda will contribute toward achieving sustained agricultural productivity, employment creation, poverty reduction and national food security’’, he stated while calling on the three tiers of government to increase their support for rural youth farming programmes by creating “exciting initiatives and incentives to make farming more attractive”. (NAN)
