The minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has said that the country could put the growing population into good use by increasing local production of food crops.
He said, “In four years time our population will be 200 million people and we can put that population into good use if we have the capacity and become more organised like the Chinese or Indians.”
The minister maintained that there is an urgent need for the country to grow more food crops in order to meet the demands of its growing population and seek for more support from the international community towards the sustainable development of the agriculture sector. He said the sector would require international support in its programmes and initiatives, such as the cattle breeding improvement, climate change, standardisation and certification of food products, seed development and improvement, capacity building, among others.
Ogbeh further sought the assistance of The Netherland Government on area of machineries that could convert shafts from rice mills in the country to briquettes for household uses, adding that the present administration was poised to take life back to the rural areas, mostly for women and the youths.
The Netherlands’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr John Groffen who led the delegation said that the purpose of their visit was to explore areas of collaboration with the ministry, describing the challenges facing the nation’s agricultural sector as enormous. He assured the ministry of the continued support of The Netherlands Government in up-scaling the growth of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
