BY: Mohammed Taoheed, ABUJA
The Federal Government of Nigeria has been calling for the urgent intervention and active participation of the private sector in the agro food processing industry to ensure food security.
Niyi Adebayo, the Minister of Trade and Investment, gave this charge on Tuesday in Abuja at the ongoing 46th conference of the Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST), with the theme: ‘Advancing National Development, Wealth Creation and Food Security through Food Processing and Preservation.’
Represented by the Director of Commodities and Export Department, Suleiman Audu, the Minister stated that there is the need for government collaborate with the private sector to ensure food security.
According to him: “It is instructive to inform you that despite these efforts by Government to create food security there is a strong need to work in synergy and the private sector to attract investment in food processing and preservation to attack hunger in the country.
“I am confident that the conference will find sustainable ways to advance national development through the creation of food security that will not only complement the crude oil sector but would equally serve as a force towards revenue generation for the nation and job creation for the unemployed youths,” Adebayo said.
In his keynote address, Alfred Olajide, the Managing Director of Coca-Cola Nigeria, also added that Nigeria needed to shun wastage of her agro produces and improve on her agro export packaging.
Olajide, who was represented by the Director of Public Affairs, Coca-Cola Nigeria, Amaka Onyemehikwe, stressed that:
“Each year, Nigeria struggles to increase agricultural production, but the more we produce, the higher the post-harvest losses and poor remuneration for farmers and the poorer and disincentive our farmers become due to avoidable wastages.
“In the 1960s, Nigeria had over 60 per cent of global palm oil exports, 30 per cent of global ground exports, and 15 per cent of global cocoa exports. By the 2000s, Nigeria global share of exports of each of these crops was five per cent or less. Today, the country is a net importer of agricultural produce, with imports totaling N 630 billion. Today, we are faced with the reality of inadequate application of Science and Technology for food production and processing for high value addition to ensure sustainable food security and wealth creation,” Olajide said.
Similarly, Prof. Maduebibisi Iwe, the National President of NIFST, told Nigerian leaders to take serious the issue of national development and food security.
