President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday maintained that the only way out of poverty in Nigeria is through diversification of the economy.
Diversification of the economy through agriculture and solid minerals mining, he said, is the way to go.
He spoke in Kebbi State while officially launching N40 billion
“Anchor Borrowers’ Programme” organized by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for rice farmers across the country and launching of the 2015/2016 dry farming season.
The ABP programme aims to create an ecosystem to link out-growers (Small Holder Farmers) to local processors.
To tackle challenges of poor funding, the CBN has set aside the sum of N40 billion from the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) for farmers at a single-digit interest rate of 9.0 per cent.
Stressing that the discovery of oil in Nigeria ought to have complemented her agricultural productivity, President Buhari said it was almost allowed to replace agriculture to the detriment of the country.
According to him, the falling oil prices in the international market have necessitated urgent need to diversify the economy.
He said: “Economic diversification is no longer an option for us as a nation. It is the only way to reclaim economic momentum and drive to prosperity. The only way to do this is to develop our agricultural production.”
He said that the ABP will go a long way in achieving food security for the country.
He added: “In 2014 for example, the total demand for rice in Nigeria was estimated to be about 6.1 million metric tonnes of which 2.6 million metric tonnes was produced locally while the rest was imported.
“Equally, the demand for wheat in Nigeria is now about 5 million metric tonnes, a significant amount of which can be produced locally.”
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