The Nationwide Agricultural Growth Fund has reaffirmed its dedication to revolutionising Nigeria’s agricultural sector, positioning it as a cornerstone of financial and social growth.
NADF, in a press release on Sunday by its Govt Secretary, Mohammed Ibrahim, says it’s dedicated to remodeling the agricultural panorama in Nigeria.
Ibrahim stated this through the thirty second Convocation Ceremony on the Federal College of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, on Saturday.
“Agriculture is the heartbeat of our nation,” Ibrahim said, emphasising the sector’s pivotal position in driving innovation, financial development, and social transformation.
“It’s not nearly tilling the soil; it’s about cultivating concepts, nurturing change, and harvesting alternatives.”
Ibrahim highlighted NADF’s swift response to a devastating epidemic in Nigeria’s ginger-growing belt, which destroyed 80% of the area’s produce.
The fund supported affected farmers by serving to them transition to various crops comparable to maize and sorghum, mitigating the epidemic’s influence and aiding restoration.
He additionally mentioned NADF’s collaborations with international growth companions, together with GIZ and NITDA, to implement climate-smart agriculture and combine superior applied sciences comparable to UAVs, IoT, and blockchain into farming practices.
These improvements, he said, goal to enhance productiveness, sustainability, and resilience within the sector.
In addressing systemic challenges, Ibrahim underscored the significance of domestically related, demand-driven analysis. He introduced the completion of a Wants Evaluation of Agricultural Analysis Institutes and Federal Faculties of Agriculture, designed to determine commercially viable initiatives that might appeal to personal funding.
Chatting with the graduates, Ibrahim painted a promising image of agriculture’s potential to rework Nigeria.
“You might be future disruptors of this trade,” he stated, urging them to embrace agriculture as a contemporary, worthwhile, and fulfilling profession.
“Think about hundreds of thousands of farmers planting seeds that energy industries, stabilise communities, scale back poverty, and drive exports.”
He referred to as on the graduates to see themselves as greater than farmers, however as nation-builders, tasked with unlocking agriculture’s transformative potential for the nation.
Ibrahim’s deal with mirrored an optimistic imaginative and prescient for Nigeria’s agricultural sector, one which prioritises innovation, resilience, and inclusive development.
“Agriculture isn’t merely a livelihood; it’s a drive for nationwide transformation,” he declared.
“We’re not simply farmers; we’re nation-builders.”