Nigeria’s Food Security Demands 312,000 Metric Tons Of Seeds – Agric Minister
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, highlights need for 312,000 metric tons of seeds for Nigeria’s food and Global security in 2024.
Kyari stresses importance of seeds at Stakeholders’ Forum on Seed System Development, hosted by Feed-the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, in Abuja.
Dr. Haruna Suleman, Director of National Food and Strategic Reserve, represents the Minister.
The theme of the forum is, “Enhancing Seed Systems Development for Improved Food Security: A Paradigm of USAID Interventions in Northeast Nigeria’’.
Kyari said the ministry had outlined series of critical pathways to solve the food security challenges in Nigeria.
He explained that the pathways were streamlined into short, medium and long term for a period of four years, which includes the immediate production of 31 million metric tons of grain in 2024.
According to him, for success to be achieved, factors to be addressed are the seed availability, affordability and adaptability, paying particular attention to food security.
“Major crops that are most concerned are rice, maize, wheat, sorghum and cowpea in 2024.
“We require about 312,000 metric tons of seed which is to enable us to achieve the required metric tons.”
The minister said the Federal Government had developed programmes to support farmers with high quality seeds for rice, wheat, maize, cassava and other inputs at a subsidised rate.
He said the Nigerian seeds development required partnership and synergy among all key stakeholders that would facilitate a model of collaboration built on knowledge sharing, skill exchange, expertise, competitiveness and mutual benefit.
