Jonathan Canvasses Speedy Diversification Of Economy

Following the recent decline in the price of crude oil, President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said it had become imperative to rapidly diversify the nation’s economy away from dependency on crude oil, and focus more on agriculture. He noted that agriculture sector remains vital for the economy of Nigeria. The president made the remarks at the launch of Youth Empowerment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) and Fund For Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) at the Banquet Hall, Presidential Villa in Abuja.  FAFIN, according to Jonathan, would deploy $100million towards providing affordable long term financing to support the development of small and medium scale agri-businesses. He said if the nation produces its own food, “we will save scarce foreign exchange, reduce dependence on food imports, while reviving our rural areas and creating wealth for our farmers.” Jonathan noted that the decline in the price of crude oil did not take his administration by surprise, adding that in the past three years, it had been engaged in a carefully designed and implemented agricultural transformation agenda. “Our massive food production efforts, which led to the production of 21 million metric tons of food in the past three years, have created a buffer and mitigated the impact of the devaluation on food prices. Our food import bill declined from N1.1 trillion in 2009 to N624 billion by December of 2013, and continues to decline. Our electronic wallet system, which allows us to reach farmers with subsidised seeds and fertilizers via mobile phones, has become the backbone of a more modern agricultural sector. Over 14 million farmers have received their subsidised farm inputs through the e-wallet system. Over $5.6billion of new private sector investments have also come into the agricultural sector, which clearly shows that local and foreign businesses see Nigeria’s agricultural sector as very viable for investments. Agriculture has become the new wealth sector for Nigeria. ” Jonathan said. The president said he was confident that several young millionaires and even billionaires of Nigeria would come out of the agriculture sector. 

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