Nigeria: USAID Partners 10 States to Boost Agriculture
United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is to partner 10 states in Nigeria to ensure increased agricultural productivity and guarantee food security for the citizenry.
USAID Mission Director, Ray Kirkland, who stated this on Thursday at the National Agriculture Investment Plan Stakeholders’ Workshop in Abuja, added that in the next five years USAID would closely work with the selected states to boost the production of rice, cassava, cowpeas, sorghum and aqua culture.
Kirkland said since 2005, USAID has been implementing a large demand-driven private sector-oriented activity known as ” Maximise Agriculture Revenue and Key Enterprises in Targeted Sites (MARKETS) in Nigeria”.
It is aimed at working with agro-processors, credit organisations, suppliers of agricultural inputs and farmers’ and producers’ organisations to increase productivity, output and incomes of small farmers.
He expressed optimism that with MARKETS, Nigeria would once again become West Africa’s bread basket and net exporter of agricultural-based products.
Kirkland said the United States government has designated Nigeria as a strategic partner in President Barrack Obama’s World-wide Hunger and Food Security Initiative, adding that it would afford U.S. the opportunity to continue providing assistance to Nigeria in the development of its agricultural sector.
In his keynote address, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sheikh Abdullah, said the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) is an African-wide initiative by the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) to boost agricultural development and overall growth in Africa.
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