In order to curb the devastating impacts of recent floods on food production in Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari has guaranteed the rural farmers access to credit, inputs, and building of feeder roads.
The president disclosed this in a National Food Security Council meeting, which he chaired on Thursday.
Assuredly, he said priority is placed on more access to farm inputs and assests by rural farmers to cushion the impacts of the floods.
“We are integrating rural communities to the formal economy by extending access to credit and inputs to rural farmers, and building feeder roads. We have also invested in building our strategic grain reserves in recent years,” he disclosed.
President Buhari noted the negative impacts of recent floods on food security and sent his condolences to its victims.
However, it pleased Mr Buhari that Nigerians are taking advantage of the huge opportunities in agriculture.
He said, “I am pleased to note that many Nigerians are taking advantage of the immense opportunities in the agriculture and agri-business sector. I want to assure you that this Government will continue to support these initiatives and many more to come.
“While key actors in the Nigerian Agric space are championing increased hectares under cultivation, it has become very necessary to pivot our attention and resources to how we can improve yield per hectare. We must ensure this, he added.
On the issue of security, to protect agricultural investments and boost confidence to our farmers he said his government has deployed thousands of Agro-Rangers.
“We are grateful to all our farmers for their hard work. We will continue to do everything to support them, including those impacted by the recent flooding disaster. Already, we are working to ensure the losses from this wet season are replaced in the coming dry planting season,” Buhari concluded.