Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural resources and environmentally friendly ecosystem for massive agricultural activities. States and Local Government Areas are in strategic positions to articulate empowerment programmes and interventions that would expand farming activities to achieve more productivity, create massive employment opportunities, increase wealth creation and improved standard of living that would enhance higher life expectancy .
State governments should harness the land tenure system in their respective jurisdiction to articulate strategic plan for agricultural mechanization and empowerment programmes that will make it easier for small farmers to have easy access to land and farm inputs for all year farming activities as well as irrigation facilities to power cultivation in all parts of the country.
Agricultural mechanization and exploration of non-oil resources will accelerate the diversification of the economy through expansion of agricultural value chains including agricultural raw materials that will help fast tract industrial development and increase export capacity.
This will boost the nation’s Gross Domestic Product, GDP and foreign reserves as well as stabilize the value of naira to engender sustainable economic growth.
In other to boost agricultural value chains, there is urgent need to review the statutory revenue sharing formula to enable the sub national governments have adequate funds to drive agricultural mechanization to motivate farmers and attract direct foreign investment to the sector.
States and Local governments should equally prioritize infrastructural development, especially roads to provide easy access to their various agricultural belts and food basket communities to facilitate evacuation of agricultural produce.
Security the world over is a fundamental and directly tied to economic sustainability. Therefore the sub national governments should be properly empowered to fortify their security architecture which is crucial for agricultural mechanization and expansion.
Again, animal husbandry can be strategically improved through the establishment of ranches, especially in the northern part of the country, as obtained in most countries of the world.
This will encourage breeding of quality species of animals and improved protein products.
More education opportunities should also be provided for herders to broaden their perception of life and acquire improve knowledge and skills in animal husbandry.
Nigeria can leverage on the vast natural and mineral resources in every state to reverse the present economic challenges and tackle hardship and poverty.
The country needs the political and transformational leadership to reinvent proper political structure to explore and harness the available vast natural and mineral resources to improve living standard of the masses.
POLYCARP ONWUBIKO
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