FG insist Nigerian farmers need cell phones irrespective of criticisms

The Federal Government is bent at getting 10 million cell phones for farmers in the country irrespective of huge criticisms it has received.

Speaking on the issue, the Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina said the farmers really need the cell phones. He disclosed this during a press briefing in Abuja yesterday.

He said it was rather unfortunate that the media had exaggerated and blown the issue out of proportion, saying the FG wanted to spend N60bn.

He added that the FG has decided to “rebuild the broken walls of Nigeria’s agriculture and unlock wealth and opportunities for farmers.”

Adesina declared FG resolve to make lives of farmers better. He said when he assumed office in 2011, corruption was at its peak in the ministry as the government was spending huge sums of money for production and distribution of fertilizers to farmers, but less than 11 per cent of farmers really had access to it.

Adding he said, the sector was so corrupt that only intermediaries and rent seekers benefited from the billions the government spent yearly on providing subsidies within the sector.

He saw the need to clean up the sector and make things right, which is what he is doing currently.

The Minister said the sector had achieved high level of success in eliminating corruption and fixing things, which was partly done by making available subsidized fertilizer of good quality and seeds to farmers through the introduction of Growth Enhancement (GE) Support scheme in April 2012

He praised the success of the GE scheme:

“In the first year of the GES scheme, 1.2 million farmers received their subsidised fertilizers and seeds via their cell phones. We expect to have reached 1.5 million farmers by the end of the dry season. Let me say that this singular effort to get inputs to farmers directly resulted in the addition of an estimated 8.1 million metric tonnes of food to the domestic food supply.”

Adding he said, rural farmers benefited mostly from the scheme, which was its original intention on inception in April 2012.

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One Comment

1. 

   Nura Mohammed Kamfut

   January 15, 2013 at 8:20 pm

   Dis is d kind of problem dat refused 2 make us progress as a nation. Is understatement 2 describe d policy as a complete waste of resources & priority misplacement. In what way can a cell phone b beneficial 2 an uneducated local peasant farmer who lives in a remote village dat has no electricity or any other means of charging d phone? How many people even within d cities dat can comfortably read, write & understand msg wiz their phones? What need 2 b done is 2 concentrate on giving Nigerians quality education & perhaps use dat money 2 construct feeder roads 4 d farmers so as transport their produce. D pertinent ques is:j doz d NA passed agric min budget where dis proposal was presented or they are diverting d funds dat was meant 4 other priority issue? We have 2 b serious as a country 4 us 2 move 4ward!