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Niger Delta stakeholders shift focus from oil to agriculture

By on December 13, 2014

Stakeholders from nine states in the Niger Delta have deliberated on the need to urgently shift focus from oil production to the agricultural sector.

At a workshop in Calabar organised by the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta with the theme: ‘Unlocking Investment Opportunities in Agriculture in the Niger Delta for Regional Competitiveness,’ the Cross River State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Mr. James Aniyom, said 44.2 per cent of jobs in the Niger Delta region were created by the agricultural sector.

The workshop was organised for stakeholders from the region.

He said the sector could be said to be the cornerstone of the region’s economy.

The commissioner said, “Most people in the Niger Delta are employed in the agricultural sector and these include farming, forestry and the fish industry.

“The agricultural sector employs at least 44.2 per cent of the population of the region. So, the agricultural sector can be said to be the cornerstone of the region’s economy.”

Aniyom, however, said the farming systems in the Niger Delta were traditional subsistence crop farming characterised by small-sized farm holdings of less than one hectare per household.

He said the theme of the workshop was apt because it brought to the fore the need for the states in the region to focus on the agricultural sector as the main driver of economic competitiveness.

He said, “The Niger Delta as regarded as the oil-rich region of the country. But before the oil boom in the 1970s, the region was referred to as the oil rivers because the region was a major producer of palm oil.

“In view of the importance of the agricultural sector to the economy of the region, the government of the nine states that make up the region must therefore ensure as a matter of priority the promotion of policies that will unlock investment opportunities in the region and also provide an enabling environment for the active participation of the private sector in the region’s agriculture.

The Executive Director of PIND, Mr. Sam Daibo, said agriculture as a business in the Niger Delta was diversified, adding that investment opportunities abound.

He said taking full advantage of these investment opportunities would require investment-driven strategic partnerships with the private sector as well as investment drives to unlock potential of the states in agriculture.

Daibo said the forum would create the chance for participants to build cross-regional initiatives and alliances as well as provide concrete answers to germane questions that would help to unlock the investment opportunities in agriculture in the region for the benefit of all Nigerians.

 

[Punch]