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Food: FG targets 250 million Nigerians in 2050

By on July 6, 2014

The Federal Government has said that it will reduce hunger in the country and ensure that over 250 million Nigerians get access to food in year 2050.

To achieve the objective, the government has initiated the National Schools of Agriculture Programme to create opportunities through transferring of various skills and instilling a self-reliant entrepreneurship culture among students from early age.

The objective is to harness the enormous opportunities in agriculture for national development.

The new Senior Special Assistant to the President Goodluck Jonathan on Schools Agricultural Programme, Alhaja Baraka Sani, stated this during a press briefing.

Sani said, “There are many challenges in the agricultural sector. If young people are offered practical education in agriculture and are engaged with innovation, the agricultural sector can attract youths, as we look forward to feeding our population of over 250 million by 2050.”

She said her office had been mandated by the Presidency to implement a comprehensive agricultural programme that would introduce young students to the various opportunities in the sector by promoting skills that would enable them to contribute to the drive for economic diversification.

Sani explained that in the pilot phase, a Students Agricultural Club would be established in selected schools from 12 states of the federation – two from each geo-political zone, with each club comprising of 120 members.

She said, “The multiplier effect of this programme in the respective households would definitely play a major role in poverty eradication, help with nutrition as well as create jobs, especially at the rural areas.”

According to her, the programme will lead to the creation of a new generation of committed young farmers.

 

 

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