Richard Mbaram, director general, Feed Nigeria Summit has said that his organisation is partnering the Federal Governmen on increasing food production in the country and ensure food security.
Speaking to journalists recently in Lagos, Mbaram said that there is need to bring together producers and leading agro representatives to reach an agreement and discuss best possible ways to boost future food production.
To achieve this, he said his organisation is organizing the first Feed Nigeria Summit to discusss trategies to drive progress in the Nigerian agriculture sector.
The summit is scheduledto take place between April 6th and 7th, at International Hotel, VictoriaIsland, Lagos.
He said the mission of Feed Nigeria Summit is to work with development partners along the Federal Government to implement innovative solutions that can not only bolster agricultural performance, but also promote agri-food trade and food security.
Mbaram stated that there is a significant opportunity for Nigeria to develop international sales and profile through exploration of newmarkets and opportunities opening up all the time, championing regional food, growing local businesses and potentially creating more jobs.
According to him, Nigeria must embrace agricultural innovations to better compete in an evolving global bio-economy, with technologies to address challenges related to population, poverty, food insecurity and climate change.
He emphasized the underdevelopmentof Nigeria’s trade in agriculture,especially intra-regional trade, in spite of the vast potential for its expansion.
The director-general, said the programme will take place alongside Nigeria Agriculture Awards, noting that it will start withan agro-essay and project proposal writing competition for secondary and tertiary institution studentsin a bid to inundate youths about the opportunities in the agricultural sector.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo is expected to bethe special guest, while Audu Ogbeh, Minister of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment will be the chief host.
He said the event will draw from the African Development Bank and other internationalorganisations.
The event will also seek to promote the effective school meals programmes toboost primary school enrolment and attendance, support for better school healthnutrition in low and middle income countries.
He reiterated the readiness of his organisationto withthe government to develop Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programmes, which aim to delivercost-effective national school feeding programmes using food that is locallygrown by smallholder farmers.
Josephine Okojie
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