The African Development Bank AfDB has expressed
optimism that Nigeria can stop the importation of rice by 2015, if the right
things are done.
Patrick Agboma, the AfDB’s Chief Operations Officer,
said on Wednesday in Abuja.
Agboma said that all the Federal Government needed
to do was to triple rice production from the current production figures. “If
you hear about the amount of rice the country imports, you will wonder why it
cannot produce its own rice. So the Agricultural Transformation Agenda ATA is
to address this shortfall.’’
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Akinwumi
Adesina, had announced in 2012 that the country will stop the importation of
rice by 2015, as the commitment to ensure rice sufficiency.
According to him, the bank is willing to help the
Federal Government attain its food sufficiency target.
He recalled that the bank had earlier received a
request from the Federal Government for assistance toward the agricultural
agenda.
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