Agric to witness upward production soon – Lokpobiri

By David Agba Abuja-

Th e Minister for State Agriculture, Senator (Dr.) Heineken Lokpobiri has said the agriculture sector would experience an upward surge in production and effi ciency in the value added to the production of food and beverages. He stated that the Global Ambassador of International Business Innovation Association (InBIA) Mr. Jimmy Okoroh met with him recently to fashion out a business oriented strategy for start-up in the sector. Lokpobiri said it is time for Nigerian products to have increased shelf life through quality processing of their commodities. Th e Minister further said attracting youths to the agric sector has been successful in the past. He said the previous government administrations did not employ the right strategy to properly engage youths in the sector. On his part, the InBIA’s Global Ambassador said that InBIA is specialized in incubating business from ideation to commercialization. One sure way to engage youths in Agriculture is to revamp the value chain. Product processing and diversifi cation, technology adaptation, continuous improvements and expansion to international markets are critical success factors needed to make the sector self suffi cient. Mr. Okoroh said adding value to agriculture communities through food and beverage processing coupled with international trading is an eff ective way to get Nigeria out of recession.

He said InBIA is willing to partner with the federal government to establish Food Incubation Centres (FICs) across the country. Such centres can generate thousands of quality jobs for the citizens as well as create wealth through the growth of businesses incubated in the FICs. A Food Incubation Centre model can house up to 100 business per time and within a short period can create 5,000 direct jobs and over 30,000 indirect jobs within the value chain.

Business incubator is a legal entity created in order to support small business entities upon start-up, by providing them with production rooms, equipment, as well as organizational, legal, fi nancial, advisory and informative services.

Business Incubators are set up in order to manifest support in creating and developing small business entities in technology commercialization assistance, access to specialized equipment and laboratories, intellectual property management assistance, access to commercial and non commercial loans, access to angel investors and venture capitalists.

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