The N35.9bn agric loan

Nigeria is set to receive a loan of $152.12 million (N35.9 billion) and a grant of $300,000 (N64.5 million) from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) to support agricultural transformation in the country.
The loan will be used to develop rice, sorghum and cassava in commercial production, as well as support the private sectors, processing and value addition for the commodities.

The money would support production facility, irrigation, social infrastructure,especially rural roads, potable water, sanitation and health care. Seven states have beenselected to benefit from the first phase of the scheme. These are Ebonyi, Enugu, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Niger and Sokoto. Areas of focus include rice, cassava,tomato and sorghum.
Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, said the approval of the loan by AfDB was as a result of the progress Nigeria has made in the agriculture sector. He promised that Nigeria would add 20 million metric tonnes of rice, cassava and sorghum into its domestic food supply by 2015.

The minister has promised that jobs would be created in the sector through the development of staple crops. He believes that this would surely motivate the young ones to live and be productive in the rural areas.
Twenty-seven local government areas are covered under this investment, and it has been developed in close partnership with all the state governors and communities.

The minister said 120,000 jobs would be created by the development of staple crops, which would include 36,000 women and the participation of 200,000 youths in the initiative.
The minister explained further that there will be water control structures, 1,300 irrigation canals, 1,300 kilometers of all-weather roads to be rehabilitated, 1,007 tube wells to be constructed, and in all 68,000 hectares of rice, cassava and sorghum will be put under commercial production.

We have always spoken against Nigeria’s reliance on importation of food from other countries, because whenever we import we help to provide jobs for citizens of other countries, develop their countries as well as improve their standard of living.
We, therefore, commend the move to invest in the agriculture sector as a step in the right direction. There is no reason an enormously endowed nation like Nigeria with large arable land should take pleasure in the importation of foodwhile millions of its citizens unemployed.

If the projection from the minister of agriculture is anything to go by, then the loan is necessary. With the number of people expected to be gainfully employed, there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel.
It is obvious that the government has not allowed sentiment to becloud its choice of the benefiting states and local government areas. That means it is based on merit.

There is hope for the farmer in the rural areas if the information from the minister of agriculture is anything to go by, especially the pledge that the money will also be used for agro-processing development, value addition, market information system for farmers in those areas, expand access to financial services and crop insurance.
There might be the temptation to misappropriate or divert some chunk of the fund into private pockets, as is gradually becoming a tradition, but we urge the authorities concerned with the use of this money to channel it meticulously for the sole purpose for which it is being sourced.

It should not be business as usual for corrupt government officials who might take pleasure in buying expensive cars for self-aggrandisement.
We urge the government to do everything possible to make this programme succeed. If it is successful, the second phase will be gladly welcomed by all Nigerians.