AGRICULTURE;
1. Four decades of corruption in fertilizer and seed distribution ended with direct access by farmers, thereby saving the government N25 billion in 2012 alone.
2. Over 250,000 farmers and youths in Northerns states now profitably engaged in farming.
3. First ever database of farmers has been developed with 6 million farmers registered and now being updated/monitored annually.
4. Nigeria is first African country to develop e-wallet for input delivery to farmers, eliminating sharp practices by middlemen.
5. Private sector seed and fertilizer companies now sell directly to farmers. Over N15 billion of fertilizers and N1.5 billion of seeds were sold directly via e-wallet system.
6. Dry season production through irrigation kick-started in 10 Northern states- Kebbi, Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Gombe, Niger, Kogi and Bauchi- resulting in an output of 1.07 million metric tonnes.
7. Combined production of Dry Season and Main Season paddy now 1.76 million metric tonnes-unprecedented in Nigeria's history.
8. Government policies have led to the establishment of 13 new rice mills by private investors.
9. Nigeria is on the road to being self-sufficient in rice production.
10. Production has expanded for high quality cassava flour to substitute imported wheat in the baking industry.
11. There is further boost for non-oil export as China has ordered 3.2 million metric tonnes of dried cassava chips for ethanol production.
12. Nigeria's food import bill reduced from N1.1 trillion in 2011 to N648 billion in 2012, placing the country firmly on the path to food self-sufficiency.
13. Over 8 million metric tonnes of food were added to domestic supply in 2012, about 70% above projection.
14. The government recently launched a self-employment initiative under the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) called the Nagropreneur programme. This scheme, designed to encourage youth to go into commercial agriculture as entrepreneurs, plan to develop over 750,000 young Nagropreneur by 2015.
15. The Federal Government launched Staple Crop Processing Zones to support investments in the entire agricultural value chain. At present, there are significant private investment commitments from agribusiness venture such as; Flour Mills of Nigeria, the Dangote Group, Syngenta, Indorama, AGCO, and Belsar Capital.
16. There was a decline in wheat imports to Nigeria from an all-time high of 4,051,000 MT in 2010 to 3,700,000 MT in 2012.
17. President Jonathan has launched the Dry Season Farm Support programme to encourage dry season farming with N14bn, representing an increase of 56% over the 2013 season. Over 600,000 farmers registered, representing an increase of 125% over 2013.
18. A 65-year-old US-trained Nigerian engineer, Suleiman Famro, has developed the 'Farmking', a locally made 4-in-1 multipurpose farm mechaniser.
19. The Bank of Industry has signed an agreement with six tractor companies for the local production of tractors and fittings to boost the agricultural revolution.
20. Silo capacity has been increased over 30% since the reforms in agriculture started.