Nigeria: World Food Day - Stakeholders Call for More Investment in Agriculture



Stakeholders in the agriculture sector have called on the Federal Government to invest more in the sector for increased food production and direct access to food.

They made the call in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday to mark 2015 World Food Day.

Dr Tunde Arosanyin, the National Technical Adviser, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said that most of the world's poor and hungry people today belonged to rural families who depended on agriculture for their daily livelihood.

"Government needs to invest heavily in agriculture by increasing its budget from the current eight per cent to at least 20 per cent to make food available for rural dwellers.

"Presently, the vacuum created in our agricultural practice as a nation has led to social security challenges all over the country such as the Boko Haram, kidnapping and cattle rustling."

He added that the challenges needed to be addressed to allow farmers to farm, stating that "you do not expect farmers to be in farm while they are being attacked on a daily basis".

Arosanyin said that unstable policies were also part of the constraints militating against food security attainment in the country.