Nigeria Unveils SAPZ To Tackle Food Insecurity

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The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo, has launched the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) programme designed to end food insecurity, improve export earnings, and create jobs and other opportunities for Nigerian citizens.

 

“If the Special Agro industrial processing zones programme delivers on its objectives and we have no doubt that it will, then we would in less than a decade deal a fatal blow to food insecurity, create millions of good paying agro-industrial jobs and opportunities and radically improve export earnings from agriculture,” Osinbajo started at the official launch of SAPZ on Monday.

 

SAPZ is a clear plan for the industrialisation of agriculture, the deliberate development of value chains in the crops farmers grow and a pathway to net exportation of their produce, Osinbajo explained.

 

He described SAPZ as a critical component of Nigeria’s agricultural strategy to accelerate industrialisation of the country’s agricultural sector with the objective to provide food, nutrition, and wealth for its population.
A government-enabled and private sector-led initiative, SAPZ will mobilise private sector investment to develop value chains for selected strategic crops and livestock in the participating states.

 

 

The first phase of the programme is expected to reduce the country’s current food import bill through Import substitution, boost revenue from agricultural exports, create wealth for rural farming communities as well sustainable jobs, especially for women and youths, the vice president noted.

 

“Nigeria will implement the first phase of the SAPZ programme with co-financing from the African Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB),” he said.

 

SAPZ is a major cross-cutting value chain investment effort driven by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in alignment with the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy of the Federal Government to incentivise agro-industrialisation for private sector development.

 

It will stem rural-urban migration, boost rural livelihoods and revive stranded public and private sector-funded assets, and decisively improve food security, Osinbajo stated.

 

A five-year programme, SAPZ is to be implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), state governments, and the private investors, in seven participating states (Kano, Imo, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo, and Ogun) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

 

SAPZ will also “vastly improve the business environment for agro-industrial processors as it will improve their productivity and enable value addition for inclusive, adaptive economic growth.

 

“In the next phase we will bring on board another 18 States,” Osinbajo added.

 

In a remark, the AfDB President, Akinwumi Adesina, said the bank support to Nigeria, through Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), was to aid the production of more wheat, rice, and maize.

 

“This support will allow Nigeria to cultivate, by next year, 900,000 hectares of rice, 250,000 hectares of wheat, and 107,000 hectares of maize.

 

“Agriculture is critical for the survival of any nation. The most important role of any nation is to feed its people. Food is a fundamental human right,” Adesina said at the launch.

 

The AfDB president, however, noted that despite Africa’s massive agriculture potential the continent still faced huge challenges in meeting its food needs with 283 million people that go hungry annually.

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