TRANSFORMING NIGERIA’S AGRICULTURAL SECTOR TO THE WAY FORWARD.

Nigerian’s population has been growing rapidly more than 200 million people, growing at about three (3) percent a year. Hunger and Malnutrition have been on the rise in the country since the collapse of the oil prices in 2014.

Nigerian’s agricultural sector has strong potential to provide adequate food for the entire Nigerian population, being a source of foreign exchange earnings, providing a raw material to different industrial sector, aggregate the mayor source of employment in the country.

However, the sector has not been able to live up to expectations due to some challenges namely such as low productivity, general insecurity, climate disaster, farmers and herder’s crisis and bad governance.

However, Nigeria and other African countries came together to discuss many of the problems facing Africa’s food system which was in 2014. In this meeting they agreed to set of policy commitments to accelerate in inclusive agricultural transformation on the continent, called the malabo declaration. To address the space action aid Nigeria (ANN), federal ministry of finance, ONE Campaign, federal ministry of agriculture, and Rural Development (FMARD), federal Ministry of Agriculture, department of Agriculture & Water Resources of the ECOWAS commission organized a 2-day stakeholders consultative meeting on the 2021 agriculture budget at dover hotel, Lagos state, 23^rd -24^th September, 2020. The aims of this meeting were: to leverage understanding on Nigeria Agriculture promotion policy (APP) and its connection to comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) targets; to strengthen citizens’ participation in 2021 Agricultural budget responsive.

As Nigeria takes measures in recovering the impact of COVID-19 on its economy, it is important that the government to priorities transforming its food systems and agricultural sector. Youth and women-led agric-businesses should be supported with grants and their capacity developed. Modern farming implements, machines, and inputs should be made cheap, while the government works on the country’s general security.