AFSPC Partners Propcom for Rice Sector

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AFSPC Partners Propcom for Rice Sector

Vanguard
Daniel Gumm
15 June 2007

THE Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) has identified one of the reasons for the low production of rice in Nigeria as the reliance on small holder farmers, a production constraint set to be addressed by stakeholders soon.

The NESG in a welcome address by its Chairman of Agriculture and Food Security Policy Commission at a forum on Investment Roundtable with Stakeholders in the Rice Sector recently in Lagos said that though Nigeria has not met her 2007 goal 10 million metric tonnes of rice, the achievements in this sector was laudable.

He noted that at the end of 2006, an increase of 10 percent was recorded since the initiative was founded, hastening the process, the government has procured and distributed 81,505 R0boxes at a 50% subsidy to all 36 states and the FCT.

He explained that activities stemming from partnerships between the public and private sectors had been divided "to include: seed production; extension and publicity; group mobilisation; training; post-harvest handling and processing; irrigation and land development. The foregoing suggests a carefully devised strategy that effectively ensures the participation of all stakeholders through a division of labour."

Milestones since Presidential Rice Initiative, according to him, included N1 billion from 10% import surcharge have been reinvested into the initiative, NERICA tested and adopted, R-Box distribution, and 10 locally produced rice mills.

The NESG is an independent, non-partisan, non-sectorian organization, committed to fostering open and continuous dialogue on Nigeria's economic development. A registered private sector think tank established to facilitate and carry out all activities that lead to the implementation of acceptable policies for the economic growth and development of Nigeria.

The aim of the NESG is to create an enabling environment conducive to good governance, responsible private sector investment and sustainable economic growth. The main priority of the NESG is to promote a private sector driven economic growth.

In the agriculture sector, the NESG is set to positively impact agricultural productivity, competitiveness and growth. Therefore the NESG Agriculture and Food Security policy Commission is promoting a private sector controlled production, processing and marketing chain productivity and competitiveness in major commodities.

The NESG Agricultural & Food Security Policy Commission

The Agriculture & Food Security Policy Commission is one of the eight Policy Commissions of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), which have been structured to follow-through on Agriculture specific issues, and recommendations of the annual Nigerian Economic Summit (NES) to ensure adoption and implementation by the relevant policy implementing agencies and/or stakeholders. The overall objective of the Commission is to facilitate the adoption of NES recommendations with respect to the agriculture sub-sector, and with a view to fast-tracking growth and development of the sector. Basically, the Policy Commission focuses on a range of policy processes in terms of articulation/formulation, planning, implementation, evaluation and monitoring of the NES recommendations.

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