Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele has challenged tertiary institutions in Nigeria to promote research and set-up demonstration farms.
Emefiele stated this while delivering a lecture titled: “Jump Starting the Agricultural Revolution: The CBN Experience” at the 23rd-25th joint convocation lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi (FUAM).
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The Governor, who was represented by the Director, Development Finance Department, Mr Philip Yila Yusuf, urged them to set up demonstration farms in farming areas, where farmers can come and obtain knowledge on the right farming practices to adopt in order to increase their yields and output.
The CBN helmsman said the CBN was ready to provide a commercial outlook to research breakthroughs on improved seeds by ensuring a guaranteed market through off-take of those seeds for adoption by Nigerian farmers under the Bank’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).
He noted that the seed industry was a multi-billion dollar investment, and offered the potential for collaboration between the CBN and the university community.
Emefiele then urged the graduating students to leverage the knowledge they had acquired at the school towards applying it in supporting further growth of Nigeria’s agricultural sector given its immense opportunities.
