The Executive Director of the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) in Kwara State, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, has advised Nigerians to engage in farming to reduce the escalating cost of food in the country.
Dr Olufemi particularly identified youths and women as core demographics that must be engaged in the new farming revolution.
He said Nigeria would achieve self-sufficiency in food production if only 30 per cent of its population could engage in farming.
He spoke during a one-day training programme on agribusiness for members of the Correspondents’ Chapel of the state’s chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) held at the institute.
The programme, which was part of the annual Press Week celebration of the chapel, was aimed at training journalists on sustainable agribusiness during and after service.
According to him, there is no excuse anymore for anybody irrespective of the profession not to engage in farming in the new scheme of things, adding that agriculture is no longer a hobby, but business.
He said the prevalent high prices of food items in the country could be favourably addressed when every family produced 30 per cent of what they consumed.
Dr Olufemi said, “In our present situation, there is the need for everybody irrespective of profession to engage in agriculture and agribusiness.
“There is no more excuse for anyone, including journalists, not to go into agriculture and agribusiness, especially now that we have soilless agriculture and agripreneurship.
“If you don’t go to market for some certain food items, the prices would go down. That’s what agric does for you and me. Civil servants, journalists and every other professional should combine agribusiness with what they do. We should not even give excuse of not having land to cultivate farming nowadays as soilless cultivation can be done.”
He advised government to encourage more Nigerians to go into farming by subsidising agricultural inputs and ensure that only qualitative and standard inputs were in the market.
The ARMTI boss, who noted that a crime-free society was not achievable, however said Nigeria could achieve reduction in crime, especially, among youths, when they were engaged in agricultural production and agribusiness.
He said the institute was created to domesticate agricultural management among people involving in agribusiness in their different locations.
He revealed that ARMTI had been engaging in the training of youths in various areas of agribusiness to make them not only self-employed but employers of labour.
He added that at the end of the training programmes, ARMTI also provided starter packs valued at N200,000 each to the beneficiaries to enable them start their own businesses.
He further said the organisation had commenced the process of opening offices in all the regions of the country with a view to bringing its services closer to all Nigerians.
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