By Stella Odueme
Abuja
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari has said that strategic and robust Public-Private Collaboration would drive increased production and innovation, create an enabling environment, and better-quality investments in agrifood systems across the Sahel region.
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The Minister made this disclosure during a high-level Panel Discussion at the FAO Hand-in-Hand Sahel Regional Initiative with focus on accelerating capacity, partnerships, and investments to transform agrifood systems in the region, held in Rome, Italy.
According to a statement by the Head, Department of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, on Tuesday, Kyari stressed the need for a Sahel region that would leverage strong institutions, innovative financing, strategic and robust public – private collaboration and smart governance to unlock the full potential of farmers, processors, small businesses and revolutionize the agricultural ecosystem.
He outlined the key reforms and programmes designed to enhance private sector participation which includes; the National Agrifood System Investment Plan (NASIP): which is being upgraded into a National Public–Private Investment Portal; a transparent digital platform showcasing bankable opportunities in mechanization, irrigation, storage, processing, logistics, and digital agrifood services, Streamlining Incentives: targeted investment tax and import duty reliefs to attract private sector participation, alongside risk-sharing facilities in collaboration with development partners, Scaling up the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ): the largest such initiative in Africa, currently being expanded from eight to twenty-seven states to provide integrated infrastructure and reduce costs for agro-processors and Implementing the Nigeria Postharvest Systems Transformation Programme (NiPHaST): aimed at reducing the ₦3.5 trillion lost annually to postharvest inefficiencies through improved storage, cold chain, and warehousing solutions.
The Minister pointed out that ‘’ the pathway to up-scale is to implement laudable agenda. Implementation is not an abstract. It requires due diligence, smart governance, and unwavering political will’’.
Kyari affirmed that ‘’the ministry will be commitment to hard, practical work of aligning policy with possibility; of turning investment promises into concrete projects that create jobs, feed families, and empower communities; of ensuring that the Hand-in-Hand Initiative delivers measurable, lasting transformation for Nigeria’s agrifood systems’’.
He assured that ‘’under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, Nigeria is committed to creating an enabling environment where investors can thrive alongside farmers’’.
He pledged that “We will work hand in hand with FAO, IFAD, AfDB, the World Bank Group, ECOWAS, and the private sector to turn investment promises into concrete projects that feed families, create jobs, and strengthen food sovereignty”.
