Dr. Olabode Adetoyi, a former commissioner for agriculture and food security in the state of Ekiti, has claimed that agriculture can save Nigeria’s faltering economy.
Speaking to several cooperative farmers of cassava who had visited his farm in Ekiti State yesterday, he said this.
Adetoyi, an investor in agribusiness that includes feed additives, animal feed milling, and crops, emphasized that both the federal and state governments could capitalize on the agricultural revolution by enticing the throngs of young people.
He pointed out that young people make up 60% of Nigeria’s population, thus by establishing agricultural processing zones and assisting the African Development Bank’s programs, their potential might be fully realized.
The former commissioner pointed out the benefits of cassava farms and noted that the crop can be cultivated in almost all of Nigeria’s states and that the country still produces 59 million metric tonnes of it annually.
He claims that we can produce ethanol, cassava flour, and other by-products that have a significant positive impact on the economy of the nation.
“Nigeria’s economy is dwindling and agriculture should be used to rescue the situation.
“We can rescue the situation when both Federal and State Governments key into the Agricultural revolution by making agriculture attractive to our teeming youth.
“60 percent of the Nigerian population is made up of our teeming youth. How can we harness their potential?
“Both states and federal can do this by creating Agric processing zones and supporting the initiative of the African Development Bank.
“This is the only way to key into the Agric value chain. This is a cassava farm. Cassava is very good in Nigeria and it can be grown in nearly all the states in Nigeria.
“Nigeria still produces 59 million metric tonnes of cassava. From cassava, we can have cassava flour which 10 percent will be added to our flour to make bread which will reduce our importation of wheat.
“Also, we can also get by-products such as starch, Garri, Fufu, ethanol, cassava chips, and cassava flour from cassava,” Adetoyi said
