Abuja expresses concern and advocates for Juncao technology adoption
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Abuja officials have stressed the need to tame the rising prices of food items, saying they threaten to push more Nigerians into poverty, a quagmire in which more than 80 million are already trapped, according to the World Bank.
Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Mohammad Abubakar expressed concern in Abuja at a workshop on Juncao technology and its contribution to sustainable agriculture and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.
The workshop was organised by the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), supported by the National Engineering Research Center for Juncao Technology of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) of China and Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture.
Abubakar explained that the rise in food prices is not peculiar to Nigeria but a global problem caused mainly by climate change which has impacted agricultural production and poses a grave threat to food security in the future.
“Food may become more expensive as climate change mitigation efforts increase energy prices.
“Water required for food production may become more scarce due to increased crop water use and drought. Competition for land may increase as certain areas become climatically unsuitable for production,” said Abubakar, represented by Federal Agriculture Department Director Abdullahi Abubakar.
“In addition, extreme weather events, associated with climate change may cause sudden reductions in agricultural productivity, leading to rapid price increases.
“These rising prices may force growing numbers of local people into poverty, providing a sobering demonstration of how the influence of climate change can result in food insecurity.”
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Potential to boost agriculture
Abubakar said Juncao technology has potential to boost the government’s efforts in making the best use of huge agricultural resources to sustain livelihood, as in the charter of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), per Vanguard.
“Holistic efforts are being made in recent times to address these multi-faceted challenges and unlock the potentials of the nation’s livestock resources for increased employment opportunity, improved livelihoods and income, and we earnestly look forward to potential leverages the Juncao technology will provide to boost these efforts.”
Nigeria is diversifying away from dependence on oil into agriculture for sustenance, income generation, and foreign exchange earnings.
AUDA-NEPAD National Coordinator/Chief Executive Officer Gloria Akobundu urged Nigeria to harness the possibilities in agriculture to ensure food security.
She said although the government is doing its best to alleviate poverty, there is real danger of communities being exposed to insecurity, youth restiveness, and malnutrition because of the huge population of over 200 million.
“In my view,” she added, “one way of doing so is to domesticate Juncao technology in Nigeria because it will create direct and indirect jobs, promote agro business, enhance nutrition, curb youth restiveness and boost security as youths will be gainfully engaged.
“We are concerned with ensuring food security and to cushion the effect of COVID-19 towards building long-term resilience for sustainable economic growth and development.
“The agency’s innovative strengthening of smallholder farmers’ capabilities towards productive land restoration amid COVID-19 was initiated to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic.”
