As part of the agenda to unleash hope for farmers, assure markets for farmers and secure our food supply as a nation, President Jonathan recently commissioned a 100,000 MT Silos in Abuja.
The significant event which was a showcase of Nigeria’s capability to become the food house of Africa, is a step towards rapidly building the nation’s storage capacity to store food and reduce food losses.
According to Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, CON, Honorable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, the silos with its capacity is the largest in West Africa bringing the total of the nation’s silos capacity to 1.3 million MT.
He further noted that in 2011, only 35 percent of the silos in the country were completed but by December 2014, all the network of silos will be completed and ready for use.
On the potential for continental food security, Adesina said “One can only imagine, if our farmers could produce an additional 21 million MT of food between 2012 and 2014, without tractors or mechanized equipments, they will definitely feed the world if they have a fully mechanized agricultural system. Together with our network of silos we will secure our food supply and those of other African countries.”