A national symposium to focus attention on fixing the bottlenecks in the nation’s agricultural value chain will hold on November 27 at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre Abuja.

The symposium is organized by Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism, PTCIJ, and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL.

The organizers, in a statement, said the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, and the President of the African Development Bank, AFDB, Akinwumi Adeshina, will be highlight speakers at the event billed to hold at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Central Business District Abuja at 9:00 a.m.

Mr. Ogbeh will deliver the keynote address at the event.

According to Dapo Olorunyomi chief executive at PTCIJ, “The event is the first of its kind in Nigeria, it is a platform designed to foster productive discussion among all stakeholders ranging from farmers at the beginning of the value chain to consumers at the end of it; all geared on the road to helping Nigeria sharpen its focus on agriculture and chart a consistent forward-moving course for the sector”.

“At the end of this symposium, it is aimed at having a compendium of workable, deployable strategies for transitioning the agricultural sector to the frontline of economic sustainability as Nigeria look beyond oil and gas to agriculture as a viable alternative source of revenue,” Mr. Olorunyomi said.

The organisers also indicated that for Nigeria’s agricultural sector to take a redoubtable and frontline posture that matches with the vision of a robust national planning objective, there is a need resolve the challenges and bottlenecks that have constrained the sector for too long.

Nigeria is losing huge millions in revenue, said the organisers who see clear road maps in resolving the risks currently associated with the sector, from importation to infrastructural deficits.

Agric Summit 2017