President Muhammadu Buhari has said the nation’s agricultural revolution has led to the creation of over 13million direct and indirect jobs in the last seven and half-years.
The president’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, in a statement on Saturday, said Buhari disclosed this in Washington DC, USA, at an interactive session entitled, “A conversation with President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria’’.
The event was co-hosted by the United States Institute of Peace, the International Republican Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.
The President said, focused interventions in agriculture driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria transitioned the country from being a net importer of rice, Nigeria’s staple food, to becoming self-sufficient in its production.
‘‘This same scheme had financed the establishment and operations of over 50 integrated rice mills.
READ ALSO: Agriculture Will Reduce Poverty, Hunger – Obasanjo
‘‘It had also financed over 4.5million smallholder farmers, ensured the cultivation of almost 6 million hectares of farm land and almost 700 large-scale agricultural projects had been funded.
‘‘This agricultural revolution had led to the creation of over 13m direct and indirect jobs,’’ he said.
He said he was therefore able to handle the systemic shock caused by both COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war on global food supply chains and attendant price spikes.
Buhari added that the revolution in the sector had improved the country’s capacity in the agro-allied sector, making it more efficient in enhancing and maximising production yields and reducing post-harvest losses.
The Nigerian leader used the occasion to once again advise western nations not to be in a rush to eliminate the usage of fossil fuels in a bid to ensure a healthy climate.
According to him, Nigeria’s economy has registered positive growth in the last two quarters in spite of the gloomy outlook in global economy, and the war in Ukraine.
