Nigeria’s import bill rising, firm says

Green Sahara Farm has commenced training of over 18,000 small scale women farmers across the country to benefit from over $60 billion business opportunities in the Nigerian agricultural industry.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Green Sahara Revolution, Suleiman Dikwa, disclosed this during the firm’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently in Abuja.

Dikwa explained that the training became imperative due to the need to fill the unemployment gap and address the twin issues of hunger and poverty.
He placed the import bill at over $22 billion, adding that the national cost of feeding provides opportunity of over $40 billion annually.

“Agriculture is eight times the value of oil. So, we have an internship and mentorship programme that lets the young people know Nigeria’s import bill is $22 billion.

“This is the industry where we need to develop expertise; the era of peasant farming is gone. There are no jobs available and so we are training farmers to cover the import bill and also what we eat in Nigeria which is about $40 billion annually. This is a conservative estimate,” Dikwa added.

However, the firm unveiled its new logo which the CEO explained is intended to be a sign of quality that gives assurance to farmers in the market as regards the products.

Reacting to the issue of inappropriate use of fertiliser on soils, Dikwa noted that the firm had most advanced technologies in Nigeria for soil profiling for micro/macro-nutrients, secondary nutrients and water quality.

“We have a programme that creates an industrial aggregation of all agric stakeholders by creating an economic cluster which starts from seeds to the finished product on the table.

“Through collaboration with stakeholders, the organisation has created a unique working model that has been recognised by the Initiative for Leadership and Rockefeller Foundation as one of the foremost business models in Africa,” he added.