Scientist challenges lawmakers to unlock land assets for farmers

Professor Nazif Darma has challenged lawmakers in the ninth National Assembly to unlock the huge land assets across the country to empower small-scale farmers.

He said the farmers, though sitting on convertible land wealth, are poor due to lack of titles to their land for loan procurement that would have improved their agricultural expansion.

Darma spoke as a guest lecturer at the 2020 Appropriation Bill public hearing and fourth national budget public hearing by the joint appropriation committee of the senate and the House of Representatives.

“There is a need to undertake a comprehensive land reform project in Nigeria if we want to fight poverty, and if we want to lift 100 million lives out of poverty.

“We need the Federal Government, state and local governments to work as a team to undertake a comprehensive land reform to unlock the wealth of their landed property.”