Former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, has again, stressed the need for the country to as a matter of urgency, develop the agribusiness sector and explore its value chain in its totality to tackle food insecurity, which the country is currently dealing with.

Adding that poor or zero access to finance as well as very high interest loans are inimical to the sector’s growth, he said those two factors are negatively affecting food prices and contributing significantly to food insecurity.

Obasanjo, who was the keynote speaker at the opening day of the ongoing Nigeria agrofood and plastprintpack international trade show and conference taking place in Landmark Centre, Lagos, said food insecurity is a major problem in the country today and “we cannot have food without proper agriculture”.

“When we ask farmers to grow commercial farms and give them loans at 25 per cent interest, how do we expect them to produce at that rate? No real farmer can make profit at double digit interest loans,” he said.

He added that asides solving the problem of food security, taking agribusiness seriously would also solve the problems of insecurity, provide employment for youths, create wealth, alleviate poverty and generate income, especially FX for the country.

Adding that food security starts with availability, he said Nigeria must be able to produce enough and the people should be able to afford and get it when they need it.

Regretting that accessibility and food waste also contribute greatly to food insecurity, he said, “Unfortunately, almost 40 per cent of our food, particularly fruits, go to waste from post-harvest losses; this is a problem that needs to be tackled urgently,” he said.

Speaking further on the importance of food and nutrition security, he said asides making good food available for all, it creates readily available employment. “With our large population and the migration problem we have had for years, our youths going through the desert and risking their lives over the Mediterranean, the question now is how can we stem this? By creating ready employment for our youths through agriculture- we create jobs for them and provide food for Nigerians.”

“Sadly, when we talk of agriculture today, not many youths want to go to the farms. If we can bring in young people into the agric value chain, it will greatly improve Nigeria’s security. Many young people are jobless with nothing to and if we are able to employ them, there will be less people doing crime,” he said.

Adding that the opportunity for success in the agric value chain is unlimited, he said farmers, professors, marketers, exporters, quality assurance experts, equipment suppliers, importers, financial experts, research, innovation and technology and so on are all covered within it. “All these people in the area of food business and sustain the economy,” he said.

Speaking on other factors that affect agribusiness negatively, he said policy flipflop is another concern. “Continuity, sustainability and predictability of policy is what is needed to sustain food security.”

Adding that there are many opportunities in agribusiness, he said those opportunities need to be patiently explored and loans given to farmers must not exceed single digits.