NABG seeks incentives for youth in agric

The Nigerian Agriculture Business Group (NABG) wants the Federal Government to provide incentives for youth as a way of attracting them into agriculture.

At the ongoing Agric expo and NABG conference in Abuja, NABG’s Chairman, Sani Dangote said the youth cannot be brought into agriculture if there is poverty, hardship and no reward in the sector. He stressed the need for a paradigm shift from regarding agriculture just as subsistent farming to business.

He said: “Agriculture should be seen as a way to earn good money decently through hardwork and honesty. So we are bringing in the youth to understand the opportunities in the sector, the financial system through Bank of Agriculture and Bank of Industry.”

NABG is working with government in ensuring the private sector is carried along in the implementation of the Green Alternative roadmap he said, disclosing plans to meet with minister of agriculture to finetune ways in which the NABG, ministry and the presidency will ensure this because they are the main beneficiary of the document.

According to Dangote the private sector will monitor the roadmap closely to see how government is performing and how stakeholders are carried along in the implementation of the policy.

“We will be working with the presidency and ministry to monitor how things are happening. If they are not happening from the private sector side, then we will see whether they are happening from the government side and we will see whether it is working or not. And that is the big difference between what we have now and the previous policies.”

The Director of Industrial Development in the Ministry of Trade and Investment who represented the minister, Dr. Francis Alaneme, said the government has introduced Public Private Partnership for the development of clusters.

There is also special economic growth on Staple Crop Processing Zones located in Kogi, Enugu, Kaduna Anambra states, he said.

He said to increase private sector investment, the government was working on seven enablers, which include infrastructure development, in the areas of road, power, rail and water. He said government wanted long-term partnership.