Olusegun Obasanjo, former president of Nigeria, has urged the federal government to treat food as a national security need that should be taken more seriously.
He made this known during the AgriConnect 2024 Summit, themed: ‘Bridging the Divide: Fostering Collaboration and Innovation for a Sustainable Agricultural Future’.
He urged government to provide single-digit interest on loans to farmers to help them scale and expand their production areas.
“Any country that offers more than a single-digit loan to people in agribusiness is not helping farmers. We know farmers need money, we also know food is national security,” Obasanjo said.
He added that, inasmuch as adequate finance is needed for the sector to thrive, availability and access to land are also crucial for the country to boost food production.
The former president of Nigeria, who is also a renowned farmer, remarked that for Nigeria to achieve food security, more attention needs to be given to the agricultural sector.
He emphasised the role of the government for farmers, saying that the federal government has to do a lot more for the sector as this will make the sector attractive to the youths.