Business
Akinwumi Adesina, the man behind the reviving and mordernizing of Nigeria’s agriculture and breaking the “oil curse”
Akinwumi Adesina – Nigeria’s minister for Agriculture. PHOTO/Getty Images
When President Goodluck Jonathan was elected two years ago, he pledged reforms that would transform the lives of tens of millions of farmers who make a meager living despite occupying some of Africa’s most fertile land.
Oil remains the main source of foreign currency and state revenues, but agriculture is by far the biggest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP), making up 40 percent of Africa’s second largest economy.
With 170 million mouths to feed and a growing food import bill thanks to the disarray in the farming sector, agriculture ministry officials say there’s no time to lose.
If productivity does not improve Nigeria could face a food crisis within a decade, its current account surplus would be wiped out and the credit worthiness of Africa’s second biggest debt issuer would be under threat.
“If we did nothing, it would be a disaster,” Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina told reporters in the capital, Abuja.
“We don’t eat oil, we don’t drink it … We cannot sustain the amount of money we use to import food,” Adesina said.
In some cases, the imports substitute for things Nigerians are growing but can’t get to market or lack the means to process.
