Championing food self-sufficiency through self-reliance
"De-politicising and commercialising agriculture through enhanced mechanisation to support our export and agro-processing goals"
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture remains the mainstay economic activity of our country and accounts for the highest level of employment, especially for those in the rural areas. Since independence, the contribution of agriculture to overall economic activity remains relatively low given our dependence on rain-fed agriculture; our reliance on subsistence rather than commercial agriculture and the lack of political will to overcome the structural bottlenecks besting the sector.
The politization of the sector through the ‘Meet the Farmers Tour’ has not helped either in turning around the fortunes of the sector or that of the farmers, who are gainfully engaged in the sector.
As a Political Party we will transform the agricultural sector into a commercially vibrant and dynamic productive sector, which would feed and be the catalyst for an agro-processing sub-sector. We will revamp our animal husbandry industry, principally through intensification, modernization, and commercialization of cattle, sheep, goat, and pig farming.
The interlinkages between crop production and animal production would be leveraged at unprecedented levels and the challenge of animal feed for young aspiring entrepreneurs in the animal husbandry business would be a challenge of the past.
We will develop and establish Feed Mills in collaboration with the private sector and by-products from commercial agricultural produce would feed the input needs of these feed mills to produce animal feed for farmers who are engaged in either commercial or subsistence animal husbandry production businesses.
We will ensure that through this scheme we overcome, as a country, the number of sheep, cows, goats, and pigs roaming our streets in search of food as these often result in unfortunate and avoidable accidents.
We will give impetus to agricultural research and shall repurpose the National Agricultural Research Institute along with the West Africa Livestock Innovation Center as the two principal anchors of agronomy and animal husbandry.
We will ensure that we become a nation that is self-reliant and Food-Self Sufficient.