Nigeria@56: President Buhari targets food sufficiency in 2019

Nigeria will be self sufficient in the production of food, such as rice, millet, sorghum, maize, soybean by 2019, President Muhammadu Buhari  said in a national broadcast today.

Buhari stated this while addressing the nation on the occasion of Nigeria’s 56th Independence Anniversary in Abuja.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have  been mobilised to achieve the target through the Anchor Borrowers Scheme.

Also, through the scheme, production  of the staple crops is on the increase in 13 states and that Kebbi alone is expected to produce one million tonnes of rice this year.

Buhari said Nigeria spends two billion dollars on rice importation stressing the need for the country to be self sufficient in staple crop production.

According to Buhari, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) have  been mobilised to achieve the target through the Anchor Borrowers Scheme.