Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president, has encouraged the federal government to lower agriculture interest loans to single digit rates in order to aid in the transformation of the agribusiness.At the launch of the Youths in Agribusiness project, with the subject "Enabling Scaling of Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Food Solutions," Obansanjo made the statement on Friday in Abuja.
He claimed that it would be challenging for young people to be successful in agriculture if they had to go to a bank to borrow money at a 20% interest rate.
The former president pleaded with the federal government to devise a plan so that young people could have access to financing for agriculture at the proper rate.
Any interest rate higher than a single digit, in my opinion, is insufficient for agriculture.
He claims that the agribusiness industry may be transformed by the work agricultural players have done in delivering the correct seed, hybrid seed, high yielding seed, and knowledge.
But in order for farmers to improve the yields they receive, he added, "we need to put more of these scientific and technology products in their hands.
According to him, Nigeria's agricultural production, food security, and nutritional security are all crucial, and the nation also needs to provide jobs for its teeming youth population.
The Youth Agribusiness Programme, a three-year program to support 8000 young agripreneurs, would be inspired by Nigerian persistence and sprinkled with Dutch innovation, according to Wouter Plomp, the Netherlands Ambassador to Nigeria.
In order to tackle food insecurity, he claimed, young people must be given access to finance and given opportunities to sell their products on both domestic and foreign markets.
He claims that the objective is to advance agricultural innovation worldwide while also ensuring Nigeria's food security.
Sen. Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, stated that the 2023 World Food Day campaign took action for food by promoting water use in a wise manner to maintain food security.
The project's goal, according to the minister, who was represented by Engr. Adegbenro Adebiyi, Director Agribusiness and Market Development, is to give possibilities that will preserve and restore livelihoods and lessen food insecurity in Nigeria.