Nigeria, Israel sign bilateral cooperation on agric

The Federal Government on Friday signed a joint declaration for bilateral cooperation on agriculture with the State of Israel.The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who signed on behalf of the Nigerian government in Abuja, described the partnership as the beginning of great things to be achieved in the sector.

Adesina, who played host to a delegation from Israel at the headquarters of the ministry, said the collaboration would help boost fish production in Nigeria, improve on micro irrigation and facilitate agricultural mechanisation in the country.
He said, “Nigeria will work closely with the State of Israel to boost fish production so as to cut down on the amount spent yearly importing fish. It will interest you to know that Nigeria spends N125bn annually on fish import alone and this ought not to be considering the abundant water resources in this country.“The cooperation will also include areas of beef production, horticulture and training.
They (Israel) will help also us structure our rural communities in a way that youths in these communities will be able to create wealth through agricultural activities instead of migrating from their local areas.”The minister explained that the Federal Government had intensified efforts in making sure that private investors were involved in the business of agriculture in Nigeria.According to him, the President had directed that private investors be wooed to the agricultural sector so as to drive wealth creation for agriculturists, adding that about $4bn private sector investments had been invested in the industry.

Adesina explained that the Israeli-Nigerian bilateral cooperation would foster developments in the sector and “would impact tremendously on private sector businesses, bringing wealth to youths by creating gainful jobs.”The minister told the Israeli delegation that Nigeria used to be a major player in the global agricultural market, as it was the largest producer of groundnut and palm oil globally in the 1960s.

He noted that the over reliance on oil as the main source of foreign exchange led to the abandonment of agriculture and called on the Israeli team to support the country in revamping the agricultural sector.In his address, the Israeli Minister of Agriculture, Mr.

Yair Shamir, said his country was willing to cooperate with the Nigerian government to develop agriculture in Nigeria.He said the Israeli government would commence the cooperation by training some employees of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, adding that the partnership was aimed at securing food for both nations.Shamir said, “We want to supply more advanced products to the Nigerian people and this is because we have a lot of technology and ideas that we will like to share.”