As part of efforts to cement its relations with Nigeria, the Chinese Government has built a 6-billion dollar agriculture development centre that will expose Nigerian farmers and others in the value chain to global best practices in agriculture Production.
Situated in Abuja, the facility is expected to serve as a
skills acquisition centre to help local farmers adopt new farming methods,
enabling them to plant and harvest products that can compete favourably in the
international market.
The centre built by the Chinese government is expected to
help Nigeria adopt modern agriculture techniques to attain food sufficiency and
increase foreign exchange earnings through the export of produce.
The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Cui Jianchun, made this
known on Friday during a tour of the China-aid Nigeria Agricultural
Demonstration Centre project in Abuja.
Jianchun said that China is ready to set up a twin
demonstration technological centre for the production of livestock feeds.
According to the Ambassador, he is at the point of meeting
with the Nigerian government for a site for the project.
With this, the country will be able to produce feeds for its
cattle thereby, curbing farmers and herders frequent clashes.
Jianchun said, “I am planning to talk to the FCT Minister,
Mohammed Bello, to give us 20 hectares of land to build a twin-hall technology.
“We will use this technology to grow mushrooms for food to
feed the cattles. We feed the people and then the animals. This will help curb
between herders and farmers.
“We are ready from the Chinese side to bring the farmers to
the demonstration centre to train them on technology.”
Speaking on the importance of China-aid Nigeria Agricultural
Demonstration Centre project, the envoy said, “Food is security that everyone
needs. Without Agriculture, the whole country cannot be stable. Every year in
Chinese document in the front page, it is about farmers, and agriculture.
“I hope that this project is a starting point that the two
nations can work together to bring more investment from international
communities. We could solve food insecurity issues.”
He further stressed the need for mechanization of the
country’s agriculture sector.
He said, “We need mechanisation in Agriculture. We have
different kinds of machines from China such as harvesters, cultivating
machines, etc which is very good for Nigeria’s business. I think there is need
to expand this cooperation.
“We need technology in the development of Agriculture. So I
think that this demonstration centre can really perform such. Also, this
project is also called the ‘friendship’ project. We believe that Nigeria needs
this kind of demonstration centre to cultivate more talented experts,
technicians etc to improve our agricultural sector.”
In his remark, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Ernest Umakhihe acknowledged that the
project is a worthy one, noting that the government will take full advantage of
it.
Umakhihe said, “We want to be strong partners in this
project. The Chinese and Nigerian government have had cooperation over several
sectors. Having inspected what is in
ground, this project is a worthy one and we will take full advantage of what we
have seen.
“Understandably, it is not a loan but a grant from the
Chinese government. For them to hand it over to government, they need to have a
structure on ground and have a hand in running of the centre when it is fully
operational.”
.jpeg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment