The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, has inaugurated the Implementation Technical Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and the National Agro-Allied Commodities Cooperatives of Nigeria, aimed at boosting the agricultural value chain, fostering corporate collaboration, driving economic growth, and creating jobs for Nigerian farmers.
Kyari, represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Marcus Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, said in a statement on Thursday that the Federal Government would ensure a supportive environment for agribusiness MSMEs to maximise their potential in production, processing, packaging, marketing, and distribution across the agricultural ecosystem.
“The Ministry is committed to improving agricultural value chains to unlock value for farmers, with special focus on areas where we have comparative advantage,” Kyari said. “We will provide interventions in different commodity value chains and develop rural infrastructure to support food production.”
The minister highlighted the expected benefits of the initiative, including increased income for farmers, growth in trade and investment locally and internationally, higher foreign exchange earnings, job creation, and poverty reduction.
“The aggregation of the produce of the micro, small, and medium producers are considered to be the economic pivots of any nation,” he noted. “Without their input, there can be no produce to showcase, which implies no Agribusiness MSMEs, no nation.”
In his welcome remarks, Ogunbiyi, represented by the Director of the Department of Agribusiness and Market Development, Iwara Bassey, said the committee’s mandate aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the agriculture sector, focused on achieving food security and economic growth.
Responding on behalf of the committee, Julius Akam thanked the ministry for uniting key stakeholders for the national assignment, pledging that members would work diligently to deliver on their mandate.
