The Federal Government has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to set aside a N50 billion mechanization intervention support fund for the establishment of the 1,200 private-sector driven Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHE) across the states of the country.
Vice President Namadi Sambo announced this on Monday while commissioning the 100,000 metric tons capacity grains Silos at Sheda, Abuja as well as the AEHE scheme.
The Vice President noted, “as we produce more food, it has become necessary to expand our food storage capacity and reduce post-harvest losses.
“The development of strategic grains reserve is central to our policy of stabilizing food prices for consumers and assuring guaranteed minimum prices and market access for farmers.”
Sambo pointed out that current records indicate that 21 million metric tons were produced by Nigerian farmers surpassing this target and achieving increased food production in the past three years.
He said the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had completed a total of six silos with a capacity of 250,000 metric tons since November 2013 with a further 625,000 MT silos to be completed by December 2014, making a total of 875,000 MT silos capacity completed within two years.
He expressed satisfaction that the Agricultural Transformation Agenda was achieving great strides in government’s efforts to turn Nigeria into a self sufficient country.
DAILY INDEPENDENT
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