Worried about the staggering annual food importation bill in the continent of over $35 billion, especially the commodities for which there is comparative advantage, the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday called on development partners to rise up to the challenge of achieving a zero per cent importation of food in Africa.
The Director, Agriculture and Agro-Industry Department, AfDB, Dr. Chiji Ojukwu, said out of the amount used for food importation in Africa, Nigeria accounts for about $12 billion on a annual basis.
According to him, if urgent steps are not taken to reverse the trend, the figure is expected to rise to about $110 by 2025.
The Minister of Agricultural and Rural Development, Mr. Audu Ogbeh, said concerted efforts were being made to re-engineer the nation's agricultural sector to achieve food security and also make the sector competitive using areas where the nation has comparative advantages.
The minister who was represented by the Director, External Service, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Alphonsus Onwuemeka, noted that the dwindling global oil prices creates opportunities for the untapped areas of Nigeria's agricultural sector capable of turning around the sector.
He said the nation's agricultural extension services are in deplorable state, saying that plans are underway to make extensions services in the country a one-stop shop department taking cognisance of global best practices.
Earlier, the Director General, IITA, Dr. Nteranya Saginga, said the goal of the Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) programme includes eliminating extreme poverty, ending hunger and malnutrition, achieving food sufficiency and turning Africa into a net food exporter as well as setting Africa in step with global commodity and agricultural value chains.
He said adopting modernised, commercial agriculture is the key to transforming Africa and the livelihoods of its people, particularly the rural poor.
