Posted by Ugochukwu Chimeziri on
The federal government's efforts to shift the attention of the economy from a mono-product to a multi-product economy would receive a major boost.....
The federal government's efforts to shift the attention of the economy from a mono-product to a multi-product economy would receive a major boost when President Olusegun Obasanjo commissioned 25,000 metric tonne-capacity silos in Ilorin, Kwara State, today. The contract for the project was awarded in 1989, but suffered a set back due to changes in government.
Yusuf Ahmed, executive director of Options International Limited, the contractor of the project said in Lagos that it would help Nigeria farmers to store their products especially grains, safely. Noting that Nigeria has lost so much agricultural produce to pests, weather and poor storage facilities, he said this has impacted negatively on the nation's gross domestic product (GDP).
"This has resulted to drastic reduction on the quantity that is available for distribution especially periods of off season when they are needed for consumption," he said.
The silos is expected to, in addition to providing better storage facility for the farmers, help them focus on further production of agricultural produce since they are no longer saddled with the problem of thinking about marketing of their products. Apart from this, prices of agro-commodities are expected to stabilise, while there would be regular supplies of grains to the market
Explaining why the silos' construction took so long, he said changes in the government caused suspension of work for about 13 years during which his company still maintained the security personnel at the construction site.
"I know this is a new land mark in the history of Nigerian agriculture, especially in taking the burden of market searching from the farmer thus creating enabling environment for full concentration on further production as well as stability of release of grains to the market," he added, advising the other states to consider building such facilities to assist farmers in their respective domains.
Nigeria loses about 45 per cent of its agricultural productions annually to various reasons ranging from poor storage devices to attacks of insect pests. This has been a cause of concern to the government, which compelled some agencies such as the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) and the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO) to seek ways of preserving these products.
Industry experts have estimated that if Nigeria could reduce about 70 per cent of its annual losses in this industry, it would cut down importation of many raw materials and would grow its GDP.