Mr Paul Ikonne, the Executive Secretary, National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), on Thursday said it would partner with Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to ensure food security.
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Ikonne said this during the advocacy visit on “Back to Farm” initiative at FRSC headquarters in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Ikonne became the Executive Secretary of NALDA on June 1.
According to him, the silver lining in the COVID-19 pandemic dark cloud is the revival of NALDA as access to quality nutritious food is fundamental to human existence.
He said that the agency was supporting the farmers and giving them what they need to farm with by allocating lands for farm produce.
Ikonne said the initiative was to raise rural incomes and general living standards in rural Nigeria for them to contribute meaningfully towards the attainment of national food figure, self reliance, self sufficiency and national food security.
“Secure access to food can produce wide range positive impacts, including economic growth, job creations and poverty reduction.
“We are here to continue our advocacy for “Back to Farm” as President Buhari said we must produce what we eat and the only way we can achieve this is to have everybody go back to farm.
“So we are here to get the FRSC to be part of this initiative and encourage them to go back into farming for immediate needs where they can make use of their lands and even individually to farm at least what they can eat,” he said.
Ikonne said that NALDA was driving agriculture as business with the view of making the farmer rich.
He said that one of the major aim of the initiative was for farmers to get profits from farming, adding that NALDA would serve as the middle man in ensuring farmers get profits.
According to him, NALDA is now the middle man to the benefits of the farmers and that it is no longer the business of farming without making profit.
“NALDA is for the farmer and also for the people. We stand between the farmer and the off takers. Farmers will no longer have to stay on the road to sell their farm produce for peanuts.
“NALDA bridges the gap between taking you out as regular farmer that is just farming because he cannot do anything into farming because you know that with farming, you will be able to feed your family, feed the nation and make a living.
“With NALDA in the picture also, people will now be happy going into farming knowing they would make profits after harvesting,” he said.
The Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, commended the Federal Government on food security describing the initiative as a plan for the future.
Oyeyemi said that the initiative was to help the Corps meet their immediate needs, saying that FRSC was ready to partner with the agency.
“Since we have lands already at Gwagwalada, all we need to do is to start and we are partnering with NALDA to provide the seedlings, tractors and other things that would be needed on the lands.
“We would also use the avenue to create more awareness and give information concerning this and also support in our little way to ensure the public are aware of this initiative.