Nigeria plans diversification into agriculture

Nigeria plans diversification into agriculture

Posted by Metral

1. Akinwumi Adesina told The Wall Street Journal that the country is seeking to boost investment in agriculture as part of a drive to diversify Nigeria's economy away from oil and gas, and to create more jobs and food security in the process.
   
2. Since then, he has been focused on rooting out corruption in the seed and fertilizer industry--"one of the most corrupt" sectors, he says--attracting more foreign investment and finding more domestic uses of local crops like cassava.
3. CAPE TOWN--Nigeria's agriculture ministry has attracted $8 billion in foreign investment and aims to boost that to just over $10 billion by 2015, the country's minister of agriculture said this week.
4. The country controlled 42% of the global trade in groundnut oil, 27% of the world's palm oil industry and 18% of the cocoa trade, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.
5. Adesina, private seed and fertilizer companies sell directly to farmers.
6. Government officials were selling fertilizer bought on behalf of farmers to neighboring countries, the minister says.
7. He added agri-business company Syngenta will set up an office in Nigeria in June and there has also been interest from seed companies Monsanto Co. and DuPont Co.
8. Previously state-owned commodity boards controlled the sale of cash crops and also seed and fertilizer.
9. Adesina says will be Africa's biggest fertilizer plant.

Source:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nigeria-plans-diversification-into-agriculture-2013-05-12