Akwa Ibom State Government has called on the youths to develop a strong passion for agriculture production as the mainstay of rural economy required to tame down the current craving for undue political activism and involvement in criminality.
This call was made in Uyo by the Deputy Governor, Mr Moses Ekpo at a 2-day South-South Zonal Sensitization Workshop on “Implementation of Food Systems Transformation Pathways”, Organized by the United Nations and International Fund for Agricultural Development.
The UN Food Systems Transformation aimed to galvanize stakeholders around the food systems with a view to accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals, in term of food safety, food insecurity and dietary transition as issues that affect the nutrition situation of the country.
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The Deputy Governor who was represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Pastor Ekikere Umoh, disclosed that the State government has recorded an impactful revolution in the agricultural sector, listing some of such impacts to include the establishment of a coconut refinery and cocoa fermentation & drying center.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Offiong Offor noted that the summit was a follow-up of the zonal exploratory dialogue on the UN Food Summit held last year in Calabar, to call for effective and feasible pathways to sustainable, resilient and equitable food systems for Nigeria as a means of realizing the vision of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
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She, therefore, urged the participants to key into the vision of using agriculture to reduce poverty, adding that the State government has ensured value addition through the establishment of agro-based industries for the production of virgin coconut oil, processing of rice, flour, among others.
The United Nations/International Fund for Agricultural Development Representative, Mr Oguniyi Adebayo, commended the Federal government for the consistent efforts towards food security and urged all to embrace the vision of transforming the food systems in the nation.
