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The Niger Delta Intervention Agency and nine states in the oil region have opened a food front.
This came after a two-day brainstorming session where Commissioners, Permanent Secretaries and Directors in charge of Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock of the nine mandate states of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) met in Port Harcourt to explore strategies towards achieving food security and unlocking the agricultural potentials of the region.
The meeting, tagged: 'Unlocking the agricultural potential of the Niger Delta region', was described as a strategic partnership to transform the oil-rich region into an agricultural hub for the nine Niger Delta states.
The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Samuel Ogbuku, said the region must adopt a development approach whereby agriculture becomes the engine of inclusive economic growth, adding that the future of the Niger Delta is agriculture.
“The purpose of this retreat is to inspire the minds of the people of the region to look at how we can integrate agriculture in the region, look at our different areas of comparative advantage state by state, and put them together to ensure that there is food security in the Niger Delta.
“NDDC is just providing itself a platform for this, bringing the states together so that we can create an integrated agriculture hub that can be used for food security,” he said.
Ogbuku said the Niger Delta “has the potential to feed this country, not only through our rich natural resources of oil and gas, we also have potential in agriculture, which we have not really tapped into.”
“The region has a comparative advantage at the national level when it comes to aquaculture. We have rich land in areas like Abia Imo, Delta, parts of Bayelsa, Rivers,” he said.
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He said the President Bola Tinubu administration has placed agriculture as one of its key sectors in its effort to ensure food security.
Accordingly, NDDC, as an intervention agency, has decided that building roads, schools, hospitals is not enough. This is the time for us to take care of our stomach also.
He said, “We must leave a lasting legacy for generations to benefit from what we are starting today. This retreat will be elevated to the level of a regional agriculture summit. But for today, we are here to set the tone, to create a framework that will guide us as a region.”
Ogbuku explained that part of the framework will include the creation of research and data collection in the nine states of the region to transform the Niger Delta into an agricultural hub for the country.
“We are going as far as bringing together researchers and consultants to empirically study the agricultural prospects in the Niger Delta so that it will serve as a guide for potential investors,” Ogbuku said.
He said governments across the region need to invest in agriculture if the Niger Delta is to achieve food security, pointing out that it would be impossible to achieve this through subsistence farming alone.
Ogbuku said part of the initiative by the NDDC to accelerate food production in the region is its planned partnership with Origin Group to build a food hub in the Niger Delta.
“The future of the Niger Delta is agriculture. Agriculture is not just limited to land. It also goes into the blue economy, because we don't even know how to take advantage of the blue economy of the Niger Delta.
“Only through agriculture can we provide sustainable employment because with agriculture we have variables which are under our control,” he said.
NDDC Executive Director (Projects) Victor Etim Antai said the stakeholders' meeting was a call to action. “Agriculture remains our sure path to inclusive growth, job creation and food security in the Niger Delta.
“With vast arable land, rich waterways and a resilient population, our region has the resources to become Nigeria’s next powerhouse in agricultural productivity,” he said.
Antai informed that the meeting provides a rare opportunity to the participants ranging from state governments and private investors to research institutions and our energetic youth to align their efforts towards a coordinated agricultural transformation plan.
“Our discussions on value chains, mechanization, finance and market access will shape a practical road map for action.
He said, “As we deliberate today, let us think beyond talk towards collaboration, innovation and implementation. Together, we can build a Niger Delta that feeds itself, empowers its people and contributes meaningfully to national prosperity.”
