By Samuel
The National Assembly (NASS) has said that it will in its capacity continue to back the Federal Government’s agricultural initiatives to thrive and ensure active engagement of all constituents.
This was the assurance given to delegates from the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) when they paid a courtesy visit to Senate President, Ahmad Lawan in Abuja.
According to the Lawmaker, one of such agric programmes, the “Back to Farm Initiative” pioneered by the President Buhari’s administration will be perpetually driven to attain food sufficiency across the federation.
The Buhari Young Farmers Network, an alternative name for the scheme, will benefit 100 young Nigerians from each Local Government Area in its pilot phase.
In a statement released by the Head of Communication, Mr. Tope Ojeme, the leadership of NASS said that it would rally the federation’s 360 constituencies to reap massively from the initiative which NALDA intends to propagate.
With the initiative targeting over 2,000 youths from each 774 Local Government Area before 2022, NALDA is expected to provide strategic public support for land development.
Director of NALDA, Dr. Paul Ikonne in his address said that the initiative was part of the FG’s economic diversification and employment creation strategy for Nigerians.
The benefits, he spotted, would be visible in due course but Nigerians must begin to see agriculture as a path to sustainable development.
The NALDA boss revealed that the initiative would be expedited using modern agricultural technologies with farmlands structured in clusters to benefit smallholders in the country.
Ikonne, however, prayed that the National Assembly acts on its governance by ensuring that arable lands are provided for the initiative across all constituencies.
NALDA is also set to engage agricultural stakeholders in the country to pilot the project and attain its set target, he said.