President of African Development Bank, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has called for accelerated efforts to increase food production and reduce the cost of food in Nigeria.

Mr Adesina made the call on Saturday at the inauguration of a soybean plant and refinery by the Called Servant to Service Global Integrated Farms in Gora, Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State.

Mr Adesina, who performed the inauguration of the factory with 10,000 litres of soybean oil per day, decried the level of hunger in Nigeria due to high food prices.

He stated, “Accelerated efforts are needed to expand food production, lower the prices of food commodities, eliminate food import dependency and support local farmers to feed Nigeria. There is no doubt that Nigerian farmers can feed Nigeria. They did when I was minister of agriculture under President Goodluck Jonathan. The price of rice at the time was N8,000 per bag. Today, it is over N100,000 per bag. Nigeria should have bold programmes and policy support for its farmers. It should also provide incentives for agribusinesses to support agricultural value chains, from food production to processing, value addition, packaging and market supply.’’

He commended CSS Farms for playing its part in improving food production, promoting agricultural business, especially among Nigeria youths, and for achieving global ISO 9001 certification.

The AfDB president described the ultra-modern refinery as a major milestone in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, saying it would contribute toward reducing Nigeria’s crude soybean oil imports, estimated at $62.2 million in 2023.

He further stated that the success of the operations of the farm would be greatly enhanced within the context of the development of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) in the country.

Mr Adesina noted that the bank and its partners were supporting the Federal Government and implementing a $538 million programme for the development of SAPZ in seven states.

He identified the states as Cross-Rivers, Imo, Oyo, Ogun, Kaduna, Kano and Kwara including the Federal Capital Territory.

He said that the second phase of the programme that would cover the remaining 28 states was planned with a financing target of one billion dollars from AfDB, Arab Bank for African Economic Development and the private sector.

Mr Adesina added that the Africa Investment Forum held from December 4 to December 6, 2024 in Rabat, Morocco, AfDB and its AIF partners were able to mobilise $2.2 billion in investment interest for the development of SAPZ in Nigeria.

The AfDB president, who said that Nasarawa would be in the second phase of the programme, added that when established, the CSS Farms would be a key anchor investor in the zone.

The founder of CSS Farms, Prof. John Okpara, said that he got the directive to establish the farm from God when he was praying.

Mr Okpara, who is a former Secretary of Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, said that the farm, which started with one hectare of land six years ago, had been expanded to 1,750 hectares, with over 1,450 workers.

He said, “In this farm, we produce 3,000 crates of eggs daily. Today, we are going to commission something new. I also produce a lot of soya beans. The soya bean we produce here is processed in this house into soya meal, soya cake, soya oil and sludge. The sludge is what we use in producing the soap we use at the centre and other areas to wash the place. Then the soya cake is taken back to the factory to be used to produce feed for my baits, and then the soya meal for the feed, for the poultry baits.’’

According to him, the factory also produces and processes maize, corn, banana, cassava, rice and other products from the farm.

Mr Okpara said that the farm was planning to establish an agriculture university where every student who passed through it would be empowered to set up his own agro-related business.

The Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Most Rev. Ignatius Kaigama, in his message during the thanksgiving service held at the farm’s chapel, commended Okpara for contributing to food security in the country.

Mr Kaigama advised Nigerians to emulate Mr Okpara in setting up businesses that would provide for their needs and offer services to humanity.

He also urged Nigerians to inculcate the habit of thanking God and believing in His providence

Dignitaries at the event included former President Goodluck Jonathan, former President of Sierra Leone, Ernest Koroma, and Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, represented by his deputy, Dr Emmanuel Akabe.

Others were Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State; a former Governor of Cross Rivers State, Ben Ayade; Primate Henry Ndukuba, Bishop Effa Emmanuel and Rev. Daniel Mbaya.

(NAN)