A politician who is a former presidential candidate, Dr. Gbenga Olawepo-Hashim has raised concern over the factors hindering the growth of the agriculture sector in the country. Olawepo-Hashim listed administration, insecurity and climate change as the major challenges to the growth of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. He spoke at the 27th annual convention and the 26th annual lecture series of the Alumni Association of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, FUNAAB, Ogun State.
In the area of insecurity, Dr. Olawepo-Hashim relied on data from the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, where, the about half a million farmers were displaced, leading to a loss of over N2trn between 2022 and 2024. In the middle belt, he said, study further revealed there was a drop of over 70 per cent in farming activities leading to “shortages of maize crops, yam, etc”. According to him, the Institute of Peace Study revealed that in 2024, over 3,500 cases of kidnapping occurred in Nigeria.
He said, “Apart from the above urgent issues, there are other issues that have fairly been around for a while undermining agricultural productivity and prosperity in the sector, which include poor road networks (that) hinder timely delivery of farm produce to markets. The African Development Bank (AFDB) notes that post-harvest losses in Nigeria exceed $9 billion annually, primarily due to inadequate transportation and storage.”
Professor Olusola Kehinde, the vice chancellor of the university, in his remarks, said he was honored and proud of the association especially the support given in the areas of helping the school in the of acquisition of many hectares of land for food cultivation and food security for the country.