Undoubtedly, no one has ever boasted of
living a healthy life without an adequate food on his or her table. This
implies that a healthy living is not unconnected to consumption of required and
adequate food.
Food which remains one of the
three basic needs of man on earth can only be acquired by continual indulgence
or thorough participation in agricultural practices.
Agriculture is simply the act of
farming. In a nutshell, farming is the activity of growing crops and/or raising
animals on a certain piece of land in a given area or locality.
No doubt, agriculture is an integral part of human existence considering
the fact that it is the only means that can guarantee the three paramount needs
of man, which are food, clothing and shelter. Of course without agriculture, no
one can boast of a clothe or even a shelter. In view of this, agriculture has
indeed proven to mankind that it is the epitome of life which was initiated by
God himself.
Obviously, several countries in
the world depend solely on agriculture as regards Internally Generated Revenue
(IGR) coupled with creation of employment opportunities. And those countries
jealously safeguard it owing to the fact that, they acknowledge that it is the
most affordable and assessable source of revenue within the reach of mankind.
Unequivocally, if well harnessed, agriculture is considered as the most
important and lucrative revenue source due to the unending fruitfulness or
benefits as well as easy accessibility attached to it. Among all, the fact that
no one can live without food is enough reason to say that the positive impact
of agriculture on mankind cannot be overemphasized.
The above facts have proven to us that agriculture can function as a
revenue source as well as a means of survival to any individual or nation. Suffice
it to say; sustenance of agriculture remains one of the prime desires of any rational
and vision-oriented country in existence.
Due to its challenges, which include access to mechanize farming, undesirable
topography, poor climatic condition, unavailability of land, insufficient funds,
et cetera, many prospective farmers or interested individuals in most
developing nations like Nigeria have over the years lost interest in
agriculture thereby endangering the socio-economic status of the nations in
question. It is no longer news that lack of participation in either subsistence
or commercial farming among the populace of a certain country invariably leads
to malnutrition as well as tremendous decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
of the country.
The most devastating aspect of apathy in agriculture is the one observed
amongst the youth due to their eager quest for white-collar jobs. To say the
least, the current lack of enthusiasm in regard to agriculture among most
youths of the contemporary global society, particularly the African continent
has contributed immensely to the ongoing scarcity of food witnessed in several
nations in Africa and other developing nations across the globe.
History indicates that between 2011 and 2013, a total of eight hundred
and forty-two (842) million individuals or about one in every eight persons in
the world, were estimated to be suffering from chronic hunger, which simply
implies that the said set of people were not regularly getting enough food for
themselves to carry out their active life activities.
Due to the inevitable impact of food on mankind, the World Food Day
(WFD) was established during the 20th General Conference of the Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) in November 1945.
During the conference, all the Member States of FAO resolved that October 16
each year should be commemorated as World Food Day; the Day was meant to
coincide with the anniversary of the founding date of the organization (FAO).
The Hungarian delegation led by the former Hungarian Minister of Agriculture
and Food, Dr Pal Romany played an active role at the said conference; he
suggested the idea of celebrating the World Food Day worldwide. The first
commemoration of the World Food Day took place in the year 1946; and since
then, the Day is being observed annually in more than one hundred and fifty
(150) countries across the global community, raising awareness of the issues
behind poverty and hunger.
As the world over celebrates the 2015 annual World Food Day, I’m using
this medium to urge the Nigerian government to wake up from its slumber with
the view to ensuring that the bane of the country’s agricultural institution is
totally and thoroughly addressed. This can be made possible by providing
adequate or needed support for any genuine prospective farmer in the country
such as soft loan without any interest, arable land, as well as enabling
environment, and what have you. Similarly, the federal government alongside the
various state governments through a formidable and reliable agency should regularly
intercede on behalf of the Nigerian farmers to ensure that the commercial banks
are always willing to allocate either soft or hard loan to any intending
indigenous farmer.
The government is also expected to subsidize the prices of farming
machinery/equipment to enable every prospective farmer, either subsistence or
commercial, purchase them without much ado. This, no doubt would go a long way
to encourage or boost the morale of all the intending farmers in the country
thereby intensifying the rate of locally made products. In the same vein, the
ongoing restriction of importation of goods and services into the country must
be duly strengthened and intensified by the apt authorities to include the
Customs Service, among others in order to increase the level of demand on
locally-made commodities.
On their part, the farmers in
question ought to from time to time validate the membership of all their
members and also encourage or mandate the intending ones to register, to enable
the government or any concerned corporate organization to easily assess them as
well as ascertain the genuineness of anyone who claims to be a practising
farmer.
More so, the governments at all levels should endeavour to own and
manage various mechanized farms at their respective jurisdictions with a view
to supplementing the private owned ones, so that farm produce would be
affordable by the citizenry. It would also create an avenue for diverse revenue
sources and more employment opportunities for the teeming youth.
Above all, there’s a compelling need for Agricultural Science to be
studied by every secondary school student as a core/compulsory subject; and
such gesture/practice ought to be replicated during their Senior Secondary
Certificate Examinations (SSCE) to include WAEC, NECO, and/or NABTEB, as the
case may be. There’s also need for all the Nigerian tertiary institutions of
learning to introduce Agric Science in their schools as a General course to be
studied mandatorily by every first year student. However, there would be need
for a formidable legal backing towards ensuring the effectiveness of this
measure when implemented.
In addition, the various governments, corporate bodies as well as
well-meaning individuals should endeavour to continually grant bursary to the
undergraduates studying Agric Science or any agric-related discipline with a
view to encouraging our teeming teenagers to be preoccupied with the
dream/aspiration of studying an Agric-oriented discipline in future.
The aforementioned proposal if
duly considered and implemented by the President Mohammadu Buhari led
administration, which has indicated its interest to face the Agricultural
sector squarely, would indeed go a long way towards revamping the Nigeria’s
agricultural institution in its entirety. And for this to be holistically
actualized, it is worthy to note that all hands are expected to be on deck.
Think about it!
COMR FRED DOC NWAOZOR
(TheMediaAmbassador)Executive Director, Centre for Counselling, Research
& Career Development - Owerri
_____________________________________
frednwaozor@gmail.com
+2348028608056 http://frednwaozor.blogspot.com
Twitter: @fdnnwaozor
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