Niger State Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago has held a strategic meeting with two Non Governmental Organisations to discuss possible ways of intervention in agricultural transformation in the State.
Governor Umaru Bago had the meeting with the Executive Director, African Agriculture Transformation Initiative and the CEO Development Sovereignty Group at the Niger State Governor’s Lodge Abuja.
Governor Umaru Bago emphasized on the need to analyse how the private and public sectors can be coordinated in order to achieve meaningful impact in the State Government’s quest to transform the agricultural sector.
He also decried the low level of data analysis in terms of soil and crop sciences in the State and advocated the need to have efficient analytics which will help in driving the agricultural sector forward while also urging stakeholders to take Niger State as an entity in order to push through its efforts of attracting investors.
While describing research and development as key factors in agriculture, Governor Umaru Bago stressed on the need for the private sector to step in and help the State in maximizing its potentials in the agric sector by setting up institutions that will be resilient to time and challenges in the agric sector.
The Chief Executive Officer, Development Sovereignty Group Dr. Khalid Bomba in his presentation highly commended Umaru Bago for his agricultural drive while restating the need to move faster in terms of agricultural transformation through dedicated institutions adding that, there should be integration of the public, private and civil societies together if the much needed agricultural transformation is to be achieved in Africa.
The Executive Director, African Agriculture Transformation Initiative, Safia Boly said the meeting with key officials of Niger State Government is a continuation of series of engagements all geared towards contributing to the growth and development of the State through Agriculture saying, the commitment of the Governor is a factor that woos investors to the State.
Chairman Niger Foods, Sammy Adigun in his remarks said the collaboration Niger State is having with the two organisations will open opportunities of tapping into the State’s vast agriculture potentials.
