Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo on Monday in Abuja launched the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, SAPZ, Programme, a cross-cutting value chain investment effort to incentivize agro-industrialization for private sector development.
The SAPZ programme is driven by Nigeria’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in alignment with the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy of the country’s government.
The programme was recently approved by the Federal Executive Council.
Prof. Osinbajo said at the launch of the program that; “It is designed to develop multiple clusters of Agricultural Transformation Centres (ATCs) and Agro-Industrial Hubs (AIHs) within major clusters of high agricultural production, where functional infrastructure like roads, power, water, communication etc are provided to attract private investment into modern agro-processing and value addition to locally produced crops, livestock and related agribusiness activities.
“So, where a zone has an advantage in rice production, for example, the well-resourced SAPZ would be located there to bring together agricultural producers, processors, aggregators, and distributors to operate in the production, processing and industrialization of rice.”
“The program is now a critical component of our agricultural strategy, which is to accelerate the industrialization of our agricultural sector with the objective of being ahead of our constraints in providing food, nutrition and wealth for the largest population in our continent,” the Vice President said.
Two Salutary Developments
Explaining that the first phase of the programme would be in eight locations, Prof. Osinbajo said that the next phase would bring on board another 18 states.
He added that the SAPZs also stand to benefit from two salutary developments, including technology and innovation as well as the opportunity that African Continental Free Trade Area, ACFTA, the agreement offers.
“There has been an incredible upsurge in the number of agric tech startups in Nigeria all along the entire agriculture value chain.
“Some of those innovations have vastly improved the quality of inputs, some use innovation to improve yields, some exponentially increase investments in Agribusinesses by various crowd-funding techniques.
“The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is also set to deploy innovative technology and digital skill sets to support the implementation of the SAPZs.”
According to the Vice President, the ACFTA opens up for Nigeria to be the breadbasket and the agri-business hub of the region.
“This convergence of resource and opportunity is certainly auspicious for the great impact that we look forward to from the SAPZs.
“The operation of the SAPZs will also leverage on other Federal and State programs including the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP: 2019 – 2028), and the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP).”
Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo reiterated the commitment of the government in moving Nigeria from a nation that still needs to import food items to one that is completely food secure and is a strong exporter of value-added agro-based products.
“We are working to ensure that in the next few years, made-in-Nigeria products, many of which will come out of these SAPZs, will be on supermarket shelves all over the world,” Adebayo said.
In his remarks, the President of the African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr Akinwumi Adesina said what Africa does with agriculture would determine the future of food in the world.
“With 65% of the uncultivated arable land left to feed over 9 billion people in the world by 2050 being in Africa, what Africa does with agriculture will determine the future of food in the world,” he added.
A five-year programme, the SAPZ would be implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), state governments and private investors.
Its implementation would be in seven participating states, including Kano, Imo, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo and Ogun) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The first phase of the programme is expected to enhance import substitution, which would reduce Nigeria’s current food import bill; create wealth for rural farming communities, and create new sustainable jobs, especially for women and youths.
The SAPZ programme is also expected to stem rural-urban migration; boost rural livelihood and revive stranded public and private sector-funded assets, as well as decisively, improve food security.
It is hoped that the programme would vastly improve the business environment for agro-industrial processors as it would improve their productivity and enable value addition for inclusive, adaptive economic growth.
PIAK
