COVID-19: Importance Of Agriculture Has Come To Play- Mbaram

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LAGOS – Richard-Mark Mbaram, Technical Adviser, Knowl­edge Management and Communication to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on, has said that the impor­tance of agriculture had come to play in the present situation in the country.

He stated this while speak­ing with Sunday Independent in Lagos during the distribu­tion of food items to Lago­sians by the All Farmers As­sociation of Nigeria (AFAN).

He said that the minister has been consistent about the need to ensure that the agri­cultural sector is not locked down, because if it is locked down there are bound to have food insecurity.

“My minister has been consistent about the need for us to ensure that the agri­cultural sector is not locked down.

“This is because, if you lock down agriculture, you are bound to have food insecu­rity and we need food security to have a national security.

“The challenges we are having for now with youths, all over the streets, lead to the fact that people do not have ac­cess to food.

“They are not concerned about what they wear, or how they smell; they are really concerned about what is in their stomach right now. So, this gesture by farmers is very laudable,” he said.

Mbaram noted that this current situation is a health emergency and that all hands are on deck to ensure that the nation flattens the curve of in­fection regarding COVID-19 and people have been asked to stay at home stressing that the society has been locked down and by implication the economy.

Speaking further, he urged all other well-meaning Nige­rians to rally round and sup­port the less privileged in the society to weather the situa­tion caused by the pandemic.

“AFAN is the umbrel­la body of farmers in the country; they are the ones producing the foods and they are charged over the years producing the food for the country.

“The farmers are the custodians of food that we are talking about and it is in their place to demonstrate to the country that they are here for you,” he said.

Dr. Femi Oke, Chairman AFAN, Lagos state chapter while speaking during the dis­tribution exercise, said that it is part of the effort of the farmers’ association reach out to the less privileged in the society to mitigate the effects of the lock down oc­casioned by the corona virus pandemic.

He said that the associa­tion intended to reach out to 400 people, as the farmers are doing that to complement the efforts of the government.

“We felt that we farmers too should gather what we have from our produce to reach out to the less privi­leged among us to at least support them with food item to cushion the effect of the lockdown and to also com­pliment the effort of the gov­ernment because we know that government is doing a lot in that area which is not enough.

“With this people will see that farmers feed the world.”

Shakin Agbayewa, Lagos Deputy Chairman AFAN said that the target audience is mainly the vulnerable and the poor in the society, stat­ing that there are the aged, youth, men and women who benefitted from the gesture.

Demola Fashola, a patron of the farmers’ association said that the farmer group in its little way is giving back to the society that a lot of people are hungry because they could not go out to work as many people are daily in­come earners.

He said that with what the group has shared, fami­lies will be happy again and be able to obey the lockdown order initiated by the govern­ment.

Some of the items shared included vegetables, eggs, pork meat, rice, garri, corn, pepper and tomatoes, among others.

Read Original Report Here By Independent

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