Securing the Environment, Food and Water
Securing the Environment, Food and Water
By Our correspondents.
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The Nigerian Association of Agricultural Economists {NAAE), has held its 2024 annual conference in Owerri; it is the second time the NAAE national conference will hold in the Eastern Heartland. After a keynote address delivered on the opening day by Sir Major Emenike, Imo state commissioner for agriculture, the conference proceedings continued as planned between 15 and 18 October. The Theme of the Conference was Environmental Sustainability, Food and Water Security. As would be expected, a number of erudite intellectuals and researchers presented academic papers.
One of the major highlights of the conference was the election of Prof. Christopher Chiedozie Eze of the University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Umuagwo as the new National President of the association. He replaces Prof. Job Nnmadu who had piloted the affairs of the NAAE for two tenures of 4 years each. Other officers elected include Dr. Olatunde Adepoju as first vice president while Prof. Abdu M. Yaao of Aliko Dangote University, Kano is the second vice-president. Others elected are Dr. Chikamso Apeh as national public Relations officer and Dr. Oluwasegun Oyeleye who is assistant secretary. Dr. {Mrs.} Phidelia Ramatu Waziri-Ugwu was returned as internal auditor. She is a senior lecturer at the Federal University in Gashua, Yobe state.
In a chat with our correspondent, Dr. Phidelia Waziri-Ugwu said Nigerian businesses should look the other way when people are talking about halting the threat of hunger in the land, “government cannot do it alone, everybody should involved, businesses should step in and invest more in Agriculture in line with the global need to ensure food security. Governments at the various levels should also seek and adopt a holistic approach to increase food production, secure the environment and make clean water available for our growing population”. Asked the kind of support farmers would need to help produce more food, she said: “Farmers are in need of fertilizer while seeds and general farm inputs should be subsidized to keep farmers in the fields. You see, if we make farming more lucrative as business, it will attract more professionals, not just people who venture into farming as a last resort when every other thing has failed”. To another question, Dr. Waziri-Ugwu said, “In Yobe state farmers are given their due support and the result of that government assistance is showing in the volume and quality of annual harvests. Politicians in the Southern states also should allow farmers to get the support that governments have voted for them in the budgets.” She also said farmers, especially in the hinterlands should form cooperatives to assist themselves.
One of the major decisions of the association annual general meeting is the need to upgrade and step up efforts to push for the national assembly to pass the bill on the proposed National Institute for Agricultural Economics
