Uche Usim, Abuja
The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) Plc and Syngenta Agrochemical Company Limited, a seed production and crop protection company, at the weekend signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at boosting farmers’ yield by up to 80 per cent, in line with the Federal Government’s resolve to guarantee food security.
Speaking in Abuja at the MoU signing ceremony, the Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr. Aliyu Abdulhammed said the agency, as a risk management company, would continually work with key agricultural value chain players to develop and ensure the adoption of sustainable productivity, enhancing technology and practices for smallholder farmers.
He said one of the nation’s key challenges, was how to ensure food security, feed a rising population while ensuring sustainable income for smallholder farmers who constitute the largest portion of the farming populace.
Abdulhammed said: “This partnership is a critical component of NIRSAL’s value chain fixing mandate as this would ensure the availability and use of quality inputs, modern technology, best agronomical practices, embracing best crop protection science and the transfer of the knowledge requisite for enhanced crop production and guarantee optimal yields of between 40-80 per cent.
The NIRSAL boss further disclosed that the productivity enhancing technology and practices for smallholder farmers have been tested, validated and adopted across various countries like South Africa, Kenya, Morocco, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, France, Italy, Spain, UK, USA and Canada.
Abdulhammed said NIRSAL remained passionate about its mandate of rejuvenating agriculture and agribusiness in Nigeria via various partnerships. “We recently signed MOUs and entered into series of partnerships with key agricultural value chain players over the past few months.