Nigeria has been chosen by Member-states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to serve as a hub for food and grain storage for its member countries.
The Director Federal Department of Agriculture, Abdullahi Abubaka, confirmed the report and said the OIC Secretariat will mobilize resources, food commodities and grains, and store them in the various silos in Nigeria.
Food storage hub
"The Secretariat of the OIC will garner the resources, buy the grains and store them in Nigeria so that in the event of any food insecurity, we can distribute them from Nigeria to other places. The country already has over 36 strategic grain reserves across. Even though some have been concessioned, we have seven that are under the supervision and control of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture," said Mr. Abubaka.
"In Nigeria, we have been given the centre of excellence for cassava, we are trying to see how we can also develop palm oil, rice and other commodities, we have done our homework and just waiting to be given a marching order. The marching order is that we have already selected sites, we have liaised with the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike. We have sited the station in Kuru, Jos, all these are criteria and milestones they wanted us to identify," he added.
Agriculture accounts for about 23 percent of Nigeria's GDP. The country is a leader in various types of agricultural production, such as palm oil, cocoa beans, pineapple, and sorghum.
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