Nigerians may starve to death by 2050 – Agriculture Minister, Audu Ogbeh warns

Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, yesterday, warned
that Nigerians were at the risk of starving to death by 2050 if
nothing was done to ensure all-year-round farming.
The minister made this disclosures when he defended the
2016 budget proposal of his ministry before the joint
Committee on Agriculture.
According to him, the present mode of farming in Nigeris was
incapable of sustaining increasing population in the country.
He said there was an urgent need for all stakeholders in the
agricultural sector to work towards improving mechanised
farming and irrigation in order to ensure all-year-round
farming that will avert the problem.
“We have written to state governments to encourage them to
develop dams and canals so that agriculture becomes an all-
year-round activity and it is not confined to the rainy season
alone.
“Four or five months of farm activity cannot sustain the
country for 12 months. Besides, by 2050, Nigeria’s population
will be very close to 500 million, going by the current rate of
growth.
“This is just 34 years from now. If we carry on at the current
rate of one crop per year and very low mechanisation, Nigeria
runs a risk of starving to death,’’ he said.
Ogbeh also said the current crisis between herdsmen and
rural farmers was a major setback for the agricultural sector
in the country.