Mr Temitope Fadeshemi, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, admitted this on Thursday at the training and empowerment of 250 farmers under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) in Abuja.
He said smallholder farmers remain the backbone of the country’s agricultural sector as they contribute significantly to national prosperity.
Fadeshemi identified as crucial, the empowerment of verified and validated farmers under the National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy (NPRGS) and charged farmers to see their role as paramount in shaping the trajectory of the nation’s agricultural success.
“Let us embrace this opportunity to build a future where smallholder farmers are not just beneficiaries of progress but active contributors to our nation’s growth,” he said.
Earlier, the Head of Horticulture, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Dr Deola Lordbanjou, said the inputs would boost the productivity of farmers.
He urged Nigerians to also do backyard farming to ease pressure, saying it would go a long way to solving the problem of hunger in the land.