WORLD BANK TO SUPPORT COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA

By NBF NEWS

The World Bank has pledged to assist Nigeria realise its potential in export of agricultural products and help end the era of being a net importer of food.

The Country Director of the bank, Mr. Onno Ruhl, made this pledge in a goodwill message delivered at the Commercial Agriculture Development Project's fourth bi-monthly progress review meeting held in Kano, according to statement made available to our correspondent in Abuja on Monday by the Senior Communications Officer, Mr. Obadiah Tohomdet.

Ruhl said the World Bank was ready to assist Nigeria in making commercial agriculture a reality, adding that fast disbursement of funds to beneficiaries would be balanced with quality work for better results.

The $150m CADP, sponsored by the World Bank, is being implemented in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Cross River and Enugu states.

According to Ruhl, the World Bank expects the project, not just to safeguard Nigerian food security but to also 'replace food importation with food exportation.'

He commended the CADP team for the keen determination and competiveness with which the participating states were implementing the project, adding that among the 28 projects supported by the World Bank, only CADP was holding rotational implementation and supervision review meetings in the participating states.

The Task Team Leader of the project, Mr. Lucas Akapa, expressed satisfaction with the progress made by the five participating states in terms of laying solid foundations for the effective implementation of the project.