Vice President Kashim Shettima has reached out to the United States government to seek assistance in advancing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agenda on food security. He made this request during a meeting with Mr. Cary Fowler, the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, as part of his official engagements in the United States.<\/p>\n
In a statement signed by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications (Office of the Vice President), Shettima outlined specific areas where Nigeria urgently requires support, emphasizing the importance of addressing challenges in the country’s agricultural sector. He expressed, “We seek the support of the United States Government, be it technical or otherwise, towards addressing challenges in our agricultural sector.”<\/p>\n
The Vice President stressed the need for mechanization, access to high-quality seeds, fertilization, improved agricultural practices, and smart agriculture solutions. He highlighted that the primary goal is to enhance yield and productivity, extending beyond the acreage dedicated to production. VP Shettima also mentioned that he was accompanied by other stakeholders who possess the knowledge and expertise necessary to facilitate this partnership effectively.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he assured the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security of the Tinubu administration’s commitment to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to improve agricultural productivity, not only within Nigeria but also across the African continent. He underscored the importance of nurturing existing relationships in the agricultural sector and seeking innovative solutions to overcome food security challenges.<\/p>\n
VP Shettima stated, “We will nurture it because more than ever before, we are facing food security challenges. We have to think outside the box, we have to look for ingenious solutions that can help us to overcome the challenges. I believe with your support (the political will is there now more than ever before), together, we can save humanity and serve the human race.”<\/p>\n
In response, Mr. Fowler disclosed that the U.S. government, in partnership with other stakeholders, has initiated an agricultural program with a focus on Africa. He explained, “What we are trying to do here in the US, which we coined the ‘Vision for Adapted Crops and Soil,’ is a partnership between the US, the AU, and the FAO.”<\/p>\n
The program aims to help African countries manage soil more effectively and ensure sustainability and productivity. On the crop side, the initiative addresses concerns related to climate change and its impact on Africa. It prioritizes indigenous African crops that have historically suffered from underinvestment.<\/p>\n
Mr. Fowler also revealed the establishment of a multi-donor trust fund at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to provide long-term funding for the program, with the USAID’s involvement and an allocation of $100 million from the U.S. government.<\/p>\n
He emphasized the importance of collaboration with countries like Nigeria, seeking their partnership and political support to make the efforts more permanent and institutionally robust. The goal is to have African leadership and a strong African voice in driving this program.<\/p>\n
Vice President Kashim Shettima, who attended the Belt and Road Initiative in China before his visit to the United States, is expected to return to Nigeria over the weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Vice President Kashim Shettima has reached out to the United States government to seek assistance in advancing President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agenda on food security. He made this request during a meeting with Mr. Cary Fowler, the U.S. Special Envoy for Global Food Security, as part of his official engagements in the United States. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4076"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4077,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4076\/revisions\/4077"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}