Under My Watch, Agricultural Sector Has Provided 13m Jobs- Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has boasted that Nigeria’s agricultural revolution has created more than 13 million direct and indirect jobs in the past seven and a half years.

The president disclosed this at an interactive session co-hosted by the United State Institute of Peace (USIP), the International Republican Institute, the National Endowment for Democracy, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems.

In a statement on Saturday, Garba Shehu, the president’s spokesperson, quoted Buhari as saying that targeted interventions in the agricultural sector — driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) — transformed the country from a net importer of rice to a self-sufficient rice producer.

‘‘This same scheme has financed the establishment and operations of our fifty (50) integrated rice mills,” he said.

‘It has also financed over 4.5 million smallholder farmers, ensured the cultivation of almost 6 million hectares of farmland and almost 700 large-scale agricultural projects have been funded.

‘‘This Agricultural revolution has led to the creation of over 13m direct and indirect jobs.”

Buhari also said the focus on the agricultural sector placed Nigeria in a better position to handle the systemic shock caused by both COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine war on global food supply.