Agric ministry, agency to launch agric-based online portal

folarin okunola

June 21, 2016 8:55 AM

Ogbe opined that with a portal like this, the level of patronage on Nigerian agricultural produce would increase in foreign countries

Media reports confirm that Audu Ogbe, minister of agriculture and rural development, has commended the management of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) for developing an agricultural portal aimed at making Nigeria self-sufficient in food production.

The minster, speaking when the management of the Agency with the project consultant paid him a working visit to demonstrate the working of the portal to him, expressed his optimism on the project.

Ogbe opined that with a portal like this, the level of patronage on Nigerian agricultural produce would increase in foreign countries while maintaining that, “Our produce will also enjoy quality control and provide necessary information to importers of our farm product.”

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“We will collaborate with your Agency on this laudable initiative and we are starting right now by constituting a working team that will work further on the contents of the portal because it is very key for the effectiveness of the project,” Ogbe added.

According to a Nigeria CommunicationsWeek report, the minister said the team that will be put together would ensure elimination of inaccurate information and data on the portal urging the team to make provision for source of agricultural finances in the portal to enable farmers know how to source for credit facilities for their business.

Recently, there have been reports from various social media sources saying that the employment-driven N-Power portal of the government, which was launched recently, did not work well and had issues most of the time.

Will this be another innovative but poorly executed project from the government? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

folarin okunola