…commends Tanzania, Burkina Faso govts’ reforms
The candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 2024 Edo State governorship election, Engr. Osarenren Derek Izedonmwen, has urged both the federal and state governments to prioritize agricultural reforms and rural revitalization as essential pathways to Nigeria’s development.
Izedonmwen also commended the governments of Tanzania and Burkina Faso for their notable achievements in reforming their agricultural sectors and revitalizing rural communities to achieve food sufficiency and boost exports.
He highlighted that these countries have successfully implemented agricultural and rural revitalization models similar to his RAIISE Agenda, which he championed during the just-concluded 2024 Edo governorship election.
Izedonmwen’s plan emphasized empowering youth and local farmers by granting them access to farmland, with long-term land rights of one to five acres per youth or household. He proposed that the government should create an enabling environment that includes affordable credit and market access for local and export sales. Such ‘state-guided’ intensive farming at scale, he noted, would ensure food sufficiency, supply essential feedstock for agro-allied industries, and generate wealth for youths and rural communities.
On rural revitalization, Izedonmwen called on both federal and state governments to focus on quick-impact projects, such as developing infrastructure to support efficient farming and cottage industries in rural areas. He stressed that this approach would promote balanced and inclusive economic growth across rural and urban areas, contributing to a decline in the rising insecurity that currently plagues the country.
On Tuesday, November 5th, 2024, Business Insider Africa reported that Tanzania has achieved 128 per cent food security, allowing it to export surplus produce to neighbouring countries. Tanzania has also achieved a new milestone by becoming a processor and net exporter of cashew nuts, a rarity among African countries, as cashews are typically processed in Asia.
Backed by investment from the African Development Bank, Tanzania’s creating jobs for youth and women programme is targeting the country’s 65 per cent youth population with training in farming, agriculture, livestock and crop farming. Each youth is given 10 acres of land and is supported by training. Already, 11,000 are reported to have benefitted and this year’s harvest has begun.
Business Insider Africa reported that President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced the development on October 31 at the World Food Prize Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue in Iowa.
The report said the session, titled “Bold Measures to Feed Africa”, was moderated by President of the African Development Bank Group, Akinwumi Adesina, and also featured Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio.
It quoted President Hassan as saying, “We are now working on quality, accessibility and affordability, and how to minimize post-harvest losses. We realized that not investing in agriculture is much more costly than investing in the sector.”
Tanzania has additionally made remarkable strides in rural electrification, with nearly 100 per cent of its 12,300 villages now connected to the grid, according to President Hassan.
Similarly, Zoom Afrika in a post on its X handle (formerly Twitter) on October 17, 2024, stated, “President Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso motivates agricultural incubator students to be pioneer in a new Burkina Faso that’s food sovereign and producer. Students are given 2 hectares of land each, supported with grains, borehole water supply and others.”
