Nigeria: Olabanji urges govt to support private sector in wheat production

A major stakeholder in the wheat value chain, Dr. Oluwasina Olabanji, a former Executive Director of the Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), has called on the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive in wheat production. Olabanji, in an interview Daily Independent, made the call while stressing that there is need for increased private sector investment in wheat production in the country. He said that the importance of collaboration between public and private entities cannot be over emphasised. Olabanji also called for more government investment in research and development, noting that many successful agricultural countries enjoyed heavy government funding and support. He pointed out that decline recorded in the wheat production can be attributed to the government’s policy summersaults, stressing that the country would have surpassed the present productivity level if not for policy inconsistency on the part of the government since over ...