The Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) has called on the federal government to support indigenous manufacturers of agricultural machinery and provide a road network for rural communities.
The NSE stated this in a communique issued at the end of the 57th International Engineering Conference, Exhibition and Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) with the theme of the “ Sustainable engineering solutions to food security and climate change”.
According to the communique “Government and other stakeholders should encourage, support and enhance capacity of indigenous agricultural machinery manufacturers and research institutes such as National Centre for Agricultural Machinery (NCAM), National Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Product Development Agency
(PRODA), National Incubation Centre in developing and mass production of agricultural machinery,”.
The communique signed by the NSE president Engr. Margaret Oguntala and the executive secretary Engr. Joshua Egube also called on the government and donor agencies to fund construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of rural roads to ease challenges of food
transportation in Nigeria.
“The conference observed that about 70 per cent of Nigeria’s agricultural produce is from rural areas. However, poor road network hinders transportation and distribution of produce from farms to markets, causing spoilage, raising costs and reducing accessibility to consumers,”
The conference also recommended that Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) and other Engineering professional bodies should ensure follow up for effective take-off of the National Engineering and Innovation Fund earlier announced by the federal government.
The Conference observed that Water scarcity and inadequate irrigation systems are significant constraints to sustainable agriculture in Nigeria.
The Conference added that out of over 84 million hectares of arable land, only about 1.6 million hectares are irrigated, leaving the rest reliant on unpredictable rainfall.
The conference therefore, stressed the need for advanced water management solutions, including water-efficient irrigation, rainwater harvesting, and wastewater reuse.
The communique stated “Federal Ministry of agriculture and other relevant stakeholders should support efforts of agricultural research and development institutions on developing sustainable irrigation systems, including rainwater harvesting and efficient irrigation technology, to ensure water availability for farming all year round to increase land under cultivation and increase crop yields in Nigeria.
Government and relevant funding organisations to support various research outputs and commercialisation of sustainable storage facilities and processing technologies being developed or adapted in Nigeria to minimise post-harvest losses.
“Government should promote and provide an enabling environment and work in collaboration with relevant stakeholders in harnessing affordable renewable energy (solar, hydro, wind, biomass etc) that can revolutionise agriculture in rural farming communities.”T
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