AGRICULTURE REFORMS
Prior to Jonathan’s reform of the agricultural sector, Nigeria lost billions of Naira in fertilizer subsidies and corruption in the sector. Akinwunmi Adesina, the minister of agriculture and rural development, said the country spent N873 billion between 1980 and 2010 on fertilizer subsidies for local farmers, losing 89% of that amount (N776 billion) to corruption and fertilizer racketeering.
Under Jonathan, all of that became history, as he supervised the dismissal of the middlemen who perpetrated these corrupt practices. Fertilizer and choice seeds now got to farmers directly via the e-wallet programme. The African Union (AU) applauded Jonathan’s administration for this achievement, and went on to adopt the e-wallet programme in curbing fertilizer corruption on the continent.
This government also supervised the reduction of rice importation and the establishment of long-term rice farms in Nigeria.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations said that under Jonathan, Nigeria became the largest producer of cassava in the world with an annual output of over 34 million tonnes of tuberous roots. With that endorsement, Jonathan was surely a successful agricultural president.
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