There is increasing attention on producing agro-allied products locally to sustain food security and enhance good nutrition, especially if the talk about ending hunger and reducing poverty in Nigeria is to be achieved. With a focus now on home-grown alternatives to achieve this purpose, it may not be long before the nation begins to witness a drive towards sustainable processes that ensures local agro-industries become pivotal to the country’s entire agricultural value chain.

Experts have reiterated that meticulous and phased implementation of the backward integration policy (BIP) of the Federal Government would not only boost local content utilization, import substitution but also enhance job creation potentialities of agro-allied industries, increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and ensure food security and industrial growth.

Restriction of over 45 commodities in the foreign exchange window by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to minimize importation of products and raw materials months back is aimed at encouraging the policy for industries that are investing in locally-made solutions. In agriculture, BIP is already boosted by the CBN by forcing stakeholders, particularly in agriculture, to look homeward in sourcing raw materials through intensification of cultivation, the productivity of farmers, and out-grower schemes. Guardian