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Mr. Anga Sotonye being presented with an award of appreciation by Dr. Micheal Omolayole at the event.

The importance of micro and small scale food processing and agriculture was emphasised recently at the Omolayole Annual Management Lecture Series held in honour of Dr. Michael Omolayole, former chairman and managing director, Lever Brothers Nigeria Plc. The event, which was themed “Agricultural Innovation and Contemporary Investment Opportunities”, was aimed towards sensitizing the government and members of the public to take advantage of the abundant opportunities for economic growth in the agricultural sector and related industries. Mr. Sotonye Anga, an agribusiness and youth empowerment expert, was a panelist at the event. Anga’s lecture at the event, titled, “New Path to Wealth: Micro and Small Scale Food Processing in Africa” focused on the need to review some of the policies in the agricultural sector, especially as it relates to financing. “The message is becoming clearer by the day to our leaders and financial institutions that lending to the Agricultural sector in Nigeria must be at a single digit interest rate.” Anga explained further that agriculture, though a lucrative venture, is capital intensive. He pointed out that for Nigeria to record significant growth in the industry, a lot of investment must be made. “To say the truth, I am worried and wonder how far our Agriculture can go with budget allocation of less than 3% of national budget allotted to Agriculture, let me state clearly that it will not be out of place to give at least 10% of our national budget beginning with 2014 to Agriculture and maintain this trend for the next 10 years, I mean till 2024. “Also it is not just about giving a budget to Agriculture, we must ensure that the budgeted amount is released and released on time. Agriculture needs money, when funds for the Agric sector is not released fully and on time, activities in the sector will not be implemented, so the sector suffers and this is not the best for the country.” Mr Anga called on governments in Nigeria and across Africa to provide incentives that will support and encourage young people to establish small scale food processing businesses as a way to reduce unemployment and poverty in the continent. He said, supporting such initiatives will result in several economic benefits for any country in Africa including taking youths of the streets, reducing crime rate, restoring dignity to our young people and guarantee market for our farmers and farm produce. Mr Anga Sotonye was presented with an award of appreciation by Dr Micheal Omolayole at the event. It is important to note that in the 29-year history of the Omolayole lecture series, this is the first time that Agriculture will take the centre stage. The event was well attended by students, captains of industry and top government officials.