Amid efforts to achieve food and nutrition security in the country, the Federal Government has commissioned an agribusiness incubation center for capacity building, quality control to boost food production.

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, (FMAFS), Dr. Ernest Umakhihe who commissioned the center at the Federal University Lokoja, Kogi State, stated that the project is in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on agriculture and food security as a top priority.

He explained that the incubation center was established as a special centre of excellence to empower youths and women, promote employment generation and wealth creation as well as poverty reduction, saying the project is aimed at facilitating and attracting investments into the agricultural sector, ensuring sustainability of agri-based businesses, increasing domestic food production and exports.

He added that the centre would serve as a practical knowledge hub where practical skills, processes, and inputs are acquired on particular commodities, adding that the Centre is equipped to provide business basics through comprehensive training programmes along commodity value chains and business start-ups, including access to bank loans and other funds guarantee programmes.

Umakhihe said the center will enable farmers to learn and adapt new technologies and innovations across the segments of commodities enterprise/value chain of production, processing, storage and marketing.

Speaking further, he emphasised that the centre would support market research, linkage to strategic partners, access to investors and the development of business plans and business networking.

He lauded the support and cooperation of the Vice Chancellor and management staff of Federal University, Lokoja for the successful completion of the programme.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Prof. Olayemi Akinwumi pledged to ensure that the institution made good use of the opportunity to train the students, to become big time agriculturalists that would contribute to the nation’s food production.