"SEC | S20W4: "ROLE OF AGRICULTURE IN THE ECONOMY"

. October is finally here and I see it as a month of vegetation, a green month full with alot of good things. Agriculture has always been a very important thing in our lives and is something we can't really do without because it has alot of categories that makes life more easy for us. Agriculture isn't all about just farming and harvesting but also keeping the world active in it's natural space.

Explain the social and industrial roles of agriculture in your country, sighting one of the main grown crop.

Based on the aspect of sighting one of the main grown crop I will be focusing more on Plantain which is a very important crop.

Social roles: Plantains has been playing a very essential role in our social life, when it comes to cultural aspect of our lives, we host plantain ceremonies to help build social unity among us. In this aspect as well, plantain trading has been able to link communities in the rural and urban areas.

Trading plantains is nationwide as this crop is found all over my country Nigeria. Plantain has an enlightenment program whereby people are taught the nutritious aspects of this crop also boost healthy eating habits. There are so many organizations that promote this crop and they are Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Latin America and Caribbean Network of Plantain and Banana Researchers (RELACP) and so on.

Industrial roles: Plantains also play industrial roles as they contribute to different sectors. We mostly use Plantains to process food, we get plantain flours from plantains and do you know that the plantain juice and beer we have are gotten directly from natural plantains? That's the fact you should know from today.

Plantains are used in industrial products as we get **Bio-gas from renewable energy gotten from plantain waste, **Cosmetics gotten from plantain-based skincare products and so on. Organizations like Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI), National agricultural research institutions and so on, promote this.

How has this main grown agriproduct helped in reducing poverty and as well promote rural development in your country?

It has boost the economical aspect of the country when we talk about empowerment, plantain farming has made it possible for people to generate income in a very massive way, this particular farming has helped communities that are dependent on plantains to alleviate poverty as they remain consistent in this field.

Rural Development has been promoted through plantain farming because this farming makes it possible for us to access other services like education and also health related services. Just like I talked about rural and urban linking of communities earlier, plantain farming has promoted rural development as people trade together in the rural and urban communities happily.

What are the main challenges facing your country's top crops (e.g., cocoa, palm, maize, wheat, rice, etc.) in terms of economic impact?

My country Nigeria has been facing alot of challenges that has led to the low productivity of crops when it comes to the aspect of economical impact, some of these challenges are;

Lack of adequate power supply: Electricity is very important all over the world as we all use it for alot of purposes. Nigeria is known for it's inability to get access to constant power supply thereby making things more difficult for farmers. The reason I say this is because of the aspect of water.

Water is very important in farming as we water our crops daily especially during the wet season. If there's no electricity to pump water then we won't be able to water all the crops, causing some of them to die and no longer be fruitful. Plants need water to survive and we need electricity to get constant water.

Insecurity: My fellow Nigerians are fully aware that our farms are mostly located in lonely rural areas whereby wild animals are even present sometimes. Farmers have been through alot just for us to see something to eat everyday.

These farmers get killed by some wanderers in the bush especially in the northern part of Nigeria. Wanderers are mostly the herds men as their cow eats some farm produce and when farmers try to stop them or hurt the cows, the owners kill these farmers or return back to burn their farms as well.

Some other challenges we are facing are Land degradation, high production cost, lack of facilities and equipment and so on. We pray that we get the strength and wisdom to overcome these challenges.

What current or past government initiatives are boosting agricultural productivity in your country?"

Alot of things has been going on in the country as the government are trying their best to ensure stress-free productivity of agricultural affairs and they are always putting their time in things concerning agriculture because we have been having alot of bad news.

The government have been very serious with their actions as they are decided to do good roads that will make transporting of goods more easy for farmers, securities has been kept in so many roads because wanderers always stop and attack farmers on the road, stealing some of their goods in the process and taking them to their hiding place for consumption.

Stories like this are now less because Policemen and mostly Soldiers are always on the road monitoring the movement of people especially those who are pedestrians. The government has also provided some equipments like tractors for farmers to use in other to make farming faster and stress-free.

What solutions can enhance agricultural productivity and growth in your country?

Just like I just mentioned above, Good road policy. If the roads are good, farmers will be able to transport their goods to the market on time, they won't waste alot of time on the road. Most times farmers get stranded during their journey to or from the market because of the damages potholes must have cost to their vehicle it tyres.

The good road policy isn't over yet because some places still have bad roads and flood has also taken over the roads in some areas. Another thing is the price of fuel. If the price of fuel doesn't reduce, farmers won't get enough fuel to go to the market with their vehicles so the government should ensure that they reduce the price of fuel. This will also make goods cheeper.

I invite @divinelife, @xaske, @artist1111 and @eliany to participate in this contest.

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