Nigeria’s presidential candidates should use the occasion of Father’s Day to draw up radical food programmes such as the growing of 20 foot high sugarcane crops

Ayo Akinfe

[1] I have always dreamt of Nigeria being part of a nation that accounts for about 20% of global food production

[2] We are already the world’s sixth largest farms goods producer and have a key advantage when it comes to producing tropical crops

[3] As we speak we are the world’s number one producer of cassava, yam, shea nuts, cocoyam, melon seeds, kolanuts, etc

[4] We are also among the top 10 producers of cocoa, palm oil, papaya, plantation, sorghum, millet, pineapples, coconuts, cashews, etc

[5] Nigeria only has a gross domestic product (GDP) of about $400bn. In an ideal situation, food exports alone should generate $400bn for the treasury given that agriculture employs more Nigerians than any other profession

[6] If we want to make a phenomenal impact, what we need to do is come up with unprecedented hybrid varieties with about 10 times the yield as conventional crops

[7] I am thinking of sugarcane crops 20 feet high

[8] Cocoa trees with 40 branches

[9] Coconut and palm trees that are no higher that four feet but have 200 fruit bunches

[10] We should look to dedicate whole local government areas to growing fruits and vegetables

Fathering is supposed to be about taking care of those you are responsible for. Maybe Nigeria can start that process today!