The Vision · Commitment 02
Agriculture & Food Security
Benue is called the Food Basket of the Nation, yet the people who fill that basket remain the least rewarded for it. The farm must become a place of prosperity again, not a place of risk.
Where Benue Stands
Benue grows what Nigeria eats: the yam trade centred on Zaki-Biam in Ukum, the citrus belt across Ushongo, Konshisha and Vandeikya, rice from the Agatu floodplain to Kwande, soybeans and sesame through the centre and north. Few states anywhere carry such agricultural weight.
Yet the value chain leaks at every joint. Harvests rot for want of storage; produce loses half its worth on impassable rural roads; processing happens far away, taking jobs and margins with it. And insecurity, where it persists, empties the most fertile land of its farmers altogether.
What Must Change
- Safe access to farmland as a non-negotiable foundation
- Storage and processing that stop harvests from rotting in gluts
- Rural roads that connect produce to markets at fair prices
- Support for young people to see agriculture as enterprise, not punishment
How Progress Is Measured
- Post-harvest losses falling, measured crop by crop
- Processing capacity sited inside Benue’s producing LGAs
- Farm-gate prices closing the gap with market prices
- Young farmers entering, and staying, by choice