Nigeria Can become Food Basket of Africa, Says Jangid

Salami Adeyinka

The General Manager of Lionseal Industries Limited, Mr. Jagdish Jangid, has said that Nigeria can rise to become “the food basket of Africa”.

He said Nigeria has a large portion of unutilised arable land, good tropical weather and fertile land.

“Agriculture is contributing 23 per cent of GDP  and government’s drive for economic diversification and import substitution policies boosted private investment and increased the stakeholders’ participation in the entire agric value chain,” Jangid said.

According to him, the main problems faced by Nigerian farmers include high cost of production, low productivity, lack of finance , insecurity, poor infrastructure (poor Road connectivity, lack of storage facility ,high cost of transportation and less availability of cold storage facility for perishable goods ).

Jangid said Lionseal is poised to assist Nigerian farmers increase their farm produce through selling the right crops.

He said,  “Our company currently operates through its branch offices across different regions in Nigeria. Lionseal is a trusted name in the farming community and quality leader in the crop protection chemicals. We are highly committed to the quality of products and set the benchmarks with the international standards which are  abided by our suppliers who are global leaders in the manufacturing industry with decades of experience.

“Our supply chain partners are selected through a complex procedure of questionnaires and interviews and undergo rigorous scrutiny into their background in the Global Market. Our supplies are sourced from the world’s leading technical manufacturers who comply with the Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and have internationally quality certifications and endorsements.

According to him, Lionseal carries out extensive field activities in the rural parts of Nigeria.

“We closely work with farmers in identifying the farming issues and offer solutions through our product through demonstration and field activities. We also organise workshops to educate the farmers through classroom training and create awareness of modern farming techniques to protect crops and increase the yield. We have over 600 direct and indirect workforce. 

“We have emerged as market leader in agricultural value chain, as we supply and distribute and carry out extension farming activities through our 14 Branch offices across the country and over 3,000 plus channel partners across the nation,” he said.

He expressed the company’s commitment to quality standards, proven integrity and reliability which he said has helped foster a good and solid working relationship with farmers, “because we believe that farmers are the backbone to its success and its continual success in business.

Accordingly, a large number of local farmers and farmers’ cooperatives have a preference on the products offered by us. Lionseal brands have become a household name for quality within the farming community in Nigeria.