Mr. Godwin Chukwunenye Ezeemo

PLUG 1.
..developing an agricultural transformation plan demands prioritization

The most effective way to improve the lives of millions in poverty is to support agriculture.

Transforming a state’s agriculture sector can create jobs, raise incomes, reduce malnutrition, and kick-start the economy on a path to middle-income growth. In fact, almost every industrialized nation it state began its economic ascent with an agricultural transformation.

Although rural families often make their living from many different types of work, improvements in farming have proved to be the path toward widespread, poverty-reducing growth in the rural economy. Successful agricultural transformations have focused on the farming household, providing opportunities for farmers to earn a better income.

For some, that will mean raising farm productivity or shifting the mix of production to include higher-value crops and livestock. For others, the right choice will be to do less farming and take advantage of employment options off the farm. As farmers have more money in their pockets, they spend more in the local economy, creating jobs, opportunity, and more demand for agricultural goods.

PLUG 2.
…a plan will not succeed if it tries to cover everything. Instead, it should focus on the changes that are most likely to kick-start rural economic growth.

The question is how to accelerate, sustain, and scale these growth cycles. For that, a well-crafted agricultural plan is required as part of a country’s or state’s overall economic development approach.

Successful agricultural transformation plans differentially target agri-food systems and geographic areas with tailored strategies. For example, more productive land that is already well connected to markets, such as irrigated land can support large- or small-scale farms agribusiness is easier to scale there. In more remote areas, though, with bad roads, poor-quality land, and less well-connected markets, different strategies are needed.

The success of any agricultural transformation relies on how well millions of smallholders and small- and medium-size enterprises can be helped to change farming practices as quickly and effectively as possible.

Agricultural transformation is essential to the future well-being of nations and states and therefore also to a world with more equitable economic development.