Pakistan, Nigeria Must Collaborate In Agriculture Sector: Nigerian High Commissioner

Pakistan and Nigeria share similar agriculture base and they must collaborate in this sector to eliminate rural poverty and ensure food security

FAISALABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Jan, 2019 ) :Pakistan and Nigeria share similar agriculture base and they must collaborate in this sector to eliminate rural poverty and ensure food security.

This was stated by High Commissioner of Nigeria Major General (Retd) Ashimiyu Adebayo Olaniyi during a meeting with Vice Chancellor (VC) University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) Dr Zafar Iqbal Randhawa during his visit to the university, here on Friday.

Nigerian High Commissioner also stressed the need for further strengthening agricultural, academia and research ties between both countries in order to ensure food security and rural development.

He said that Pakistan and Nigeria were enjoying good relations. The contribution of agriculture in Pakistan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is around 21 per cent whereas in the agriculture of Nigerian GDP, it is 23 per cent.

He said that collaboration especially in cotton and textile sector need to be further cemented to get benefit from each other's experiences. He said that the UAF was very famous university and a centre of excellence in agriculture.

Dr Zafar Iqbal Randhawa said that the UAF and Nigerian institutions' collaboration in the field of agriculture would help bring tangible results. He said that agriculture was the backbone of our economy, and the UAF was enjoying good relations with the educational and agricultural institutions worldwide.

The Nigerian HC also visited different labs of Horticultural Sciences, Soil Sciences and the Centre for Agricultural Biochemistry and Biotechnology (CABB).