25/12/2019
AGRIBUSINESS - A TOOL FOR ADDRESSING FOOD SECURITY AND SUSTAINABLE POVERTY REDUCTION THROUGH THE CHU
The Church is the greatest force for transformation that the world has ever seen. Christ has chosen the church to be the community that brings about that transformation. Christians should be ready to serve Jesus Christ with the passion by transforming their own congregations and communities from within.
The Kingdom of God is not only spiritual, it is intensely practical. The church is expected to move beyond its traditional role if it is to truly fulfill its mission. It can no longer respond only to spiritual needs and speak only to people's hearts. It should be a force for revitalization in the community by means of "economic empowerment" such as becoming involved in the everyday, economic life of the people.
Poverty has become an intractable problem in our society, including in the church. Crime, violence, and unemployment are the order of the day. The pervasiveness of poverty is mind boggling with dearth of effective schemes to address the issue of poverty reduction on a sustainable basis. The church is called to be a force for change in the world, especially now that our country, Nigeria, is in recession and church members need to be economically empowered to live decent lives.
The church has historically played a major role in the economic empowerment of congregations, neighborhoods, and communities. Many churches are engaged in series of Christian Social Responsibility (CSR) programmes to alleviate the sufferings of their members including establishing “feeding initiatives” to feed the poor. Besides, some churches have implemented ancillary operations in such areas as education, real estate, day-care centres, drug abuse rehabilitation centers, and among others.
At Greentree Sustainable Intervention Initiative, we believe “the church is a good steward of God's creation (Genesis 1:28-31). The land and animals are physically renewable resources God has provided to meet the daily needs of people. Only as agricultural techniques become more efficient and farmers move beyond survival mode can the population branch into other vocations. Because of its unique position in the heart of the communities, the church is able to play a vital role in stimulating and reinforcing healthy agricultural practices”. To this end, we want to work with Churches using AGRIBUSINESS as a vibrant tool for empowerment of church members and its communities.
In the next decade, agribusiness in Nigeria could become the engine that drives dynamic, unprecedented economic growth and development. The World Bank also predicts that Africa’s food market will be worth $1 trillion by 2030 as rapid urbanization will soon cause more than 50% of Africans to live in cities. The expansion of the agricultural sector requires a convergence of independent initiatives from smallholder farmers to larger agribusinesses through processors, traders, providers of logistics, quality assurance, finance and insurance services, and the like. It also calls for more private investment and external trade.
In recent years a renewed focus on agriculture has been evident in policy and development agendas for Nigeria; yet little knowledge has been generated on the inter-linkages of production, agro-industry and markets, as well as the potential and capacities for developing these.
Agribusiness offers wealth creation opportunities. The world is counting on agriculture to produce more nutritious food for and improve the livelihoods of a booming population, especially the poor. It also provides a strategy to enable youth and women gain financial freedom by engaging in agriculture as a business enterprise and generate good dividends of improved food security, increased incomes and job creation.
Nigerian churches, with their leaderships, brands, population and dynamic human resources, are viable channels for establishing their congregations in sustainable agribusinesses using, for instance, the out-grower model. The Church will provide the enabling business environment for members to be gainfully employed with improved livelihoods and also be able to contribute to the economic development of the church and the nation. Access to training, agricultural inputs, finance, grant, etc. will be easier for the operators through collaborations.
We believe the Church can spark an agribusiness and agro-industrial revolution for the benefit of its people, its communities and the nation. Such a revolution will bring sustained investment in the entire agribusiness value chain, which, in turn, will raise productivity and yields, improve competitiveness and increase profits. By implementing thoughtful practical ideas, agribusiness can be used to create enduring prosperity for the Church and that means prosperity for the women and men who feed the Church’s people.
For further enquiries and collaboration, please call or Whatsapp 07032115749 or email: [email protected] or [email protected]
