Gov't sets aside P2bn for agric self-sufficiency

Over the years, government’s efforts to boost agribusiness and food self-sufficiency through programmes such as the Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agriculture Development (ISPAAD), the Livestock Management and Infrastructure Development (LIMID), the Young Farmers Fund and others have had muted success.

 According to the final ERTP that Parliament approved, the average growth rate of the agricultural sector since the beginning of NDP 11 was 2.5 percent, making it the slowest growing sector of the economy, while its share of GDP has been stagnant, at around two percent. However, the sector also provides job opportunities for some 80,000 adults or almost 12% of the total employed population.