Group Urges Govt To Revive Rural Economy

A GROUP, HOPE Worldwide Nigeria (HWWN) has urged the three tiers of government to remove stringent difficulties facing the poor in marketing their products in local and international markets, even as the organisation has said that Nigeria may miss the Vision 20: 2020 goals if rural economy is left undeveloped.

The organisation explained that although Nigeria is blessed with potentially viable rural economy, the poor, who are supposed to operate in it, have been prevented from participating, a development which has relegated the Nigerian economy to the background.

Briefing journalists in Lagos yesterday on the progress of  HWWN’s Household Economic Strengthening Programme, HWWN Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr. Clement Ola, said  Nigerians  operating in rural economy were  facing a lot of challenges that have made  the country  not to benefit from  their efforts.

Household Economic Strengthening Programme, currently operating under the Assistance and Care for Children Orphaned and at Risk (ACCORD) in Lagos, Osun, Delta and Cross River states by HWWN with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is aimed at assisting poor households and vulnerable children in Nigeria.

Ola said Nigeria may miss the Vision 20: 2020 if the nation left the rural economy underdeveloped as reports have shown that farming, which forms substantial part of rural economy, still contributes  to the nation’s  gross domestic product (GDP) than the petroleum sector.

HWWN Administrative Manager, Mrs. Bunmi Adefolu listed the challenges confronting the poor in rural economy to include harsh government policies, inadequate information, inadequate financial empowerment, high taxation, infrastructural decay and cartels among others.