Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has linked the growing activities of bandits and kidnappers to the unemployment situation in the country.

Obasanjo spoke during his address at the 9th International Trade Exhibition & Conference on Agrofood, Plastics, Printing, and Packaging which was held in Lagos on Tuesday.

The trade fair was jointly organised by FairTrade Messe and the Organisation for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa.

The former president, who described himself as ‘a mad man for agriculture,’ said there was need to promote agribusiness for food security, nutrition security, employment, wealth creation, poverty elimination and income generation, particularly, foreign exchange.

According to him, the drive toward food security in the country must encapsulate food availability, affordability and accessibility.

Speaking further, Obasanjo noted that one of the most potent means of curbing youth emigration, unemployment and insecurity is to get more young people to embrace agriculture.

He regretted that Nigerian youths often prefer to explore opportunities in the entertainment industry, which underscores the need to make agriculture more glamorous.

He also called on policymakers at all levels to ensure policy consistency that would allow farmers to set short and long term targets without worrying about possible policy somersaults which may topple their plans.

A key part of this, he said, involved making single-digit loans available to farmers, as no agribusiness can produce profitably with double digit loans.