The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Trumping Nigeria’s agric production?

    Ordinarily, trade and bilateral agreements between two friendly countries should be a source of joy to the stakeholders.

    That is, if at the end of the day, there are equitable, fair and just economic benefits that are symbiotically favourable. In signing such trade pacts, therefore, everyone concerned should, as in the Nigerian parlance, ‘shine his eyes”. But when it is skewed in favour of one party at the expense of the other, there is cause for serious concern.

    That is precisely what one Maiyegun General is raising concerns about, with specific regards to the recent trade agreement between Nigeria and the United States, as represented by their respective political helmsmen, Muhammadu Buhari and Donald Trump.

    As highlighted by the former, “Nigeria’s trade volume with the United States stood at 6.07 billion dollars, according to 2016 statistics and comprised 4.176 billion dollar worth of Nigerian exports to the U.S. and $1.894 billion dollars exports to Nigeria. We urged greater effort to increase these figures substantially.” Furthermore, he said Nigeria very much welcomed increased US investment in the economy, especially in the non-oil sector.

    On the surface of it, Nigerians should welcome an increase of American trade with us. But there lies the bait! Trump’s America is currently not interested in our crude oil, which still remains the major source of our economic mainstay. Yet, it wants us to willy-nilly consume its farm products, in exchange for security support. The deal includes military hardware, 12 Tuscano jets and training. As many Nigerians, who, troubled by the self-inflicted woes of the Boko Haram insurgency would opine, this is a good deal! But is it? That is the million-naira (sorry, dollar) question.

    On the flip side, those rooted in America’s diplomacy would readily agree that it hardly signs an agreement that would not favour it at the expense of the others. So, why did Trump invite our President, a move which in this period of electioneering campaigns has seen his diehard admirers wanting  to make a political capital out of?

    The answer, bitter as it may sound is not because trumps loves Nigeria more than his own country. Waves of political intrigues are at play. For instance, “China is about to enforce new tax policies  on American agricultural products in the next  few weeks and President  Trump needs new markets for U.S. farm products, before calling China’s bluff”. Nigeria happens to be China’s largest importer of soya beans. Trump  has therefore, approached Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina to take U.S. farm products as exchange for security deals. What a smart Alec, this Trump man could be!

    But talking more seriously, what are the implications of the deal on Nigerian farmers? The first issue is that of the insurgency and rampant killings in the Northeast that has spilled over to Adamawa,Taraba, Southerrn Kaduna and of course, Benue, the once acclaimed food basket of the nation. As expected, food production in those affected areas have suffered a drastic dip.

    So, when the expected American grains get to our shores in the next few months, prices of grains will drop. This could be used as a campaign slogan for the supporters of Mister President, but it will in no way lure the embattled farmers back to their ravaged farms. Mind you, the killing spree, courtesy of the Boko Haram insecurity challenge which Lai Mohammed boasted has been technically defeated more than a year ago is back in full swing!

    So, what is the way forward? The best is to employ the Root Cause Analytical Approach (RCAA). For lasting solutions, President Buhari and his team should find the fundamental reasons for the insurgency, herdsman killings and the wanton wasting of the priceless lives of  our once, hardworking farmers. If he needs to hold a stakeholders’ meeting with traditional rulers, village heads,  the military, policemen, local council chairmen, governors  and the youth, so be it. We cannot continue with the bloodletting and expect any miraculous economic growth. No!

    Though the president told the world that the government was taking necessary steps to promote the peaceful co-existence of herdsmen and farmers,that still remains one distant dream. He has also promised that the government will be  focusing on boosting security and enforcing legislation that will guarantee herders and farmers access to land, the tepid approach has so far not yielded the desired results.

    While it is good that we go into partnerships with other countries, home-grown solutions are better adopted in this regard. We should be worried because the rate of our food production does not match that of population growth. For instance, researches have shown that between 1991 and 2015 there was a shortfall in domestically produced food in Nigeria. While the growth in the population was at the rate of 3.2 per cent  that of food production has been less than one per cent.

    According to one Mr. Davies, as at 2009, Nigeria was ranked as one of the food-deficit countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, though it is arguably better in terms of production than the others. As at then, “it had not suffered any major catastrophe that could precipitate scourges of famine, mass hunger and therefore food crisis”. But now, it does, what with the series of atrocities perpetrated by Boko Haram?

    As severally suggested in previous related essays, there is an urgent need for a stakeholders meeting to fashion the credible way forward. Such meeting should have in attendance, representatives of local farmers, food processors, machinists, research institutions, ministries of science and technology and that of trade and development.

    Such forum could take a look at the areas of FAO’s assistance in Nigeria’s agric sector and fine tune them. It focuses on five broad priority areas: Improvement in national food and nutrition security; Support for agricultural policy and regulatory framework; Support to the Agricultural Transformation Agenda for priority value chains and promote decent employment for youth and women.

    All said, even in the absence of Trump’s support for agriculture,  we have the capacity to stem the tide of insurgency, rein in the rampaging monster of killer herdsmen, get our farmers back to land with the right moral, monetary and environmental incentives, if only our leaders could muster the political will to do so.

     

  • FACAN seeks special economic zones to lift agric

    THE Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) has sought Special Economic Zones (SEZs) to boost agriculture.

    Its President, Dr Victor Iyama said  the creation of agric zones would attract sustainable industries, individuals and   boost  food production.

    To achieve the envisaged economic transformation, he noted that the SEZs would trigger economic growth and development by stimulating local, foreign and Diaspora investment, promote domestic competitiveness and facilitate both import substitution and export-led growth, driven by, among others, high-technology initiatives.

    He said the economic zones would act as catalysts for local people to invest in productive commercial ventures.

    Iyama reiterated that the area-based approach to rural development would  make it possible to empower neglected groups and turn them into key players in the areas of social inclusion, economic growth, poverty reduction.

    According to him, promoting rural area-based development would yield results that will improve the living conditions of millions of rural dwellers.

    Because of the country’s huge size and economic strength, he noted that the country’s agriculture and rural areas have special characteristics.

  • Food prices stable in April, says FAO

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Food Price Index remained broadly steady in April, averaging 173.5 points for the month, a tiny notch up from March and 2.7 percent higher than in the same month last year.

    The FAO Food Price Index is a measure of the monthly change in international prices of a basket of food commodities.

    Prices of cereals and dairy products continued their recent rising trend, while those of sugar continued their decline.

    FAO also released its first forecasts for the 2018/19 marketing season, predicting a decline in global cereal output and reserves, both of which have been at or near record highs.

    Early prospects for global cereal markets in the year ahead are favourable, despite a forecasted decline, according to FAO’s new Cereal Supply and Demand Brief.

    Global cereal crops output this year is expected to fall to 2 607 million tonnes, about 1.6 percent below the near-record harvest last year.

    The decline is mostly due to an anticipated contraction in maize production, especially in the United States. Lower wheat output is mostly associated with an expected decline in the Russian Federation after an exceptional outcome the year earlier.

    Meanwhile, FAO tentatively forecasts world rice production to increase by 1.3 percent to reach 510.6 million tonnes, setting a new record high, due primarily to expanded cultivations in Asia.

    As for cereal utilisation, FAO’s new forecast – both food and feed – also points to an all-time high of 2 626 million tonnes. That reflects a projected 1.0 percent increase in world rice utilisation, a 0.8 percent expansion in global wheat utilsation and a 0.4 percent rise in total utilisation of coarse grains, of which maize feed use is expected to increase by as much as 2.8 percent to a new high of 615 million tonnes. The largest year-on-year increase in the feed use of maize is envisaged in China and South America.

  • Nigeria needs appropriate tech to curb food losses, says expert

    World Bank Consultant Prof. Abel Ogunwale has called on the government and private sector to acquire adequate post-harvest loss technology to improve food security.

    Post-harvest losses refer to grains, roots, fruits and vegetables that are lost or which lose quality during processing, transporting and storage.

    According to a World Bank report, improving post-harvest management (PHM) could avoid losses equivalent to the food needs of 48 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

    He explained that the benefit of bumper harvests has been negated by insufficient storage capacity and resulting post-harvest losses.

    According to him, there have been several post-harvest losses from the producer to the consumer, linked to lack of proper harvest practices, transportation and cold storage facilities.

    He explained that various technologies exist to help abate losses in the various stages of post-harvest. According to him, the potential gains from adopting technologies need to be measured against the costs in adopting the technologies.

    He stressed that first thing farmers need to adopt them is awareness that the problem can be solved.

    He urged the government to engage the private sector to reduce post-harvest losses.

    This, he added, would be effective since the private sector may adequately fill the knowledge gap when it comes to understanding the use and importance of these technologies among farmers.

  • Heritage Bank restates commitment to agriculture

    Heritage Bank Plc says it is committed to the sustenance, growth and development of the nation’s agricultural sector.

    Mr Fela Ibidapo, Divisional Head of Corporate Communications, Heritage Bank, said this in a statement on Tuesday in Lagos.

    Ibidapo said the bank was committed to leading the way in agricultural financing in the country.

    He said that the bank was currently funding various agricultural projects in several states of the country, especially in Oyo, Kaduna and Zamfara states.

    He said Heritage Bank had entered into a partnership with the Oyo State Government to support the multi-billion Oyo State Agricultural Initiative ( OYSAI ), a programme designed to revive agriculture.

    According to him, it will also boost agro-allied businesses and empower the youth and women across the state through the creation of thousands of jobs in the sector.

    “Heritage Bank is also supporting an agro-investor, Triton Aqua Africa Ltd ( TAAL ), with a N2 billion facility, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria ( CBN ), under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme ( CACS ).

    “The facility will enable TAAL to set up a fishery production chain in Lagos, Oyo and Osun states,” he added.

    Ibidapo said support to the agro-investor became imperative after research showed that Nigerians consume about 2.7 million metric tonnes of fish yearly, compared to 800,000 metric tonnes, produced locally annually.

    “Consequently, the country has had to rely on importation to augment the shortfall with an estimated cost implication of about $700 million yearly in foreign exchange.

    “The partnership between Heritage Bank and TAAL will help reverse the trend; and the firm will use the facility to expand its aquaculture businesses.

    This, he also said would be done by setting up a nursery or hatchery for the production of fingerlings and brood stock, as well as earthen ponds for catfish and tilapia in the three states.

    Ibidapo said that “Under the arrangement, TAAL is expected to assist small-scale farms in the three states to increase their fish production by making fingerlings available to them.

    “In the short term, the loan is expected to help the group double its current production capacity of 25,000 metric tonnes with a projection to scale it up to 100,000 metric tonnes in five years.’’

    “Ultimately, the partnership between Heritage Bank and TAAL will help to boost local production, conserve scarce foreign exchange and enhance food security, and ultimately result in the creation of hundreds of new jobs.

    Read Also: Heritage Bank partners CeLD Innovations on Cashtoken

    “Heritage Bank is also supporting thousands of smallholder farms in Kaduna and Zamfara states.”

    The spokesman said that smallholder farmers stand to benefit from the bank’s financial support for rice and soya beans production under the CBN’s Anchor Borrowers Programme  ( ABP ).

    Ibidapo said the bank’s drive to support the agriculture sector was an act of patriotism aimed at helping government’s desire to achieve food security and sufficiency in the country.

    It is also based on the conviction that agribusiness could be profitable, he said.

    He noted that there were myriads of constraints facing the agriculture sector such as poor road network and electricity supply to farmlands that were mostly located in the rural areas, “while majority of the smallholder farms are financially excluded with no access to banking services.’’

    He said the bank was taking steps to clear the bottlenecks for smallholder farmers who wished to gain access to banking services.

    NAN

     

     

     

  • Processing firms battle tomato shortage

    Acute shortage of tomatoes across the country linked to the low production rate of the crop has become a serious concern to processing companies. It was one of the reasons attributed to the shut-down of tomato paste plants.

    Speaking with reporters on the sideline of the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) induction in Lagos, with the theme: “Leadership demands of a director in a digital age”, organised by the institute, Group Deputy Managing Director, Kewalram-Chanrai Group, Mr. Victor Eburajolo, said sourcing raw tomatoes locally was becoming a problem for processing firms.

    Eburajolo said because of  the shortage his organisation sources tomatoes from smallholders for its Ikara Food Processing Plant in Kaduna, adding that tomato cost goes up to about four times once the season ends.

    Besides this, he said tomatoes produced in the country are wasted due to post harvest losses, poor handling system, poor distribution channels and lack of access to markets.

    Eburajolo said in terms of technology to improve the food value chain, there is much that should be done.

    According to him, one of the problems facing the food processing industry is not embracing technology in food processing. “As a result, it has not improved as expected,” he said.

    He explained that despite the government’s intervention funds to support the sector, businesses have not improved as expected because the funds did not get to those doing businesses. He added: “The government gave out intervention funds to revive the textile industry, but today the industry is still struggling.”

    He advised the government to provide the enabling environment for businesses to strive, and support efforts geared towards improving the economy, noting that if the environment is created, entrepreneurs will find a way to do business and not wait for intervention fund which he noted does not really get to those doing businesses.

    Earlier, the council’s President/Chairman, Alhaji Ahmed Mohammed, said the institute prides itself as champion of good corporate governance, adding that the future of business has also become less predictable because of the impact of disruptive technology, artificial intelligence and digital currencies, among others new interventions that characterised the digital age.

    Eburajolo added: “The environmental shift caused by digital may challenge the very existence of individual companies, even entire industries. Boards and executives will need to question all pre-existing assumptions about the firm’s mission and industrial positioning, as well as the sustainability of its business models and methods.”

  • Farmers to benefit from weather data

    Farmers may soon obtain accurate weather data to increase crop yields, courtesy of Trans-African Hydro-Meteorological Observatory (TAHMO), a project working on establishing 20,000 weather stations across Africa to help farmers.

    Experts said lack of reliable weather information in most parts of Africa was making many households lose in agriculture.

    TAHMO Country Co-ordinator Prof  Ahmed Balogun said there is a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between  TAHMO and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) to establish stations with specialised equipment to provide reliable weather information.

    He said the meteorological data provided through TAHMO would be of immense benefits to farmers. With TAHMO, Balogun  said the sector would be availed with more accurate weather information  that will allow smallholder farmers make better resource management decisions. Balogun said the project will fully take off in a year’s time.

    TAHMO, through an innovation, ATMOS 41, described as an all-in-one weather station, fulfils all weather measuring needs such as air temperature, relative humidity, vapour pressure, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, precipitation and lightning.

    Data generated by TAHMO stations will be sent to an internet platform to aid accessibility and analyses to guide farmers. The data will be combined with models and satellite observations to obtain a very complete insight into the distribution of water and energy stocks and fluxes.

    So far, the project has been able to establish stations in Cameroon, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda to help farmers.

    The idea behind TAHMO is to build a dense network of hydro-meteorological monitoring stations in sub-Saharan Africa; one in every 30 km. This entails the production of 20,000 of such stations.

    Meanwhile, an international study by Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) Programme on climate change, Agriculture and Food Security said prolonged dry spells have become much more common in recent years, leading to crop and livestock losses in Nigeria.

    The study, co-authored by scientists from the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) East Africa Regional Programme, examined anomalies in seasonal rainfall and drought characteristics in two agro-climatic zones—Rainforest and Guinea Savanna—in Nigeria.

    The experts said efforts should be made to develop crop varieties that can cope with the  conditions of climate change in Nigeria.

  • Edo to spark ‘new era’ in agric data collection

    THE Edo State Government is working to give farmers agricultural data – information,  essential to achieving  food security, Governor Godwin Obaseki has said.

    According to him, agriculture has entered a period where data capture and interpretation are essential for successful farming.

    Addressing BusinessDay Agribusiness & Food Security Summit  in Lagos, Obaseki said  his administration was using technology to organise and enhance data from across the agricultural landscape to enable farmers produce more food for a growing population, using natural resources in a sustainable way.

    He stressed that while high-input and resource intensive farming systems have increased food production they have come at a high cost to the environment.

    To achieve sustainable development, he said the state is working with Proforest Group to transform agriculture system by improving land conservation practices and making  real progress at producing more food with less environmental impact.

    He reiterated that the government is determined to remove the encumbrances in land acquisition through land reforms to assist  investors that have expressed their desire to set up farms and agro businesses in the state.

    Obaseki said the government was working towards  establishing ranches to address the security challenges posed by the activities of herdsmen in the state.

    The initiative, Obaseki said, will not only ensure the safety of farmers and farm produce, but provide jobs and income.

    He said Edo State has one of the best soil conditions that supports large scale cultivation of a variety of crops and good climatic condition to boot.

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh said plans are on the way to peg interest rate for agricultural lending at three per cent.

    Ogbeh added that the step was  being taken  to ensure availability of credit at a reduced interest rate for youths interested in farming.

    At the interest of between 25 and 35 percent, the minister said agriculture was not profitable, adding that failure rate occasioned by skyrocketing interest rates charged by the banks were not in the interest of the economy.

    To keep pace with population growth, he emphasised that food production needs to increase mainly through youth involvement.

    One way to achieve this, he added, was  through measures to help farmers and youths  access  credit  and benefit from technological advances.

    Head of Netherlands Representation in Nigeria, Michel Deelen  said Nigeria has the capacity to increase food production and  agriculture to boost growth rates, create more jobs, significantly reduce poverty, and grow enough  food to feed its citizens if efforts are made to improve road infrastructure.

    Discussions during the forum focused on the role of small holder farmers in ensuring food security, the challenge of climate change, and the opportunities agriculture can offer  youths.

    Stakeholders at the summit wanted the government to address constraints, including improving land tenure, expanding credit availability, investing in input markets for nutrients and machinery, developing drainage and irrigation systems, and enhancing rural transport and electricity connectivity.

    They said farmers and agribusinesses could create a trillion-dollar food market if they can expand their access to more capital, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value nutritious foods.

     

  • Nigeria eyes global cashew market top

    The National Cashew Association of Nigeria, Mr. Tola Faseru has said efforts are being made to achieve a national production of 242,000 metric tonnes (mt) this year, 10 per cent higher than last year’s. national production increased from 175,000 metric tonnes in 2016 to 220,000mt last year.

    Faseru, who spoke in Lagos, said improvement was expected following an increase in the number of plantations, good agricultural practices, improved seedling and post-harvest, storage and packaging practices by farmers.

    He said the association was working with the Federal Government to implement solutions to accelerate intensive processing of cashew nuts with a high added value and strengthened trade promotion.

    He said there were programmes to assist farmers to develop large cashew fields and improve cashew yield and quality.

    The association’s mission, he said,  is to improve Nigeria’s position as one of the world’s biggest cashew exporter by creating core values for global consumers, and ensures high nutritional value and best quality products that are managed in accordance with the world’s highest standards.

    Raw cashew nuts topped the list of major agricultural exports last year followed by sesame seeds, frozen shrimps and prawn, flour and meals of soya bean, according to the National Bureau Statistics (NBS).

    Cashew traded for N13.5 billion in the second quarter of last year, representing an increase of 463 per cent from N2.4 billion recorded in the first quarter.

  • Niger rice cuts imports, says FADAMA

    Niger State has contributed to the reduction of rice imports, the National Fadama Co-ordination Office has said.

    Nigeria has been listed among the 16 top producers of rice with its local production valued at N684 billion ($1.9 billion).

    Niger State produced 545,700 metric tonnes (MT) of rice to top the national production output for last year’s wet season.

    The leader of the Technical Assistance Mission to the state,  Dr. Samuel Alabi, who spoke during a visit to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development, Haruna Nuhu Dukku, in Minna, said the quantity of rice produced in the state with the contribution of the state Fadama Co-ordination Office during the wet and dry seasons had greatly increased.

    Alabi praised the state Fadama Co-ordination Office, saying  the state added value to what Fadama is achieving nationally as the office have become a focus laboratory where experience meet with result delivery.

    “Niger State Coordination Office has become a learning centre where opportunity meets experience and experience meets with result delivery. The  state has become Fadama learning centre. We are indebted to Niger State for adding colour to the performance of the national office,’’Alabi said.

    Dukku assured Fadama of the state support of its programme as it has proved to be of immense benefit to the people, especially in the rural areas.