The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Nigeria, Morocco signs MoU on agric insurance coverage

    Nigeria, Morocco signs MoU on agric insurance coverage

    The Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending ( NIRSAL ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two Moroccan firms to expand agric insurance coverage in the country.

    The two firms are Mutuelle Agricole Marocaine d’Assurance ( MAMDA ) and MAMDA Reassurance (MAMDA-RE).

    The partnership would also cover the expansion of agricultural insurance products in the country.

    Signing the MoU in Abuja on Friday, the Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, said the partnership was a product of the bilateral agreement signed between President Muhammadu Buhari and King Mohammed VI of Morocco in December 2016.

    He noted that the MoU would cover `index based insurance products’ which included weather, pricing and yield to protect farmers’ investments in case of flood, fire or pestilence.

    Abdulhameed said the move was to de-risk agriculture, facilitate flow of finance to the sector to diversify the economy, attain self-sufficiency in food production and entrench inclusive economic growth.

    According to him, NIRSAL’s target is to move insurance coverage from about 0.5 million to 3.8 million agricultural primary producers to help reduce credit risks, increase lending and investments across the agriculture value chain.

    Abdulhameed said the partnership would involve advanced technical training on surveying aggregated farmlands, large commercial and plantations farms and loss assessment methods.

    Others are technical training on Geographic Information System (GIS), technology for agriculture and Remote Sensing application in Agricultural Crop Insurance.

    “This signing means a lot to the agriculture sector of the country.

    “As a risk management corporation for agriculture and agribusiness of the Central Bank of Nigeria, it is important for us to have capacity for risk analysis, management and mitigation.

    “For us to be able to deliver on our mandate of enabling the flow of finance and investment into the agriculture value chain, the capacity to do risk analysis, management is a second nature to us.

    “What you have seen today is symbolic, NISRAL leveraging the experience of MAMDA, the number one agriculture insurance company of Morocco, to learn the tools and skills of risk management in agriculture.’’

    Mr Khalid Abdellaoui, the Deputy CEO of MAMDA and MAMDA-RE, commended the Federal Government and NISRAL for the MoU.

    He said the companies were committed to assisting Nigeria to expand and move agriculture insurance forward in the country.

    Also speaking, Mr Moha Ou Ali-Tagma, the Morocco Ambassador to Nigeria, said that agriculture was a very important sector in Morocco, contributing over 20 billion dollars annually to the economy.

    “For our countries, it is important to develop the agriculture sector. This is a very important step in the long way of the strategic partnership between the two countries.

    “It correspondents with the interest of the King Mohammed the VI and President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “Nigeria can count on Morocco and Morocco can count on Nigeria,’’ Ali-Tagma said.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that MAMDA, through its subsidiary MAMDA-Re launched in 2014 enables African partners to have access to global reinsurance capacity for agricultural risk.

    NAN

  • Compensation: Ogun pays communities N21 million

    Ogun State government has  paid N21 million to seven communities in Ewekoro Local Government Area of Ogun State, whose land were acquired for agricultural purposes.

    Its Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo, who presented the cheques to the beneficiaries, said it was the first tranche of payment on the 200-hectare Cassava Demonstration Farm at Owowo.

    Adebajo said the government was mindful of its responsibilities and commitment to the people in order to continually get their support to boost agricultural production.

    “Key to agricultural development is support and cooperation from everyone, Ogun is peaceful and has fertile environment for agricultural practices. We assure you that communities whose lands were acquired will be fully compensated, “she said.

    One of the beneficiaries, Mr. Ambali Amosun, a representative  of Olowo Papa Community, thanked the government for fulfilling its promise, adding that they were in full support of its agricultural production programme.

    Other communities were Kuta,  Gbomolese, Ika Ogunolu, Olowo Ikija,  Kurere and Latoyo.

  • Fresh breath for cocoa

    Fresh breath for cocoa

    The Federal Government’s goal is to achieve 500,000 million metric tons (mt) of cocoa through the rehabilitation of old plantations, expansion programmes and best agricultural practices. Some development partners have joined the government‘s  campaign  to  restore Nigeria to its past glorious position  through  empowerment programmes, reports  DANIEL ESSIET.

    When President Muhammadu Buhari urged cocoa stakeholders to step up efforts towards repositioning the industry, he did this because the country  had  lost its place among cocoa producing countries.

    Buhari, who was represented by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, at the first International Cocoa Summit at the Nicon Luxury Hotel, Abuja,  in August, lamented Nigeria’s fall from fourth to seventh position in cocoa production.

    He described the situation  as unfavourable to the nation’s economic growth.

    He said:  “Cocoa is the second largest foreign exchange earner for Nigeria after crude oil, and has generated over two million jobs directly and indirectly along its value chain. The sector has suffered neglect as a result of over reliance on crude oil. This led to a decline in the country’s annual production from 420 metric tonnes in the 60s to 192, 000 metric tonnes in 2015. The country is long overdue to make the shift from being primarily an exporter of commodities and raw materials to becoming an industrial economy.”

    The President called for a return to the use of the hitherto abandoned Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) launched by the previous  administration in 2014, to revive the sector. Nigeria was a leading producer and exporter of cocoa. Until some time in the 1970s, it held an enviable record.

    Revenue  from cocoa helped to sustain the livelihoods of not only farmers, but the entire citizenry, as proceeds were used to build roads, schools and health facilities. But the story is different today. Ageing trees, poor soil quality, and a younger generation in danger of disengaging from cocoa production represent an imminent threat to an industry that had struggled to develop significant productivity-per-hectare.

    The changing weather and poor incentives to farmers combined to reduce cocoa yields from that period to the present day. Today,  the industry is seriously challenged. But, in spite of this, a huge market exists for raw and processed cocoa and its derivatives, locally and internationally.

    Analysts say the global market for chocolate and cocoa beverages is worth over $200 billion yearly. According to them, the beans are the goldmine of the cocoa plant because they are processed into cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate.

    Markets for Nigeria’s cocoa exist in European countries, such as Netherlands, France, Germany, the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) where demands for chocolate are high.

    All hopes are not lost as  industry  partners have commenced moves to revitalise the industry. One of them is the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), which has mapped out strategies to empower cocoa farmers.

    The intervention is being carried out through its Market Development in the Niger Delta (MADE) platform, designed to build Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) at farmers’ level through relevant and accessible training initiatives, which improve  efficiency, ‘bankability’, and sustainability of food production.

    MADE is partnering Syngenta, an international biotechnology company, that has been involved in key transformation projects in agriculture.

    The partners are  working with cocoa farmers on good agricultural practice, post-harvest solutions and market linkages.

    Right now, pests and diseases are a big problem for cocoa farmers. It is estimated that approximately 30 to 40 per cent  of all potential cocoa production is lost to diseases and  pests globally.  Cocoa farmers face a variety of fungal diseases and insects/pests, which attack the leaves, stems and pods.

    These include black pods, witches’ broom, frosty pod, pod borer and brown cocoa mirid.

    Indeed, tackling these pests and diseases has been an issue for some farmers, who lack adequate knowledge on responsible pesticides usage.

    This has affected the fortunes of some of the farmers as European Union (EU), a big  export market for the produce, insists on limited and proper pesticides use.

    But there are chemicals permitted for use on cocoa, which meet EU’s requirements. These are what some development partners are trying to promote.

    At a cocoa stakeholders and farmers’ field-day event, organised by Syngenta Nigeria Limited, in Adejubu, Araromi Igbatoro and Akure North of Ondo State, the company promised to supply cocoa farmers with a new non-copper fungicide called ‘Pergado’, to combat copper based fungicide diseases.

    Pergado, which is already in use in Côte d’Ivoire, has been approved by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN).

    Syngenta Nigeria Limited Country Director, Sunny Ameh,  said the organisation had in the past three years trained over 16,000 smallholder cocoa farmers across states with support from MADE Project.

    Ameh said Pergado is a copper free product used to combat blackpod and other fungal diseases affecting cocoa production, with the potency to fight copper based fungicide diseases. He added that once farmers experience the efficacy of the product, they will have an edge on cocoa producing farmers in other countries.

    He added that Syngenta is committed to supporting cocoa industry revival in the country in order to reclaim its position as the top cocoa producing country in the world.

    He said: “Syngenta has been working with development partners  such as MADE in Ondo in agric input value chain, promoting the adoption of new technologies, delivering higher yield, and training farmers to develop the right skills.

    “Our partnership with MADE in the Niger Delta is so unique in the sense that it has helped us to reach more farmers at the grassroot. We are helping farmers to engage superior and best practices that are of benefits to them and helping them to achieve much more from their traditional practices.”

    MADE Team Leader, Olatunde Oderinde, believed empowering the farmers was an important way to free  them from poverty and hunger.

    He said: “MADE wants to see more ownership from our famers. We want our farmers to take ownership of our work with Syngenta. We want the farmers to lead the pilots in the field.”

    Oderinde said his organisation is looking forward to partnering government and cocoa farmers to make the business successful.

    Some farmers, who attended the event, expressed optimism about using Pergado.

    They expect the chemical to help limit losses of about 25 to 45 per cent often experienced by cocoa farmers owing to diseases.

    Highlights of the event featured a field tour of some cocoa plantations for product testing.

    Director/Head, Cocoa Research, CRIN, Dr  Rasheed Adedeji, said the decision by the institute to certify Pergado, is hinged on the quality of the chemical and its potency of taming diseases, especially the cocoa black pod disease which is very aggressive in wet and humid conditions and spread mainly by rain splash.

     

  • Calls for return of marketing boards heighten

    Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and the Emir of Zazzau,  Dr. Shehu Idris, have advocated the return of produce marketing boards.

    To them, it will  assist farmers to have value for their products andn the proper evaluation of crop prices.

    They made the call at the inuaguration of the Sunseed Feed Mills, Oil Mills and the G. K. Chanrai Memorial Hospitals Complex, Zaria, Kaduna State.

    In a statement made available to The Nation, they lamented the absence of produce marketing boards, saying that the situation had left  farmers at the mercy of middlemen. They also stressed the need for the  boards to enable farmers make profit.

    According to el-Rufai, the mill will not only add value to the diversification agenda of his administration, but also assist in creating jobs for the teaming youth.

    He  urged foreign and local investors to take advantage of the huge incentives, including favourable business environment in the state.

    He charged them to invest in areas that will complement the employment generation initiative of the state.

    Sunseeds Feed Mills and Oil Mills Ltd Managing Director Mr. Tarun Das commended the state for creating an enabling environment for investors. He extolled el-Rufai’s virtues, describing him as very amiable and a man with “listening ears, and a motivator for excellent results.

    Kewalram Chanrai Group Deputy Managing Director Mr. Victor Eburajolo reiterated the group’s commitment to using its  projects to  help Nigerians secure a more prosperous future by increasing household incomes and employment.

    According to him, Sunseed Feed Mills and Oil Mills will create a network  that  will  nurture competitive small and medium enterprises, expand trade and promote a vibrant agricultural sector.

    Eburajolo said the group, which was established 110 years ago, has   grown from assembling Chevrolet cars, trucks, motor bikes and tricycles at its Apapa-Oshodi Express Way, Lagos headquaters to other ventures.

    The Group, according to him, has interests in textiles, automobiles, agriculture and oil milling, among others.

    He said  Sunseed Nigeria, Zaria is one of the companies under the Group. Sunseed Feed Mill ,  multi billion Naira investment  on  25 acres, specialises in the manufacturing of various animal feed products. It employs  about  500 people.

  • Boosting farmers’ income through value chain

    Boosting farmers’ income through value chain

    The Federal Government has embraced value-chain development (VCD) to stimulate growth, promote agric and combat rural poverty. One of the agencies promoting it is the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State. The institute is deploying VCD to empower rural people and  increase food security. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    For years, life has been a  struggle for many rural farmers in some parts.

    To them, building a better life on the farm takes energy, hard work and commitment. Despite this, their crops wither under severe drought and other circumstances, the fields produce poor yields, the result is  meagre stocks at the end of the season.

    They attribute this to inefficient technologies, poor access to credit and poor marketing strategies.

    To them, the sector has suffered from weak food production, an unfavourable weather, and significant poverty. The outcome is a vicious cycle for farmers, which jeopardises  food security.

    So, how can farmers break out of this cycle?

    In August 2012, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) provided $74.5million loan to the Federal Government to help improve food security and incomes of smallholder farmers through a Value Chain Development (VCD) Programme.

    Expectedly,VCD Programme  falls  in line with the government’s vision for agricultural development, which focuses on strengthening farmers’ capacity to take advantage of market opportunities and overcome constraints along the value chain. The loan agreement for the programme was signed in Abuja.

    More than 200,000 poor rural households have benefitted from the programme, with a particular focus on women and young people.

    Since then IFAD has financed some programmes and projects in the country, benefitting more than one million rural households.

    Equally, the Federal Government has made the development of the value chain one of the spear points of its  rural empowerment strategy.

    One agency at the vanquard of promoting value chain agriculture is the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State. For them, a productivity-led growth  in the sector is key to new employment opportunities, higher incomes, and a brighter future in rural areas.

    This gave birth to its Commodity Value Chain Development Programme, (CVCDP) programme to promote economic growth and employment, through an integrated agro training programme for small farmers micro and small enterprises.

    In addition, ARMTI has launched the first-ever National Association of Agricultural Commodity Value Chain Development (VCD) facilitators in the country.

    Inaugurating the facilitators in Abuja, Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, reiterated the government’s readiness to implement measures to reduce productivity constraints for crops and other farm activities.

    Represented by the  Deputy Director (Engineering & Mechanisation,  Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Abdullahi Garba Abubakar, an engineer, Ogbeh said the government will continue to create long-term and sustainable small farmer livelihood opportunities in rural areas through agribusiness ventures.

    Earlier this year, during the launch of the Green Alternative Policy,  Ogbeh  had reiterated  that strengthening the food value chain was one of the most important ways to foster rural-urban development.

    One of the major priorities of the policy, the Minister said, is to accelerate sectoral restructuring in the direction of increased value and sustainable development.

    According to him,  development of food supply chains would help increase farmer’s income and promote rural development.

    He said the government was  determined to build agri-value system in collaboration with private players, urging the producers, manufacturers, and agro businesses  to  come forward and partner with it in the quest to build a value chain system.

    ARMTI ‘s Acting Executive Director, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, said CVCDP started in 2012 when the institute undertook a nationwide baseline study on selected agricultural commodity value chains and organised a National Seminar in Abuja for relevant stakeholders to brainstorm on the subject.

    “To further deepen the impact of the programme, the institute had envisioned and identified a gap that needed to be properly blocked, and had proactively taken the initiative to do so. That is the matter of trained manpower to manage the gains of the value chain programme nationwide.”

    According to him, identifying the need to develop a crop of seasoned commodity value chain facilitators for the nation informed the application and securing of approval from the Federal Government to carry out a National Training of Trainers (TOT) for Agricultural Value Chain Development Facilitators as one of the capital projects for execution by ARMTI in 2013.

    TheTOT, after its completion aimed at spreading the messages of the CVCDP across the nation’s geo-political zones through many trainers that would have been churned out after the training.

    So far, he said, 109 have been trained.The participants, he said, have been empowered and mandated to further step down the training to the grassroots level in their respective states.

    “As facilitators in VCD, you will mobilise the stakeholders – producers, processors, marketers and even consumers – to unite in their activities to ensure food security, provide employment and increase income.”

    According to him, an interim executive body would be elected and commissioned; and ARMTI is willing to provide facilities for a secretariat for the association.

  • Lagos to boost infrastructure

    Lagos to boost infrastructure

    Lagos State is to increase the scope and efficiency of infrastructure to boost production.

    Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Oluwatoyin Suarau said the government was ready to support investment in value addition infrastructure, creation and expansion of food processing and preservation capacities.

    Suarau, who stated this at a briefing signalling the commencement of activities to commemorate the  World Food Day, said the theme of the celebration: “Change the future of Migration: Investment in Food Security and rural development,” brings to the fore various challenges countries face in migration and food security.

    “I wish to emphasise that the Lagos State government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, has developed agricultural initiatives aimed at addressing these challenges, the recent breakthrough in rice-agribusiness readily comes to mind, considering the collaboration between Lagos and Kebbi state on large production, processing and distribution of the LAKE Rice product,” he said.

    Suarau said a 32-metric-tonne per hour rice milling plant, which will become operational next year, has been acquired by the state to ensure that Lagos meet the demand of its LAKE Rice project.

    He said Lagos was also collaborating with Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ekiti, and Ondo states in rice production to ensure that adequate rice is supplied to the mill.

    He said market sensitisation on re-useable plastic crates, in place of raffia basket for packaging and carriage of perishable farm produce, was ongoing, stressing that the use of plastic crates would take effect from next year.

    Suarau noted that the establishment of agricultural estate initiative, promotion of vegetable production using greenhouse technology, cage and pen culture in fish production, strengthening of farm settlement initiative, empowerment of farmers were some of the initiatives aimed at improving agricultural development and sustainable food security in Lagos.

    Also, Special Adviser to the Governor on Food Security Ganiyu Sanni Okanlawon averred that the state, especially since the inception of the present administration, has embarked on policies and programmes that will enhance food security.

    He noted that the government had made efforts to enhance agriculture with the introduction of programmes in vegetable, poultry, cassava and fishery, and various forms of agro-processing programmes to the youth.

    Calling on stakeholders and investors, especially those in the private sector, to join hands with the state to boost food security, Okanlawon reiterated that Lagos State remained committed to ensuring that it is a food secured place.

    He added government was ready to overcome the challenges threatening the availability of food in the state, stressing that food production is a strategy government is using to tackle unemployment and encourage youth empowerment.

  • Experts seek measures to reduce post-harvest loss

    Stakeholders are seeking ways to reduce post-harvest losses.

    About 40 per cent of Nigeria’s agricultural production is lost yearly due to insufficient infrastructure.

    They also canvassed the execution of a roadmap to help attain the desired objectives of food security and nutrition.

    At a workshop in Lagos, organised  by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Postharvest Alliance for Nutrition (PLAN), the stakeholders lamented  that farmers were losing a lot after harvests to poor storage facilities, market inefficiencies and bottlenecks in the value chain, adding that it was impacting on national nutritional levels.

    Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO) Director-General Mrs. Gloria Elemo said  food and nutrition security would ensure that vital ingredients for healthy living were sustained, noting that efforts should not be spared to preserve perishable foods.

    She added that fresh fruits and vegetables produced in the North hardly got to the South due to transport challenges, stressing that public and private sectors must redress the situation.

    “In the process moving these items to its consumers about 50 per cent of these fruits and vegetables are lost due to bad packaging and poor postharvest handling.

    “The country depends so much on importation whereas we have the capability to provide food for the citizenry, so if the necessary infrastructure is put in place to totally reduce postharvest losses we would not have the problem of hunger or malnutrition in the country.”

    Mrs. Elemo said the recent Nigeria Cold Chain Summit (NCCS) in Lagos, was to review strategies to eliminate losses in food storage, calling on the private sector to join hands with government to accomplish the task.

    Senior Technical Specialist, GAIN, United States, Roberta Lauretti-Bernhard, said efforts were ongoing to respond to countries that have malnutrition as well as post-harvest challenges.

    “Postharvest loss is also nutrition loss. So a platform was drawn that is a combination of the private sector, government and institutions that have a strong objective of ending not just postharvest loss but malnutrition.

    “GAIN interest in Nigeria stems from her high malnutrition burden and also high incidence of postharvest loss in fruits and vegetables thus leading to loss of micronutrients.’’

  • Don backs national livestock census

    Don backs national livestock census

    Nigerian Institute of Animal Science Registrar Prof Eustace Iyayi has called for a national-level livestock census.

    The census, he said, will help the government to decide which areas it needs to focus on to improve livestock population.

    Nigeria, according to Iyayi, has enormous and diverse animal wealth generating opportunities for millions, adding that investment in animal wealth can contribute to income growth.

    Through data collection, he said,  the government will be able to  prove figures on animals and livestock products.

    The government, he said, will be able to gather correct data for drawing policies on the country’s food security and poverty alleviation, livestock breeding and veterinary plans.

    According to the Dean, School of Science and Technology, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Prof. Dele Fapohunda, a national livestock census  will support the government’s effort towards achieving sustainable development of the  agric sector, by providing materials to assist  in  the formulation  and implementation  schemes  that meet the local needs of  farmers.

    Fapohunda said the statistics would also help the government in areas where stocking and restocking are required as well as help the government to decide which areas it needs to focus on to improve the livestock population. Fapohunda  said the census will help the government to estimate the population of livestock in the country, stressing the need to collect data on livestock loss due to the sudden outbreak of diseases.

    To experts, the lack of livestock census has caused a gap between the government calculated livestock data and the actual livestock figure.

    In some countries, livestock survey is carried out every 10 years. It is used as a projection and planning tool for the sector, which has continued to use estimations for available livestock in the country.

  • Society, CONTEC partner to boost bio-economy

    The Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN) and CONTEC Global, Nigerian innovative technology solution providers, are tinkering with ideas that can boost the economy, using bio-solutions( Bio-Economy).

    Riding on the high-level commitments made so far by CONTEC Global, through its agricultural subsidiary, Contec Agro Ltd (CGAL), the BSN has offered to partner the firm to increase the knowledge and application of science and technology innovations  for food security in Nigeria.

    Speaking when representatives of the society visited the Abuja facility of CGAL, Prof. Benjamin Ewa Ubi, president, Biotech-nology Society of Nigeria, said: “We very much thank you for your innovative technologies for a bio-based economy. We look forward to building partnerships to upscale Science and Technology Innovations in Nigeria.”

    Buttressing this, Chairman, BSN Board of Trustees, who is also the Vice Chancellor of Taraba State University, Jalingo, Prof. Vincent Tenebe, described the visit to facility as a very important one, as it afforded them the opportunity of furthering the collaboration with CGAL.

    “The Biotechnology Society of Nigeria is highly impressed with the performance of Contec Global Agro LTD. The society is ready and willing to work and collaborate with the company to further activate the beautiful dreams that this company (CGAL) has for Nigeria and indeed, the whole humanity,” Tenebe said.

    Similar optimism was also expressed by Musa Wamba of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), who was also a visitor to CGAL, Abuja.

    According to Wamba, “CGAL has brought a lasting solution to the Nigerian farmers by giving them the best substitute to the conventional chemical fertilisers, with the potential of high yields for our crops”.

  • Ogun to sell branded rice

    Ogun State government has concluded plans to release locally-produced branded rice by December.

    Its Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo, disclosed this during an inspection of the first phase of rice harvested in one of its farms at Eggua in Yewa North Local Government Area of the state.  According to her, it forms part of the measures to ensure food security.

    Adebajo said the state had begun harvesting 30 hectares of the 100 hectares of rice farm, and it would be ready for distribution by December, after all due processes had been followed.

    Aside, hundreds of hectares of rice plantations are said to be on the verge of being harvested at the IFAD Value Chain and FADAMA farms across the state.

    She said: “The rice will be of the best quality because the government provided the farmers with most improved variety of seedlings. They will be in our local Ofada, Nerica and Faro 44.

    A farmer, Olugbenga Popoola thanked the state government for land clearing, provision of improved seedlings and fertilisers, among others.