The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Niger: Farmers lose crops worth millions to army worms

    Farmers in four local government areas of Niger State have lost crops worth millions of naira to army worms, the  Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Kabiru Abbas Musa, has said.

    Musa said the state government had taken steps to prevent the spread of the worms to other local government areas.

    The United Nations had alerted countries including Nigeria about the invasion of army worms which were destroying crops worldwide.

    Musa stated this at the commencement of this year’s fertiliser distribution for dry season farming by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) at Tungan Kawo in Wushishi Local Government.

    He said the local government areas affected were Wushishi, Masegu, Mariga and Magama, adding that necessary measures, which included distributing insecticides, had been taken to ensure the invasion did not affect wet season farming.

    “The army worm have ravaged farms in four local government areas. We are taking steps towards curtailing it. We have to make sure it does not spread.”

    He warned the farmers not to sell the farm inputs being given to them adding that any farmer caught selling the inputs will never benefit from any programme and intervention promoted by the state government.

    Musa then stated that the state government is working hard towards ensuring that fertiliser and other inputs get to the farmers at the grassroots before the commencement of the rainy season to enable the farmers get bumper harvest.

    The Coordinator of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Dr. Matthew Ahmed, said 550 farmers from 12 cluster groups have benefitted from the programme, adding that each farmer would be given four bags of NPK, two bags of urea, herbicide and seedlings.

    He said IFAD has succeeded in increasing the yield of rural farmers in the state. “In the past, the average yield of farmers was 1.8 metric tonnes per hectare but now, they have started harvesting about three to six tonnes per hectare due to our intervention.”

    Ahmed lamented that most of the farmers sold the inputs given to them instead of using it on their farms. He said this would affect the expected yield.

  • ‘How to tackle deficiency in fish production’

    ‘How to tackle deficiency in fish production’

    An expert in aquaculture, Mrs. Mojisola Funmilayo Siyanbola, has urged the Federal Government to provide effective and efficient proactive security measures to tackle the deficiency in fish production and preservation.

    Mrs Siyanbola, a  senior lecturer, Department of Biology, The Polytechnic, Ibadan, while delivering the 11th Inaugural Lecture of the institution titled, “Nigeria’s fish supply deficit: Bridging the gap through sustainable aquaculture,” stressed the  need to transform aquaculture from subsistence to commercial level to address inadequate supply of fish in the country.

    She said: “From all indications, fish production in the country has been deficient for many years in meeting the projected domestic demand. This trend seems to be unrelenting due to the ever widening gap between demand and supply”.

    “The activities of the artisans and industrial fisheries have been the backbone of fish production in Nigeria, but over the years, their contributions have been unable to meet up with the annual demand.”The problem of insecurity which is a serious problem to our aquatic resources especially the marine resources should be tackled. There must be an effective and efficient proactive security measures to protect our aquatic resources.”

    While advocating for provision of soft loans and grants to young Nigerians to enable them embark on commercial fish production, Siyanbola urged the government to shift from its cosmetic and elitist policies and  go back to the drawing board to work out strategies to attract prospective young farmers to involve in fishing business. “The Federal Government should make it a policy for financial institution to provide soft loans and grants to young Nigerians to enable them embark on commercial fish production.

    “The Nigerian government approach to fish culture is at best cosmetic and elitist. The Federal Government must go to the drawing board to work out strategies to attract young Nigerians into the fish farming subsector as one pragmatic panacea to the disturbing menace of youth unemployment which constitutes grave threat to our national security which can be seen from the involvement of younger citizens in crimes of kidnapping for ransom payment, terrorism, pipelines vandalism and other organised crimes.”

    Mrs Siyanbola also recommends among others the need to checkmate piracy so as to make fish culture subsector beneficial to the national economy, regular capacity building and training/workshops for extension officers in aquaculture at both Federal, state and local levels, and introduction of aqua-entreprenureship as one of the vocations in entrepreneurship education curriculum.

  • Making farmers agropreneurs

    Making farmers agropreneurs

    Through the Agribusiness Supplier Development Programme (ASDP), a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) initiative, which is at the pilot stage in six African countries, farmers are empowered to turn subsistence farming into a profitable venture. DANIEL ESSIET writes.

    Agribusiness Supplier Development Programme (ASDP), a United Nations Development Programme initiative on a pilot test in six African countries, has been supporting Nigerian farmers  within  the cassava value chain.The goal is to help them turn their subsistence farming into for-profit businesses.

    Addressing the inclusive business acceleration for cassava value chain forum in Ibadan, Oyo State, the  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh,  stressed the Federal Government’s determination to make the nation  self-sufficient in food  production.

    Speaking through the Director, Policy and Planning, Alhaji Anwal Ahmed, Ogbeh said  efforts were being made to ensure supply of fertiliser and reduce the risks farmers face. He pledged to improve infrastructure in the sector through the provision of irrigation systems, among others.

    Agribusiness Specialist, Inclusive Growth Unit, UNDP Nigeria, Dr. Nelson Abila, stressed the need to enhance the sector and boost socio-economic development.

    He said Nigeria has made commendable progress in making cassava an industrial crop with the establishment of major starch, ethanol and flour factories across the nation. However, Abila noted that a lot needs to be done to ensure that extra productions are utilised, and that there is further stimulation of production and productivity based on current and projected capacity for increasing cassava production and productivity.

    On expanding the gains in cassava industrialisation, he  called for extension of the revolution to low-end products that will provide opportunity for the participation of as many small-scale processors as possible.

    He said this was crucial as the demand for low-end products, such as the low grade cassava chips, was on the increase, particularly the utilisation of same in livestock feed production, among other uses.

    Abila explained that the ASDP business meeting was organised to help get many more people involved in the production of chips and address some of the concerns in chips production, including profitability for small-scale processors. He expressed the hope that the replacement of maize with cassava in livestock feed would remain a permanent feature, that would guarantee market for cassava roots produced by millions of farmers across Nigeria.

    He said ASDP was a regional initiative of the UNDP with a mandate to promote the development of the supply chains of rice and cassava in Nigeria, adding that ASDP Nigeria was being implemented jointly by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing Systems for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

    To help foster the growth of the segment of the cassava value chain, he said ASDP, a UNDP regional initiative which is on a pilot test in six countries across Africa has decided to partner with the AFEX Commodity Exchange Limited. The goal of the collaboration, according to him, is to jointly work together to bring about an inclusive business acceleration for cassava value chain in Nigeria.

    He said AFEX has the market reach and contact, as a major private sector concern in commodity marketing in Nigeria and beyond.

    Country Manager, AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited, Mr. Ayodeji Balogun, said the   organisation is working with banks to provide the much-needed financing to farmers and food producers to boost growth and jobs.

    Balogun said bold steps were needed to transform agriculture into a dynamic market-oriented one. The Afex boss said the organisation is working to provide   finance to promote increased access to trade finance for micro, small and medium enterprises entrepreneurs in import/export sectors to enable them explore market opportunities.

    He said the organisation is  determined to work with farmers to enable them access financial services to help them increase productivity, raise incomes and improve living conditions for their families.

    He said AFEX sees cassava as a strategic crop and a value chain that has immense potentials for inclusive growth, job creation and poverty eradication across Nigeria.

    Balogun said Nigeria’s future economic success will depend on allocating capital and resources to the agric sector for its most efficient and productive use, adding that the cassava sector needs support to create high-skilled and high-value jobs, cultivate, innovate and bring innovation to scale.

    He said one important strategy for achieving rapid growth across the sector is to create the right conditions to ensure that farmers and processors are engines of innovation and hence improve productivity and efficiency.

    According to him, trade activities in key commodities have grown steadily in the past few years, and there is more opportunity for trade increasing further, boosting economic growth and job creation, which he hoped banks and entrepreneurs can take advantage of with the right tools. So far, he said his organisation has started domestic trading of maize, soybeans and cassava. Once these and the related deliveries are settled, he said Afex will   introduce other key agricultural commodities.

    He   added AFEX is primarily interested in helping farmers and production while making markets more efficient. These include improving warehousing, storage, logistics, crop quality and farmer financing.

    According to him, trade activities in key commodities have grown steadily in the past few years, and there is vast opportunity for further  increase, boosting economic growth and job creation, which he hoped banks and entrepreneurs could take advantage of with the right tools.

  • ‘Increase vegetables export to EU’

    Nigerians have been urged to increase their vegetables exports to reap  from the reported shortage of vegetables in Europe.

    According to a February 8 story in The Wall Street Journal, consumers in northern Europe are seeing extremely limited availability of a number of vegetables. The shortages started in December, when severe flooding and snow hit Spain’s Murcia region along the Mediterranean Sea, damaging crops and preventing farmers from planting. Spain is the primary source of vegetables for the continent during the winter.

    Agriculture and Rural Management Training Institute’s (ARMTI’s) Acting Executive Director Dr. Olufemi Oladunni has urged farmers to take advantage of the situation and export vegetables to Europe.

    He advised them to address quality certification issues that have been a major hindrance food exporters have been facing in the European Union (EU) market.

    He stressed the need to strengthen food export policy with clearly-defined safety standards, traceability norms, soil certification guidelines and good agricultural practices, saying this would boost exports of agricultural products and processed food from the country.

    To avoid rejection, he said vegetables exports should be carried out only by complying with the guidelines issued by the 28-member EU bloc, adding that there should be strict monitoring and in-house certification for the export of perishable goods, and that government officials should inspect farms.

    Oladunni urged the government to support every efforts to increase exports’ competitiveness. To attain an improved export growth trajectory, he urged the government to maximise its strengths and reduce structural bottlenecks to enhance the nation’s competitiveness

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) is striving to get the EU to lift its ban on the export of beans from Nigeria to member-countries. The agency’s Coordinating Director, Dr. Vincent Isegbe, said all hands were on deck to ensure that the EU lifts the ban before 2019.

    He said the EU ban on Nigerian beans had affected the economy, adding thats there was a need to avoid future rejection of Nigeria’s agricultural commodities.

  • ‘Better regulations’ll boost feeding globally, says WBG report

    Improving agriculture regulations in low and middle income countries could help to boost feeding of the world’s population, and improve farmers’ livelihoods, a World Bank Group report has said.

    The World Bank Group’s Enabling the Business of Agriculture (EBA) 2017 report says many countries are home to strong, commercially-oriented agriculture.

    It said more needed to be done, for example, by lowering transactions’ costs for farmers and firms engaged in domestic trade and exports, by improving water permit systems for irrigation and providing better conditions for microfinance institutions.

    Smart regulations that ensure safety and quality control while avoiding burdensome and inefficient requirements, are highlighted in the report as good practices that governments may wish to consider as part of their reform efforts.

    “Sustainable, inclusive investments in the agriculture and food sectors help create jobs – on farms, in markets, cities, towns and villages and throughout the farm-to-table food production and supply chains – which, alongside improved access to affordable and balanced, diverse diets, are key to fighting extreme poverty and for boosting shared prosperity,” said Preeti Ahuja, Practice Manager, World Bank Food and Agriculture Global Practice.

    “Governments have a key role to play in supporting economically, socially and environmentally responsible policies and practices that help smallholders while removing burdensome processes that add to food costs and discourage agribusinesses from entering the market.”

    The latest EBA report, the third in an annual series, presents data on legal barriers for farmers, entrepreneurs and businesses operating in agriculture in 62 countries and across the topics of land, seed, fertiliser, machinery, water, livestock, finance, markets, transport, and information and communication technology (ICT). The 2017 edition also expands its survey of laws and regulations that impact environmental sustainability and gender. Globally, comparable data helps countries know where they stand, compare their performance with that of their neighbors, and identify areas for improvement that are critical to building a thriving agribusiness sector.

    For example, obtaining export documents for agricultural produce takes on average 6 days in Sub-Saharan African countries, compared with only 2.3 days in the Middle East and North Africa region. Such delays not only increase business costs, but also increase food waste and make it more likely that shipments will be rejected upon arrival due to spoilage or low quality.

    Securing permission to sell and use new tractors can also be very time-consuming:  it takes 270 days and costs about 604 percent of income per capita to complete this process in South Asia, versus 21 days and seven percent of income per capita in East Asia and the Pacific.

    Drawn-out processes reduce the incentives for agricultural machinery manufacturers and suppliers to develop or import new and updated tractors that could otherwise help to modernize agricultural processes and improve productivity.

    “Government regulations affect agricultural development through several dimension, including agricultural inputs such as seed, fertiliser, land and water, as well as small-scale and remote farmers’ access to financial services,” said Programme Manager, World Bank. Vice Presidency for Development Economics, Federica Saliola, said: “Boosting agribusinesses requires public policies and regulations that foster growth in the agriculture and food sectors, improve the functioning of markets, and enable agribusinesses and food entrepreneurs to better meet the growing demand for food.”

  • Govt, private sector embrace fish farming

    Govt, private sector embrace fish farming

    The government and the private sector are encouraging fish farming to provide an alternative to small farmers, DANIEL ESSIET reports

    Bamidele Onibalusi is an Oyo-based blogger. After a making money from the internet, he decided to explore other opportunities like fish farming. He then learnt the business of catfish farming, starting with a few ponds.

    He made a success of the business. Now he is encouraging others to take up fish farming.

    Onibalusi, knowing that farmers in many parts of Oyo depended on agriculture for their livelihood, is assisting them to upgrade their systems of farming with training and new technologies.

    His vision to improve his income  was paramount to his switching over to fish farming. And he was not dissapointed, hence, his appreciation of his mentor who introduced him to  fish  farming. Now, he can pay his way and his staff emoluments with his income. His success has encouraged and motivated others to take up fish farming.

    For him, fish  farming is highly profitable, and the number of new entrants is growing daily. Many  young entrepreneurs have been attracted to farming. In addition to fish farming’s contributions to food security at the family level, many professionals believe small-scale fish farming is an ideal way to empower young people.

    One of them is Prof Martins Antekhai of the Department of Fisheries, Lagos State University (LASU), who said empowering young people through fish farming to become more financially autonomous has proven to be one of the most effective poverty alleviation tools.  An important strategy, according to him,   to attracting  the  value chain  approach of exposing  them to several  business  services, such as inputs, value addition  which  are very  profitable  within  the fish  farming industry.

    The other thing, Antekhai mentioned, is forging links between the young farmers and   financial institutions  and offering mentoring for the most promising enterprises on how to access finance.

    He said Nigeria is geographically poised to be the world leader in the fishery sector and a vast population, especially the young generation, could be deployed in the fishing industries.

    According to him, young  people   can find an income source and maintain healthy life as well from fish farming.This is because  nutrition value of fish and other marine products has been measured and proven to be one of the highest, as compared to any other commonly available food products.

    In fish business, he said one can make 20 per cent  return on investment.

    Modernising the fish business, he believes, is critical to ensuring higher incomes for small-scale farmers, improved food security and a reliable supply  needed for fisheries’ feed supply chains.

    Antekhai said there was a need to bring together the main players, including cooperatives, processors, traders,policy-makers, development organisations and financiers to develop a strategy that can overcome challenges, enabling  fish farmers to have a more reliable supply.

    Recognising the need to increase the country’s domestic fish production to meet growing demand and end reliance on imported fish, the Executive Manager of TGI Group, the holding company of Chi Farms Limited, Dr. Johannes Flosbach, said under the deal, Chi Farms would train 1,000 smallholder fish farmers in Lagos and Ogun states on new farming techniques, access to credit, and marketing skills to help raise incomes.

    He said farmers would have access to quality juvenile catfish from Chi Farms’multiple hatcheries, as well as aquaculture management training and financial tools to provide the knowledge necessary to build successful aquaculture businesses.

    He said his  organisation has povided the opportunity for women and youths for the development of agricultural business, and wealth creation.

    With  training, he  said Chi farms has maximised output in fisheries development, empowerment of women and actualising food security.

    Triton Group  Chairman, Ashvin Samtani, said the group is expanding  its investment to cover a fish feed mill and place emphasis on employment generation, training and capacity building for Nigerians, in addition to exploring the considerable opportunities in marine-culture.

  • Reps seek stiffer penalties for illegal logging

    Reps seek stiffer penalties for illegal logging

    The House of Representatives Adhoc Committee Investigating Massive Deforestation and Corruption in the Environment Sector and its effects on Climate Change has said a bill seeking stiffer penalties for companies and persons involved in illegal logging in the country is underway.

    Hon. Bede Eke, Chairman of the Committee disclosed said because of the rapid deforestation recorded in recent years and its negative impact on poor rural dwellers, it has become necessary to update the laws regulating the logging business as the practice has left local populace with no source of livelihood as forests they once farmed and hunted in have are now threatened by illegal loggers.

    Eke while speaking with reporters on Tuesday, said his committee in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Environment has inaugurated a liaison committee on the export of wood, animal skin and endangered animal species.

    The lawmaker said the purpose of the liaison committee amongst other things is to collate stakeholders views and relevant data.

    The committee had in December 2016 conducted an investigative hearing on illegal logging, deforestation and corruption in the environment sector.

     The 20 -man committee, he said, had members selected from the Environment ministry, the ministry of Finance, the ministry of Trade and Investment, the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigeria Export Promotion Council, Tropical Woods Exporters Association, among others, and was given six weeks to submit its report

    His words: “We have been to the sea ports to ascertain the number of containers of wood exported and we have set up a committee that comprises of all the stakeholders and our committee gave them six weeks to come up with a law that will guide this industry.

    “We are also looking at the issue of the implementation of CITIES an international convention, which Nigeria and China are signatories to, making it compulsory for countries receiving certain kind of imported wood to check for the signature of approval from the country of export.

    “As it is now, what we have is an all comers affair. Right now, we don’t even know the amount of wood exported out of Nigeria, monthly or in a year. There are so much irregularity and corruption in the sector. Those who should know, cannot even account for approvals for duty-free export of wood or the foreign exchange that should have been returned to the country since the wood was exported without duty charged on it”, the lawmaker said.

    Nigeria’s annual rate of deforestation is 3.5 percent approximately, 350,000 – 400,000 hectares, the Food and Agriculture  Organisation, FAO, has said in its 2015 Global Forest Resources Assessment.

  • Diasporan urge government to support women farmers

    Diasporan urge government to support women farmers

    MoThe exportation of Agricultural products can help to boost the Nigerian economy and rescue uit from recession, said Mary N. Brakner, Managing Director of Afric Global Foods and Director of Yeye Oge Fashion.

    The Sweden based entrepreneur made this known during a recent visitation to Nigeria to witness the launch of Damesh Beauty Clinic at Ikoyi Lagos where frown lines, wrinkles and many other facial treatments are done within few process as against plastic surgery.

    Speaking to our corresponden at the event, Yeye Oge lamented that men are the most targeted farmers who are well trained and wealthy in most parts of Africa, especially Nigeria.

    “If we must invest in agriculture, we must focus on women because they are the most populous. We can be producing and exporting our farm produces like it is in Costa Rica. They export their farm produce and it is boosting their economy. So I want us to focus on women also, so that we can build this country together,” she said.

    According to her, if the population of Africa is put at 1,216,129,815 (App 1.216billion by 2016 est) and the population of women is an estimated half, that is about 608 million (608,064,907) people to be engaged in farming. Africa needs to explore this population.

    “I want to use this medium to reach every woman, especially in Africa, not just in Nigeria that we can all fight poverty through farming. Like the saying that when you train one woman you train a nation, that is the reason I want our government, especially Nigerian government regardless of the political affiliations.

    “There are a lot of things on the ground, food scarcity for instance and people don’t have the money to even buy foodstuffs due to recession. But we can do a lot if we engage these local women to use local methods of farming and also get machineries for mechanized farming. All these things will make it easier. So I am urging the government to help us to be able to help the people.

    “For instance I have an NGO since 2012 and I have been discussing with the Nigerian ambassador to Sweden on how our government can focus on women so that together we can be great achievers. A tree cannot make a forest, I cannot do it alone.

    “In this organization, Afric Global Food, it is Afric because I didn’t limit it to Nigeria as we have people from Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Kenya etc, but Nigeria has the most members so we need our government to do more especially in empowering women for farming.

    “I have visited Nigeria several times to talk to Osun and Oyo state government and I have been sponsoring myself. What I am now concerned with is for government to give support and focus on this area of women empowerment in farming. I believe we can do better if government can help.

    “I have a farm that produces maize for local consumption and we also have this animal farm where we are goats. But we want to do more. We have about 25 people working with us and we want government to assist us to do more so that we can impact the society. We have been with those at the office of Farmers’ Association in Osun but no head way yet.

    “We are also in discussion with the traditional ruler, Olayan of Oyan and he has given us land but we are waiting for a certification so that there won’t be interference by miscreants when we start working on it. We don’t people to come and say; hey, you are encroaching on our land.”

    Responding to questions about our possible support for Nigerian Small and Medium Scale Entreprises, Ms Brakner said: “I love to assist people who plan to export food products abroad because I have been taking some Nigerian products to Sweden, like garri, ogbonna, moringa seed to sell in shops over there so I will like people who are interested to come on board.

    “It is just to have an agreement, get NAFDAC’s approval and over there, we can meet authorized requirements. We have this programme with support from Swedish government in 2013 to bring Nigerian farmers for training but it didn’t go well because the visa session required an authorization from a Nigerian government (State or Federal) to guarantee that the trainees will return to Nigeria after their training period.

    “In fact, we already engaged a school of agriculture in Sweden. We got one in Absallam and there is another one in Yonshoppy and they welcomed us, but they needed some sorts of government document to say that these people are coming for this period of time and will return thereafter.

    “That is how far we have come. We have not given up on it because winners don’t quit and that is why we are reaching out to government and good hearted Nigerians to support. We can provide job in this way.

    Hey She further stated that the private sector need to help to support prospective exporters while waiting for the government.

    “The door is open to private partners too. What we would do is to seat at a round table and we table the proposal and kick start because we already have the key points in Sweden which is one of the good countries to do agriculture,” she said.

    Validating Yeye’s views, Temitope Jacob Atikekeresola, Every farm produce needs to first be stored, processed for proper preservation “if our farm produces must have a longer shelf life.”

    Atikekeresola who also spoke at the launch observed that Nigeria lacks the preservation, storage and processing system.

    “These are 3 different events in agriculture. If you have the storage which is when the farm produces are harvested and transported to the storage system which extends their life shelf life for some weeks or months while the processing system is for example tomatoes paste can last 6months to a year of which a stored farm produce may not last that long.

    “But processed foods can last longer. In fact, some countries already have foods for the next 10 years processed. Sadly, we don’t have a good storage system yet, let alone the processing system. It requires a huge capital which is why government must come in or some financially buoyant private investors,” he stressed.

    www.yeyeogefashion.com

  • Africa: Rice farmers lose $200m to parasitic weeds yearly

    Africa: Rice farmers lose $200m to parasitic weeds yearly

    A team of researchers, representing the Africa Rice Center (AfricaRice), the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) and Wageningen University, has raised the alarm over the enormous economic impact of parasitic weeds on rice production in Africa, threatening the food security and livelihoods of millions of resource-poor rice farmers and consumers in the region. The weeds threaten rice production in at least 28 countries on the continent that have rain-fed rice systems.

    The most affected countries are Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Nigeria, Sierra Leone Tanzania and Uganda.

    The team  said smallholder farmers are losing every year half a million tonnes of rice worth about $200 million because of the weeds. Parasitic weeds are among the most destructive and problematic weeds to control. “When these plants invade food crops, they turn into ferocious weeds,” said Agronomist at AfricaRice, Dr Jonne Rodenburg. The most important parasitic weed species in rice are Striga asiatica, S. aspera, S. hermonthica and Rhamphicarpa fistulosa.

    They are all endemic to Africa and can also parasitise other cereal crops like maize, sorghum and millet. The team of researchers reveal that these parasitic weeds, which survive by siphoning off water and nutrients from host crops, have invaded 1.34 million hectares of rain-fed rice in Africa, affecting an estimated 950,000 rural households. They are increasingly becoming severe due to an intensification of agricultural production and climate changes.

    The areas affected by parasitic weeds are home to some of the world’s poorest farmers. Studies by AfricaRice and partners have shown that parasitic weeds seem to predominantly affect women farmers in Africa as they are often forced to grow rice on the most marginal and parasitic weed-infested plots. The researchers warn that these parasites are spreading fast in the rainfed rice area and if nothing is done to stop them in their tracks, the damage will increase by about US $30 million a year.

    Rice is the second most important source of calories in Africa. It is also critical for smallholder incomes. Demand for rice is growing at a rate of more than 6% per year – faster than for any other food staple in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), because of changes in consumer preferences and urbanisation. Rice production is increasing across SSA, but the continent still imports some 40 per cent  of its rice.

    AfricaRice and its partners have been investigating and developing efficient parasitic weed management strategies that are affordable and feasible for resource-poor rice farmers.

  • Towards cultivation of export quality cocoa

    Towards cultivation of export quality cocoa

    Farmers and exporters are learning to cultivate safe and high-quality cocoa that meets international standards through a project coordinated by Farmers Development Union (FADU) and some partners, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Evangelist Samson Makinde is a cocoa farmer in  Osun State. He owns a farm within the Ojere farm settlement. Over the past years, he has tried to do many things to improve his annual income from cocoa without results.

    Makinde was introduced to ‘Kokodola’ project. Kokodola is a Yoruba word which means ‘cocoa brings wealth.’ It started in 2012. It is a public-private partnership between Ferrero, Petra Foods Limited, Continaf , IDH, Oxfam Novib, and Farmers’ Development Union (FADU) in Nigeria. This opened the way for him to improve his cocoa business which he operates alongside rural missions.

    He is well-established locally and is fast becoming a household name. Before he did not have the technical knowledge to produce certified cocoa. Today, the programme is training him and a group of farmers in the state, through their cooperatives, to grow and harvest cocoa in the proper way.

    International organisations  have assisted the nation’s cocoa farmers to increase production to 500,000 tonnes per annum. They  have  encouraged  farmers to key into certification schemes to improve the country’s foreign exchange forex earnings by capitalising on her reputation as one of the producers of fine, or flavoured cocoa.

    The organisations include United States-based Hershey Company, German International Co-operation (GIZ), IDH (The Sustainable Trade Initiative) Oxfam Novib, Continaf, Ferrero, Petra Foods Limited and Farmers’ Development Union (FADU).

    Producers of certified cocoa receive the best prices. Through the project, aimed at improving safety and quality of cocoa, funded by GIZ, IDH and others, farmers received instruction from master trainers and extension officers on growing cocoa that meets international requirements. They visited other farms that have been certified for standards for the certification of cocoa cultivation – to learn good agricultural practices, such as the minimal use of pesticides and fungicides.

    Certification covers food safety and traceability; environment; workers’ health, safety and welfare; animal welfare; and integrated crop management, integrated pest control, quality management systems and hazard analysis, and critical control points.

    According to FADU Programme Coordinator, Victor Olowe, the certification helps farmers to ensure quality at a holistic level, in terms of taking  better care of farm workers  and  the produce, apart from the confidence it gives to foreign buyers.

    He said farmers were trained on a variety of things, including  use of fertiliser, chemicals, hygiene, health or safety, and how to bring a quality produce acceptable for export to the marketplace.

    He explained  that   farmers and  extension officers participating in  the project learn best practices in cultivation and post-harvest care to understand market requirements.

    Since FADU represents farmers including those in the cocoa sector, Olowe said the training has helped to see the quality of cocoa raised to a certain standard and quantity.

    Also the use of certain pesticides, weedicides and fungicides has been controlled.

    Phytosanitary methods is also part of the training which helps farmers to improve their quality standards.

    Through the project, he said FADU has been able to strengthen collaboration involving farmers, processors, exporters, government officials and buyers, adding that stakeholders value the need to partner and act together to address safety and quality-related issues for the benefit of all.