The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Ogun civil servants to be allocated land for farming

    Ogun State civil servants are to be allocated land for agricultural purposes.

    Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, stated this while speaking to reporters during the visit of the Presidential Task Force on Agricultural Commodities and Production led by Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Dakingari.

    Amosun said the government took the decision as a way to improve food production, ensuring food security and improving workers’ personal income.

    He added that the civil servants will only be free to work on their farms after office hours and public holidays as they will perform their duties during the statutory five working days.

    Amosun, therefore, counselled the state civil servants to take advantage of this opportunity when the scheme is fully on board.

    Explaining the government initiative further, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Steven Ipinniwa, said each  interested  civil servant  will be allocated two hectares of cleared land at designated sites while government will also assist them with input.

  • $200m World Bank grant stimulates agric

    $200m World Bank grant stimulates agric

    he World Bank is set to boost women and youth involvement in farming with  a $200 million grant.

    The new project, according to the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) Task Team leader, World Bank, Dr Sheu Salau, has been submitted to the bank’s  board for approval.

    Salau, who disclosed this on the sidelines of the Project’s 13th implementation support mission held in Lagos, said the  project was  part of the bank’s work towards reducing the cost of food by helping to boost agricultural output through increased participation of women and men.

    He stressed that women and youths were a priority for the bank, and that the new project would bolster youth entrepreneurship in agriculture and agri-business.

    The initiative will see the bank working with  State Agriculture Development Programmes  to train the next generation of agriculture entrepreneurs, also referred to as ‘agri-preneurs’, and provide them with seed money through banks to finance their bankable business plans.

    He  stressed the importance of  women and youths in all aspects of agriculture, ranging from the inputs, to the agricultural value chain including production, processing, marketing and transport, and reiterated the commitment of the World Bank to  improve the farming  systems; to deliver innovation and information; and to provide better tools for farmers.

    He said the remaining phase of the CADP project should be devoted to support youths and women  to  unlock the potential of agriculture.

    Salau reiterated that supporting micro and small-sized companies in the agricultural sector is a cornerstone of the bank’s strategy.

    On the CADP, he said 73 percent of the activities covered under the $150 million project has been executed. This covers rice, aquaculture and poultry value chain. Through the project, Salau  said states such as Lagos, Enugu, Cross River, and Kaduna  have had access to  inputs, financial services and skills in agri-business, efficient machinery for processing produce, market information, new technology, among others.

    He said the World Bank Group will continue to support the Federal Government in addressing its developmental challenges and emerging priorities.

    In the agribusiness sector alone, through CADP, the  Project Operations Officer, Dr. Salisu Garba  said the bank has committed S$ 150 million in projects involving rice, poultry  and aquaculture across Enugu,Cross Rivers, Lagos, Kano and Kaduna States since 2010.

    As of June this year, the project reached 36,332 small to medium commercial farmers through 33, 391 commodity interest groups (CIGs). The project funded 1,432 business plans under its matching grants mechanism and completed 307 km of link roads, to facilitate farmers access to technologies, services and markets.

    As a result, beneficiaries have increased significantly their production, productivity and volumes of sales.

    Garba said the project is back on track towards attainment of its development objectives which are to strengthen agricultural production systems and facilitate market access for targeted value chains among small and medium commercial farmers in the five participating states.

    Enugu State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mike Eneh reiterated the importance of the project to boosting food production.

    He informed the gathering that the main purpose of the mission was to gather inputs from the participating states for enhanced performance and the required impact.

    He urged participating states to take action to invest in agriculture  to be competitive and take advantage of the business opportunities, and appealed to participants to embrace and invest in technologies that would help transform the sector into a more efficient production that can allow the sector to tap into wider markets.

    Eneh highlighted some of the benefits of focusing on value-adding operations and the opportunities presented for the national economy to include increased national food security, social development in rural areas, job creation, and  improved tax and duty generation.

    He stressed the importance of developing and strengthening local capacity, calling on the private and public sectors to come together and invest for a successful agriculture and agro-processing sector focused on value-addition.

    The state Project Coordinator, Kehinde Ogunyinka,  said the  Commercial Agricultural Development Project, has moved fish farming in Lagos State to a new and unparalleled dimension with farmers exporting smoked fish  abroad.

    According to him, CADP activities in Lagos is one of the project’s success stories  with efforts to  invest heavily in cropping, livestock and processing  as well as skills development equipping small-scale farmers involved in the value-addition chain.According to him, steps are being taken to upgrade subsistence agriculture to commercial ventures focusing on small and medium scale commercial farmers and agro-processors.

    The CADP programme operates in five states: Cross River, Enugu, Kaduna, Kano and Lagos focusing on palm oil, cocoa, fruit trees, poultry, aquaculture, dairy and staples such as maize and rice.

    The US$150 million World Bank Project, which began in 2009, may end in  May, next year.

  • Niger Rice Mill to create over 10,000 jobs

    Niger Rice Mill to create over 10,000 jobs

    Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has said the unemployment rate in the state will reduce next year as no fewer than 10,000 workers will be engaged at the Niger State Rice Mill.

    He spoke at the inauguration of the multi-million dollar Integrated Rice Processing and Milling Complex built by Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Bida, the state capital.

    He said the Rice Mill will also boost agriculture in the state with the production of 1.5 metric tonnes of rice daily.

    “It is expected that the Rice Mill will generate over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs, when it comes fully on stream and this will engage our youths and women as from next year,”he said.

    Bello said the bumper harvest recorded this farming season was a result of the policies of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration aimed at repositioning agriculture as the mainstay of the economy and to ensure national food security.

    He, however, called for caution on the export of essential farm produce to neighbouring countries for monetary gains, saying that such ventures may expose the country to food insecurity.

    The governor said plans were underway by the state government and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to buy off the major food items and store them to ensure food security.

    “The development was in fulfill-ment of my pledge to explore all avenues to attract investors and projects to the state, especially through Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives. The state Ministry of Agriculture will ensure the proper management of the rice mill by engaging competent hands to manage the facility,” he said.

    The Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Noh Kyu-Duk, said the gesture was informed by Nigeria’s huge potential, the comparative advantage of cultivating rice and becoming self-sufficient.

    Kyu-Duk noted that the non-availability of high rice production capacity was the major obstacle of achieving self-sufficiency in rice production in Nigeria.

    The KOICA’s Country Director, Mrs Sook Hyun Park said the project, which started in 2008, can process 1.5 tonnes of rice per hour with parboiling, drying, sorting and packaging facilities and can be increased to three tonnes per hour.

  • Tackling food shortage, unemployment in Southwest

    Tackling food shortage, unemployment in Southwest

    Southwest states are promoting food production. One area governments in the region are working on is improvement of the poultry and fisheries’sectors’ capacities to ensure food sufficiency. The private sector is partnering the states to increase productivity, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    With an average yearly economic growth rate of more than five per cent, the Southwest region is the beautiful bride for investors.

    The diversity of the five states in the region – Lagos,Osun,Ogun, Ondo and Ekiti – lies at the heart of its rapid economic growth. Despite the recession, the region’s food requirements have increased, just as the demand for quality.

    Many governments are courting private involvement. For instance, the Oyo State government and China Polaris Group are to establish $2billion Polaris Pacesetter Free Trade Zone (FTZ) in Oluyole Local Government Area.Governor, Abiola Ajimobi said 1,000 hectares, which lie on Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, had been provided for the first phase of the FTZ, which would cost $500 million.

    Ajimobi, who described the project as ambitious, said it would have a lot of multiplier effects in repositioning the state. He said the FTZ would be the industrial hub of the country and West Africa with  potential for employment generation, wealth creation and technological advancement.

    He said the good news also is that in the region, governments have recognised that agriculture is not only for poverty alleviation; it is a sector, where governments, farmers, and the private sector recognises the need to co-invest to increase productivity and production, add value to produce.

    Consequently, the region has been  transforming its agricultural sector due to increase productivity as more land is being cultivated. So far, the nation’s poultry and aqua consumption should hit two million tonnes and 2.3 million tonnes, with major consumption coming from Lagos.

    Now the country suffers from severe overfishing and Nigerians  can no longer gets sufficient nutrition from freshwater.

    This, coupled with an increase in demand for fish, brought along by a surging population and higher incomes, has created excess demand that can no longer be met domestically.

    Aquaculture, feed industries, fish hatcheries and processing factories are among the sectors that have been opened up by the government to investors. In Oyo, where incomes and living standards are on the rise, there is ample evidence of growing consumer demand for fish and poultry products. For most of aquaculture’s history, production was of a small-scale, artisan nature. This has started to change with the involvement of companies that are players in the global seafood market.

    Cashing in on the investment opportunities, critical investments are being made by the organised private sector.

    Private sector organisations have moved to the region to set up integrated fish and poultry businesses – breeding, feed milling, commercial farming and processing. One of such is Triton Group of Companies. To attract investors, the governments are building exclusive zones to ensure continuity, simplify investment procedures and grant tax incentives on imported raw materials.

    Triton Group Chairman, Ashvin Samtani, is one of the advocates  for the new vision. He believes the governments are making the right decisions to invest in agriculture. Samtani is among private partners ready to invest in the region’s agricultural sector. Triton Group,a global conglomerate, which took off in 1995, has made its mark in poultry and fisheries in which it has invested heavily to bring state-of-the-art technology to bear. Its projects are located in Lagos, Agbara, Iwo, Gambari and Asejire. The Iwo project covers 75 acres while Gambari is 5,000 acres.

    Asejire with 50 acres hosts a viable tilapia production facility, with cage culture at the dam. The Iwo farm is completed while the Gambari, the most ambitious project of the group, is ongoing. The first phase comprising nursery and grow out ponds for catfish  has been completed and the production is in full swing, while the second phase is expected to be completed by March 31, next  year, gaining a total production output at 10,000 MT per year.

    Samtani said the Gambari farm  include a fully integrated fish farm involving poultry and planting of crops to enable them produce their own feed. The investment strategy of the Triton Group, he said, is to  create 400 jobs.

    According to him, Triton’s aquaculture investment provides alot of benefits to the economy.

    Samtani said the company is focused on seafood, poultry and aquaculture.

    He said: “The Triton Group is involved in the development of green houses, nursery ponds for juveniles as well as growing out ponds for the development of the nation’s fish industry.”

    He stressed the need for the government to partner the group to invest in artisanal fishing and shrimp farming, adding that land had already been acquired for the training of Nigerians in fishing.

    The company hopes to bring its technology, systems, and skills—as well as its impact investment model—to other states where overfishing has become a bif issue.

    With its production in Gambari and other places, the company wants to focus on the retail and the wholesale markets in other parts of the country.

    Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development Heineken Lokpobiri, who inaugurated Gambari‘s integrated farm, said Nigeria needs to farm more fish to meet increased demand.

    According to him, aquaculture is most likely to meet the growing demand for animal products with the nation’s suffering a yearly deficit of two million metric tonnes of fish supply yearly.

    Highlighting the need for increased consumption of farmed fish, Lokpobiri said the government was ready to provide  incentives for investors and support Gambari in food production and job creation.

    He said the project has created 400  jobs, increased local fish production by100,000 metric tonnes, and is boosting tilapia and catfish exports to the United States and Europe.

    For him, the business makes a huge difference to women and men who are benefitting from it in one way or the other.

    Triton Group Director of Production, Mr. Yashpal Jain, explained that the Gambari project was established to boost local production and reduce fish imports.

    Jain explained the company is growing the African catfish, of the Clarias Gariepinus species in ponds. The site will also host a feedmill for group’s export products, such as  cashew.

    The company explained that the aqua feed plant will produce feeds for all kinds of fish.

    Chief Executive, AgroNigeria, Richard-Mark Mbaram, said the governments in the region took some steps to promote food development, including private sector investment. He said Triton Group’s investment would boost Nigeria’s fisheries.

  • Firm to fund 1m farmers by 2025

    Babban Gona, a social enterprise that  supports thousands of mini farmer cooperatives across Northern Nigeria to produce maize, rice and soybeans, is providing  loans to increase their production.

    Babban Gona Business Associate, Ladipo Akoni,  said: “To date we have provided 16,000 loans to smallholder farmers to sustainably cultivate 12,000  hectares of arable land. These low-cost loans, and our quality inputs and services have empowered our smallholder farmers to achieve yields 2.3 times the national average and increase their net incomes to 3.5 times the national average, thereby transitioning our farmers from lower-income earners to lower- middle income earners.

    “Beyond this, 90 per cent of our members surveyed have used their increased profits to send their children to school or send their children to a better school. Furthermore, over 40 per cent of Babban Gona members are below 35 years.”

    The enterprise is targeting 1,000,000 smallholder farmers by 2025. The organisation has encouraged farmers to form cooperatives for agricultural production.

    Akoni believed thousands of farming households have escaped poverty because of support to farmers. The Babban Gona model, according to him, was designed to address the root cause of insecurity and poverty through de-risking smallholder farmers and unlocking cost effect capital to them.

    He said Babban Gona, also a franchise model, provides small holder farmers access to required investment capital, in addition to providing a comprehensive suite of agricultural and marketing services along the entire agricultural value chain. “This subsequently results in a dramatic increase in profitability, incomes and eventually living standards,” he said.

    According to him, there is potential in farming.  “We can do better by giving farmers small loans so that they can be producing on larger scale and flood the country with food,” he said.

    The project works with farmers in the North to improve rural livelihoods. It provides agricultural services such as promoting new farming technologies to increase crop production.

  • ‘How to get more certified agriculture products exported to EU’

    Executive Secretary/CEO, Institute of Export Operation and Management (IEOM), Mr. Ofonasaha Udofia,  has said improving food safety  standards would  ease the flow of agricultural products to Europe.

    Udofia  said the European Union( EU) has set stringent certification standards, but producers of Nigerian agricultural products should  be trained to  meet them.

    According to him, as Nigerian producers are successfully meeting the EU’s import standards, the import of Nigerian agricultural produce will be increasing.

    He explained that such produce will be well received by Europe’s large supermarkets as they would meet the international certification on good agricultural practices, Global GAP, while having an advantage in terms of quality.

    He said Nigerian  produce  have  big markets in the EU, including cocoa, cashew, palm oil and its derivatives, nutmeg and other agricultural commodities.

    According to him, Nigeria agriculture exports to the EU lag behind those of fellow African countries such as Kenya and Ghana because they   provided products with higher sanitary and phyto sanitary (SPS) standards and other international requirements.

  • Engaging youths in agriculture

    Engaging youths in agriculture

    Agriculture is gaining prominence among the youth and helping to push the development agenda. It is also addressing a growing concern that youths are disenchanted with the enterprise. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Young farmers, such as the Chief Executive, Natural Nutrient Limited, Sola Adeniyi, see farming in three dimensions: as a mission, a way of life and an important foundation in ensuring a society’s food security.

    He belongs to a community of educated, empowered and passionate young farmers engaged in profitable farming that nurtures a prosperous, resilient, healthy and happy Nigeria. Although he  holds a degree in Business Administration, he was drawn to farming and had dreamt of managing a farm of his own one day.

    As a young entrepreneur, Adeniyi has developed his farm business located in Ogun State, using a diversified farming system. Natural Nutrient Limited is a full value chain agri-business enterprise.

    His farm is a learning centre, where young people can come for several days, see and learn about planting herbal and food plants and vegetables as well as permaculture. He is a proud advocate of integrated and diversified farming system.

    He has an ongoing project at Lala town, Ogun State, where young people are shown how to grow high-value crops, keep livestocks and how to market produce to markets. Adeniyi stressed that youth could be attracted to agriculture if they saw meaningful income opportunities as well as have a sense of pride in farming.

    He has  a truly innovative and enterprising business – and a fearless approach to new technology,  and opened the farm gates to show his fellow farmers the way forward. The farm is a prime example of how youths can give vigour to a farm business. He relies on advice, works with  mentors and has an impressive grip on every aspect of his business.

    He looks into the accounts on a daily, monthly and yearly basis and works from a business plan. With greater confidence, he is continuing to drive forward. His work ethic,  use of technology and natural assets are just a few reasons Adeniyi is a great farmer. He hardly rests, running a mix of thriving and growing diversifications at different farms as well as remaining hands-on with his arable operation.

    He believed greater involvement of the youth in agricultural trainings and ventures can highten their social consciousness on the woes of farmers and on how to address these challenges.

    He said young farmers needed to earn at least subsistence wages from farming, adding that they lack experience, training, technical knowledge and skills to make farming more productive. They are  agricultural technology, farm management, agri-enterprise business development and marketing.  If skills trainings are provided, he said, a lot of youths will discover that  farming would make them rich and secure. Without these needed support, he said, young farmers feel that they cannot compete with big commercial farmers.

    He urged the government to provide them with basic resources especially land, capital and equipment to make farming less tedious.

    A lot of youths, according to him, have been under-tapped and neglected by their communities, governments, and international organisations, and thus are unable to make full use of their energy and potential in the agriculture sector.

    He is not alone thinking this way. He has found an ally  in an industrialist, Mr. Paul Okpue ,who  has presented  a national master plan to  train  youths to cultivate tomato  nationwide to stimulate economic growth and boost employment. He is encouraging young farmers to focus and invest more on high yielding crops to achieve two-three cropping circles in a year.

    One of such crops is tomato that takes about 75 days to mature after transplanting. The harvesting goes on for about six to eight weeks.

    He is seen as leader in the tomato farming revolution in Delta State.  Okpue has  an  expansive tomato plantation off Ibusa Road in Delta State. It  was used to facilitate the pilot project to tomatoes farmers in the state. He told The Nation that he was trying to establish a national network of young tomato growers.

    He said his target is  108,000 youths nationwide, translating to about 3000 per state.

    He said youths would be taught how to grow tomatoes, using irrigation and  spraying the crops regularly to keep pests at bay. When using irrigation, the young farmers will be introduced to good agronomic practices, including feeding them with phosphorous, nitrogen, calcium, magnesium and sulphur fertilisers and good post-harvest handling measures.

    According to him, farming offers the young generation a chance to make a difference by growing enough food to feed the nation.

    Giving youths  the chance to fulfil their dreams in a sound, pragmatic business model that is commercially robust, is clearly at the front of Okpue’s mind.

    His blue print is to enable young people to discover more about agriculture as a profession and aims to encourage more people to perceive farming as a career after school.

    He has a lot of corporate backing to support his cause.  The Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute(ARMTI),Ilorin,Kwara State is one of them.

    In support of the pursuit, ARMTI drew   agriculture students, faculty, public officials, non-government organisations (NGO) and small farmers to listen to his  blue print  and  to discuss the significance of young people in  farming and small-scale agriculture in alleviating poverty and achieving inclusive growth specifically in the rural areas. It was during the institute’s annual lecture in Ilorin.

    Acting Executive Director,Dr. Olufemi Oladunni said it was time young Nigerians  were  made to acquire  agricultural skills through training. He  believed   young farmers  could be   developed into young leaders and farmer entrepreneurs through exposure to good farming practices such as applying multipurpose farming and  raising livestock. To harness the potential of the youth for agriculture, Oladunni  said the institute  has a agro-based enterprises training  with provisions for young farmers.

    He said 75 youths were in the institute to get training on farming techniques.  Some of the institute’s  projects were mainly concentrated, where levels of open unemployment among rural youths are particularly high. However, considerably more attention is now being given to youth training, with a particular focus on promoting employment through both farm and non farm enterprise development.  The institute is  becoming increasingly interested in providing support for targeted training for young farmers.

    According to him, agriculture is expected to drive the nation’s economic growth.

  • NDE boss advocates use of ICT, social media to attract youths to agriculture

    NDE boss advocates use of ICT, social media to attract youths to agriculture

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE), has advocated the use of ICT and social media to attract youths to agriculture.

    Mr Kunle Obayan, the Director-General, Represented by Mr Cyril Effiong, the Director of South-South Zone of NDE, made the call in Ilorin on Wednesday at a forum on agriculture.

    The NDE Director-General said it was imperative to use the social media in portraying agriculture as an attractive profession to the youth.

    He said that the farming in Nigeria was in a disadvantaged position with increasing ageing farmers and without a large proportion of youths embracing it.

    Obayan said the social media platform could engage Nigerian youths in agriculture via the internet and its social media such as Facebook page, Twitter and YouTube.

    According to him, the power of ICT and social media can lure young people into agricultural activities.

    He said that youths could lap on ICT platforms and mobile apps to enhance agricultural development along the value chain.

    He said that this could trigger the establishment of a platform where the youth could share, discuss and inspire each other in farming.

    Obayan said the youth could be engaged in agriculture if they were encouraged,  recognised and inspired.

    He said that agriculture is now a modern profession with mechanised machines for tilling the land, planting, spraying and harvesting of crops.

  • New standards for rice harvesting, processing – SON

    New standards for rice harvesting, processing – SON

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), says it has developed new standards for rice seeds, harvest, milling, drying and hygiene practice for processing and storage of rice in the country.

    The Director-General of the organisation, Mr Osita Aboloma, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the 3rd Nigeria Rice Investment Forum organised by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).

    Represented by Dr Barth Ugwu, the Head, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) office of the organisation, Aboloma said the standards, developed in 2016 was to improve the quality of paddy and milled rice.

    He said that total compliance with the standards would ensure zero rejection of the country’s agricultural products at the international markets.

    The director-general listed some of the quality parameters embedded in the standards to include germination, huskless seed, pesticides, residues, packaging, labelling and storage.

    “The focus of these developed standards is to provide guidance and recommendations to both small and large operators involved in growing and processing of rice to raise product quality.

    “The use of these standards will provide rice farmers, processors and transporters proper ground to produce safe food that can compete favourably in the international markets.

    “The implementation of these standards will promote the development of the rice industry in Nigeria and grow the rice value chain,’’ he said.

    The Chief Executive Officer, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Business Group, Mrs Gloria Akobundu, said that increase in agricultural production was crucial to promoting the country’s economy.

    Akobundu said that increasing in rice production in the country would guarantee economic growth.

    According to her, an average Nigerian citizen consumes over 24.5 kilogrammes of rice annually, adding that the nation`s production level of 3.5 million tonnes of rice annually is insufficient.

    She said that the theme of the forum entitled: “2018 Self Sufficiency in Rice Production: Opportunities, Challenges and Road Ahead’’, was in line with President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to diversify the economy.

    “Nigeria is the second highest importer of rice in the world and the highest in Africa,’’ she said.

    Mr Hiroshi Kodama, the Senior Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), said the agency had assisted Nigerian farmers in rice milling and processing in Niger and Nasarawa States.

    He said the agency would extend its assistance to other states of the federation to boost rice production in the country.

    Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, commended NEPAD for its efforts toward boosting rice production in the country.

    Represented by Mr Obinna Opara, an official at the Cereals Unit of the ministry, Ogbeh said the Federal Government would rehabilitate irrigation facilities and support farmers with farm inputs.

    He assured that the country would meet its target of attaining self-sufficiency in rice production by 2018.

  • FG to prioritise tomato paste processing – Buhari

    FG to prioritise tomato paste processing – Buhari

    The President, Muhammadu Buhari has said that the Federal Government will this year prioritise tomato paste processing as part of its strategic implementation plan,  said on Monday in Abuja.

    He said this while declaring open the 2016 Africa Economic Conference with the theme: “Feed Africa: Towards agro-allied industrialisation for inclusive growth.’’

    Represented by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, he said that the decision to have tomato paste processed in Nigeria was a strategic implementation plan to become self-sufficient in the product.

    “The choice of tomato is predicated on our ability to produce tomatoes in large quantities several times a year as well as its extensive use in Nigerian meals.

    “There is of course, the opportunity to generate a large number of agricultural jobs and also as a means to adding value along the agro-allied chain.’’

    He said that there were many factors that affected the nation’s aspirations in this regard.

    He said there was the need to plant the appropriate quality of the food to be used for processing.

    Buhari also said that a lot of small scale farms were not linked to large farms, so they faced the problems of transportation and storage, especially where tomatoes were ripe, posing additional challenges.

    “Operators still have to contend with issues of infrastructure, especially power generation.

    “This is a very important issue because it goes to the very heart of being competitive against import from other parts of the world which have penetrated the market.

    “We currently have to carry out appropriate levels of support and protection for this sector.’’

    He also identified high cost of finance as a factor tomato farmers and tomato paste manufacturers have to contend with.

    He added that the government was trying to mitigate this through its development institutions like the Bank of Agriculture and the Bank of Industry.

    Another intervention, he said, was the micro farmers credit scheme targeting small scale farmers.

    Buhari commended the contributions of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in supporting Nigeria towards economy diversification.

    “The recent support of 600 million dollars provided by AfDB as the first tranche of the planned one billion dollar support to Nigeria will certainly go a long way in helping the country to further pursue reforms in the agriculture sector.

    “The government is also keen in ensuring that Nigeria adds value to what it produces.

    “This is why we are very pleased that the AfDB will be supporting Nigeria in the development of a staple crop processing zone and other agro-industrial parks.’’

    The AfDB President, Mr Akinwunmi Adesina, said agriculture, which contributes over 28 per cent of the GDP of Africa, holds the key for the accelerated growth, diversification and job creation for African economies.

    He, however, lamented the poor performance of the sector in Africa, adding that it was still dominated by large number of subsistence farmers.

    He also said that the sector suffered from low levels of public investment, including access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses.

    “Agriculture has largely been seen as a development sector for managing poverty and not for creating wealth.

    “Yet Africa sits on a huge potential of agriculture; it is estimated that about 65 per cent of uncultivated arable land left in the world that will feed nine billion people by 2050 lies in Africa.

    “What Africa does with agriculture will shape the future of food growth.

    Adesina said that estimates had shown that food and agri-business sector was projected to grow from 330 billion dollars today to one trillion dollars by 2050.

    He said that the key to achieving that was to start with treating agriculture as a business.

    “It must start with taking a full value chain approach to modernise agriculture, from the farm to the table and it must start with supporting agro-industrial development.

    “Africa must rapidly invest in the development of its agro-industry, and move away from being seen as just a billion mouths to feed.

    “Africa must learn from experiences elsewhere, where agriculture has been the foundation for driving fast- paced economic growth, by building a strong food and agro-industrial manufacturing base quickly.’’

    Adesina said that the key to Africa’s prosperity was value addition in agriculture, in turning products to money and in looking inwards, adding that Africa should feed itself.

    He said that to take new agricultural technologies to scale, the Bank will soon launch a new 800 million dollars initiative called Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT).

    He said that the aim was to reach 40 million farmers over a 10 year period.

    He also said the Bank would invest 24 billion dollars in agriculture and agribusiness over the next 10 years under its Feed Africa strategy.

    “Our goal is simple; support massive agro-industrial development all across Africa.

    “To make this happen, there is need for well-directed public policies to incentivise the agricultural sector, especially agribusiness and food manufacturing companies.’’

    Mr Abdoulaye Dieye, Director, Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), said that unless agriculture was fully transformed, Africa would remain trapped in a low productivity cycle.

    He also said harnessing the power of greater regional integration through regional and global value chains, is critical to achieving economic diversification, competitiveness, technology and knowledge transfer.

    He advised African governments to work with their bilateral and multilateral partners to support the agro-allied industrialisation agenda.

    “In this regard, developed and emerging countries must work to remove unfair trade barriers, eliminate harmful agricultural export subsidies.

    “They must also reduce regional protectionism that limits Africa’s access to markets and makes the continent a dumping ground.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the three-day event will end on Wednesday.