The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Buhari, Adesina, others for confab

    President Muhammadu  Buhari, African Develop-ment Bank President Dr Akinwumi Adesina, and  United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), Acting Secretary Mr. Abdalla Hamdok, are among dignitaries expected at this year’s agric forum to address the sector’s transformation.

    Other dignitaries for the event slated for Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, between  December 5 and  7,  are UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Regional Bureau for Africa, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Mr. Abdoulaye Mar Dieye and 2007 Nobel Laureate in Economics Prof Eric Maskin.

    The forum is being promoted by AfDB, the ECA and the UNDP  as  a long-term strategy to achieving food security in Africa.

    A statement from UNDPNigeria  said the  partnering organisations  were  interested in leveraging  agro-industrialisation for feeding Africa and promoting inclusive growth.

    According to the statement, the  conference will provide critical thinking on how policy-makers, development partners, the private sector, civil society organisations and the academia should support the planning and implementation of industrialisation strategies.

    A special event of the conference is the launch of UNDP’s Africa Human Development Report 2016 (“Accelerating Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Africa”) to be officiated by Ministers of Budget and Planning, and Women Affairs with UNDP’s Regional Director for Africa.

    Two other special events – launch of Economic Report on Africa and a discussion on Youth Agri-preneurship’s Aspirations and Challenges – will hold on Tuesday, December 6.

  • Transforming cassava leaves into livestock feed

    Transforming cassava leaves into livestock feed

    Efforts are being made to transform cassava leaves and waste into livestock feeds. This will be a big business for farmers, writes Daniel Essiet.

    Cassava is a staple food, which plays a major role in the food system. Its tubers are rich in carbohydrates, calcium and ascorbic acid.

    Today, cassava has multiple uses and markets, ranging from consumption as food to processing into wet and dry starch. It is also processed into higher value food and industrial products, such as noodles, glucose, and maltose to textile starch, pharmaceuticals, cardboard, and glue. Starch extracted from it is used by a wide variety of industries—food, pharmaceutical, paper, adhesive, textile, mining and others.

    In the past four years, the government has tried to ensure cassava flour is substituted for wheat flour in baked products to reduce wheat import.

    Altogether, the market demand for cassava and value-added products are so strong that many Nigerians are  encouraged to grow it as a cash crop. Besides, the  multi-purpose cassava has attracted many projects and programmes working on its value chain. Several organisations are involved in processing to help drive industrial development while delivering higher incomes to smallholder farmers.But its use as a livestock feed has also been investigated. It  can be used as a substitute for feed grains as its leaf meal contains at least 20-percent protein.

    Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI) is at the forefront of getting farmers and processors to explore income opportunities from using cassava leaves for livestock feeds.

    Consequently, ARMTI is exploring ways of processing cassava leaves to provide a sustainable source of animal feeds, increase incomes for farmers and boost food security.

    Its Acting Executive Director, Dr Olufemi Oladunni, sees the potential for further scaling-up improved livestock feeds with cassava leaves as huge.

    He believes use of cassava leaves as animal feed can reduce the high cost of feed, increase livestock production and create job opportunities.

    Addressing a seminar on “Unlocking the potentials of cassava leaves as livestock feed” in Abuja, Oladunni said the mission of  ARMTI was  to identify and analyse problems and needs and develop appropriate interventions.

    As such, generating a new feed resource from cassava leaves will lead to a reduction in the spate of conflict between crop farmers and herdsmen.

    One of the projects Oladunni has in the mind to boost this campaign is a feed mill where livestock feed made from cassava leaves could be packaged and sold in markets.

    Right now, there are few or none of such special feed mills across the country.

    Where they exist, they should produce poultry, pig, fish and dog feeds, using  cassava leaves. Promoting the establishments of such mills, Oladunni believes would not only enrich the farmers financially, but will also help other poultry or livestock farmers in accessing feeds at their door step.  ARMTI will be ready to assist  would be investors with training, technical services and advice.

    But the institute  is not alone in this project. The Federal Government is showing support, believing it can help to curb farmers-herdsmen clashes. It has huge potential once there is a functional   cassava leaves value chain geared towards processing such leaves into livestock feeds.

    Nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world with a production figure of 50 million metric tonnes. “Cassava is a major food crop in Nigeria. “It is strategically valued for its role in food security, poverty alleviation and a source of raw materials for agro-allied industries in Nigeria with huge potential for export market. “It provides livelihood for over 30 million farmers,’’ the minister said.

    Represented by Dr Egejuru Eze, the Director, Animal Production and Husbandry Services in the ministry, during  the seminar in Abuja, Ogbeh said  the livestock industry had been bedevilled by some practices hence, the clashes.

    He said livestock could increase productivity, including milk yield and body weight, when fed with cassava leaves.

    According to him, cassava leaves have been found to be a good source of crude protein when made into silage.

    Lufarmco Investment Managing Director, Prof. Dolapo Lufadeju  and a consultant to the institute on the project  said Nigeria had not been able to move from pastoralism to domesticating cattle due to lack of feed.

    He said pastoralism had practised all over the world, especially in the United Kingdom, United States, and Russia, adding that it was after such countries had developed their livestock industry into a business that they began to domesticate cattle.

    He said they succeeded because they had all the feed their cattle needed. “Here we don’t have anything on which our cattle are based upon and development is fast catching up with the system of pastoralism. That is the reason for the conflict between farmers and herdsmen. What we are looking at is a major cattle industry that needs to be developed as a business. Crop production has advanced, but nothing has happened in terms of development of livestock in this country,’’ he added.

    Lufadeju maintained that cassava leaves could be used  for livestock feeding. His  words: ‘’Cassava hay or cassava leaf meal  have been used as a protein supplement in goats, sheep or cattle fed on poor quality diets have positive effects on animal performance.’’

    The Lufarmco Investment chief explained that one important constraint of cassava leaves for livestock is the  abandonment of the leaves on farmlands after harvest.

    He attributed it to the logistics involved during the collection of the product to obtain sufficient quantities.

    He said the aggregation of cassava leaves from scattered small farms is of  importance. To consolidate the use of cassava leaves, he  urged  the government to put  in place a system to harness all available cassava leaves for value addition.

    He  added: “ This way, cassava leaves would be efficiently integrated into the cassava value chain as livestock feed resource. This is, particularly, important at this juncture. If cassava leaves must be part of the livestock feeding strategy, it must be made available all year round.’’

    Lufadeju added that there was the  constraint of lack of technical knowledge on how to use cassava leaves in livestock feed. He said: “There is also the constraint of lack of knowledge and technical know how required particularly on; frequency of leaf harvest, quantity to be harvested without compromising root yields, the optimal period for harvesting, and the quantity to be fed to cattle , sheep or goat, either as supplement or as complete feed. While information is available in parts of the World especially Southeast Asia ( Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia), there is dearth of emperical research in Nigeria on feeding cassava foliage to ruminant livestock.”

    Meanwhile, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Ibadan has developed a technology to process fresh cassava peels into high-quality cassava peels with better shelf life and nutrient profiles.

    This is the outcome of a multi-centre Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research( CGIAR) collaboration, which involved ILRI, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Potato Centre (CIP).

    The cassava peel processing technology began in late 2014. Through it about 50 million tonnes of peels that are being wasted yearly and treated as environmental nuisance will become  livestock feed commodity. It can add about 15 million tonnes of quality feed, creating $2 billion yearly in Africa, and  helping the livestock sector besides other multiple benefits, such as creating employment and incomes for processors, mostly women in the unorganised sector.

    The main factors contributing to the rapid development of this technology are that the processes involved are quite simple, using machinery and techniques that cassava processors are already aware of, and wide dissemination through multiple media and visits of the potential entrepreneurs to the ILRI pilot processing plant at Ibadan.

  • Africa to spend $110b on food imports by 2025, says IITA DG

    Africa to spend $110b on food imports by 2025, says IITA DG

    Africa will spend  $110 billion in  food imports by 2025 because of the neglect of agriculture, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Director-General Dr Nteranya Sanginga has said.

    Addressing members of the Board of Trustees of IITA and researchers during the Partnership for Development Week (P4D Week) in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, he said failure to invest in agriculture would compound unemployment among youths.

    Sanginga said though some African countries have realised that agriculture is important but were not investing enough in it.

    “Take for instance the commitment to invest at least 10 percent of national budgets in agriculture. Not many countries are meeting this goal,”  Sanginga said.

    He praised the African Development Bank (AfDB) for coming up with Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) to transform agriculture on the continent.

    TAAT  is the  initiative of  AfDB and the Consultative Group on International Agriculture Research (CGIAR) under the Feed Africa Initiative to drive agriculture development on the continent.

    Through  TAAT,  the bank aims to invest more than $800 million to the agricultural sector. The funds would be channelled into upscaling of proven innovations that will improve the fortunes of farmers and address the twin problem of food insecurity and unemployment.

    Sanginga also reiterated IITA’s commitment to supporting African smallholder farmers in the context of agribusiness such that agriculture transcends food for the fork to money in the pocket.

    According to him, IITA would continue to respond to the needs of Africa by developing innovations that will provide answers to Africa’s food insecurity. To this end, IITA will be demonstrating its scientific leadership not only in terms of qualitative research in the lab, but also impact in farmers’ fields.

    Sanginga, who began his second tenure earlier this year, said IITA’s priority for the future would focus on research, capacity development, partnerships, impact at scale, and most importantly delivery.

  • Forum lists rice as key to prosperity

    Forum lists rice as key to prosperity

    Participants  at a rountable on rice, which featured major producers, have said the crop is essential to the continued health, wealth and prosperity of Nigeria.

    This is contained in the communiqué issued at the end of the roundtable on the rice supply chain development held in Minna, Niger State capital.

    It was organised by Agribusiness Supplier Development Programme (ASDP).

    The meeting was convened by ASDP, which is being implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk-Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL.

    They stressed  the need to create a standard to reassure producers and consumers on the quality of Nigeria’s premium rice. The discussions also considered the essential roles rice research and access to new technologies play in improving the livelihoods of farm families.

    To address the challenges faced by commercial banks in lending to farmers, the forum called on the government and the private sector to sensitise farmers properly on available finances from the banks and other sources as well as use of inputs and good agricultural practices to boost productivity.

    It emphasised the  need to identify real farmers and verify their farm sizes and holdings using appropriate technologies. Farmers, the communique maintained, should be encouraged to always honour agreements and stop side selling to strengthen the relationship with the financial institutions and off takers.

    The forum advised that state governments’ interference in the anchor borrower scheme should be limited to facilitating loan recovery, and that there should be  social networking and cross guarantee to check loan default among beneficiaries.

    The participants urged that there  should be timely financial support to farmers and extension services, as finance is an essential ingredient for attaining self-sufficiency in rice production. The current procedure of lending to the farmers under the anchor borrower scheme,the  farmers said should be reviewed to make it more flexible.

    They urged the government to establish grazing ranches at appropriate locations for herdsmen to check the destruction of farmlands and farmers-herdsmen conflict.

  • Firm unveils shrimp farm

    Atlantic Shrimpers Limited (ASL) has opened its state-of-the-art shrimp farm in Iworo-Ajido, a rural community in Badagry, Lagos.

    The shrimp farm, the first of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, will boost Nigeria’s production capacity in the seafood market. It will hatch, nurture and process shrimps to serve Nigeria and the export market.

    Lagos State Governor Akinwumi Ambode, who was represented by the Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Oluwatoyin Suarau, noted that the call for investments in the agriculture sector had been answered by ASL.

    “The Nigerian Government is keen on supporting local investments in agriculture. We must start looking inwards and encourage development in areas where Nigeria has a competitive advantage.

    “ASL has led the way by building this impressive facility.  This farm will employ many Nigerians and will help the Nigerian economy generate foreign exchange when the products are exported. It will also go a long way to address food security.

    “ASL has addressed several needs in Nigeria through this state-of-the-art facility and Lagos is proud to play host to it,” Suarau said.

    Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Executive Director, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, who said ASL has been one of the country’s top 20 export companies in the last six years, noted that the investment would create jobs and grow the economy.

    “We have to replicate projects like this with the private sector.This is what we need, transformational projects that can drive Nigeria out of its recession.

    “We are, therefore, proud to be associated with Atlantic Shrimpers Limited in view of its commitment to non-oil export,” Awolowo said.

  • ‘Poultry farmers struggling with high production cost’

    Poultry farmers are facing high production costs, the President, Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN), Dr. Ayoola Oduntan, has said.

    Oduntan, who spoke in Lagos, said the industry was facing shortages of products required for proper husbandry, adding that some farmers have been forced to pull out of the business.

    He said rising feed prices have affected the cost of egg production.

    Oduntan said the price of maize per tonne has risen to N120,000, while soyabeans cost N145,000. The prices were N60,000 and N80,000 two years ago. Feed supplements, such as fish and bone meals, have also risen.

    As a result of the increase, feed ingredient prices and production cost per dozen for egg producers have also risen, he said,

    Given that projected demand for corn is likely to increase and continued naira depreciation inevitable, he said poultry producers’ costs and profitability would be negatuvely affected. Oduntan noted that Nigeria loses about N700 billion annually to smuggled poultry products.

    According to him, the smuggled products, which are majorly frozen chicken and turkey, have negative impact on Nigerians.

    He regretted that the government was yet to compensate farmers who suffered losses as a result of cooperating with the government to destroy the affected birds.

    Oduntan noted that the association would not relent in its efforts and would continue to focus on policy, advocacy and institutional linkages that would put poultry production on the path of excellence.

    He said the association’s National Poultry Show has been scheduled for between November 29 and 30, at Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

    Industry leaders, researchers, scientists and entrepreneurs are expected at the event billed to help create a sustainable poultry industry.

  • IITA needs $1b to reposition agric

    IITA needs $1b to reposition agric

    The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is scouting for about $200 million yearly over the next five years to deliver targeted impacts on African agriculture, its Director-General, Dr Nteranya Sanginga, has said.

    IITA is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions to hunger, malnutrition, and poverty.

    Sanginga, who listed the institute’s priorities for his second term in his recent report to the  IITA Board of Trustees, said the funding was necessary to finance projects.

    He said “This funding strategy recognises both the urgency of immediate action and the importance of longer term investment for lasting solutions. It both maintains a critical mass and diversity of scientists in Africa and improves the laboratory facilities to cutting-edge levels and increases the efficiency of our operations.

    “IITA’s major tasks are to launch an aggressive resource mobilisation effort and restructure the organisation to have impact in this new and changing environment, especially in Africa. Applying country and donor priorities therefore provides the most viable basis on which to make decisions… engaging the private sector and young entrepreneurs, demonstrated capacity development, and transparent technical and financial reporting—all reflective of IITA’s four strategic pillars of impact, quality of research, partnerships and internal organisation.”

    According to the report, in the next five years, IITA’s operations need to be “reorganised to manage and operate efficiently for delivery and impact”.

    This will be achieved by addressing operational inefficiencies for better delivery, both in support services and R4D, and positioning IITA’s support system to manage new mega projects. Already management has rolled out a new organisational structure to show some of the changes.

    “One of the major objectives in the reorganisation of IITA is to strengthen the Corporate Services and finance functions to be able to improve operational efficiencies in support of improved delivery of IITA’s technologies and build a support system to manage mega projects and transform IITA into the capital of Research for Development in Africa.

    “In the process, IITA will evaluate and strengthen human resource capabilities across the organisation and build capacity across the upper levels of IITA management, create an environment where scientists work with minimum disruption, and facilitate autonomous hubs where decision making rests with the hub director,” Sanginga said.

    He also noted that IITA ought to increase its funding support yearly over the next five years to deliver targeted impacts on African agriculture.

    In addition to aligning the Institute’s R4D programmes to Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research(CGIAR ) Research Programs (CRPs ), other identified priorities, include fast tracking research investment and delivery of successful products, such as Aflasafe, NoduMax, and GoSEED as well as revitalising research priorities, and developing country specific strategies for implementing projects.

    Sanginga expressed optimism that the goals would be achieved within the stipulated time.

    “The second stage of our journey has just begun. I have no doubt that this next journey would be a better one. I am optimistic that everything will only get better. I am looking forward to journeying through the next five years with my ship and crew,” he added.

  • ‘Food industry under pressure to develop clean products’

    Promasidor Nigeria Limited Chief Keith  Richard has said the food industry is under pressure to develop clean products.

    At the just-concluded CEO Roundtable in Lagos, Richard  said stakeholders across the value chain, including producers, primary and value-added processors, retailers and distributors, needed an enabling environment to impact on the market through sale of good food products and farming practices.

    According to him, the food industry’s productivity growth has declined relative to major competitors due to the regulatory regime and gaps that hinder operators from developing and using innovation and new technologies.

    Urgent measures, he stressed,  were needed to produce food not only for export, but also for domestic consumption.

    Richard said the food industry was resource intensive, which puts local supply chains under greater pressure  to create a sustainable food supply for Nigerians.

    He explained that there was   huge potential to attract more global investment and funding into the Nigeria markets but the government needs to build partnerships between industry to anticipate new challenges and model potential solutions.

  • Nigeria may face famine in January, Presidency warns

    Nigeria may face famine in January, Presidency warns

    The Presidency on Monday warned that Nigeria could face famine in January if drastic steps are not taken now.

    Nigeria, which is currently Africa’s largest producer of cereals and grains risks famine from early next year as a huge demand in the global market is targeting Nigeria’s surplus production.

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu made the grim forecast in a radio interview in Kano on Monday.

    Shehu told Pyramid radio that the “huge demand for our grains in the global market is creating an excellent environment for the mindless export of Nigerian grains across our borders and unless this is curtailed, Nigerian markets will be bereft of food by January next year.”

    He said the Ministry of Agriculture has advised the President on the need to draw the attention of all Nigerians to the issue which, if not addressed promptly, could lead to a shortage of grains in Nigeria by January.

    He said: “Over the past year, Providence has blessed Nigeria with a bountiful harvest of grains, more than enough to feed the country and to export to other countries. At present, there is a high demand for grains from Nigeria, from African countries as distant as Libya and Algeria, and from places as far away as Brazil.

    “However, the ministry of agriculture has raised concerns about a massive rate of exportation, which could lead to a shortage of grains in Nigeria by January,” Malam Garba said.

    He explained that Nigeria currently enjoys a free market situation.

    “President Muhammadu Buhari is not in any way opposed to or intent on tampering with that. On the other hand, exporters also have a moral obligation to make their produce available to Nigerians who live within our country’s borders, to ensure that our citizens have access to food,” he added.

    The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity informed the radio station that the ministry of agriculture estimated that no fewer than 500 trucks laden with grain leave Nigerian markets every week, headed for countries outside Nigerian borders.

    “The major markets involved in this exportation are: the Dawanau market in Kano, Naigatari in Jigawa, Bama in Borno, and Ilela in Sokoto, as well as three other main markets in Kebbi State,” he said.

    He further explained that President Buhari has on various occasions reiterated his plan for Nigeria to become a food-producing giant, self-sufficient to the point of depending very little on imported food.

    “This noble plan could easily be defeated by the pull of the foreign market if food continues to leave our shores to feed people elsewhere. If care is not taken, Nigeria could face a famine by January,” he stressed.

    “Building our country into the edifice we envision it to be will require sacrifice and strategy from every single Nigerian. Let us remember that charity begins at home,” said in the program.

    Asked a question on what the government is doing to avert the frightening situation, the Presidential Spokesman said that President Buhari has asked the Ministry of Agriculture to present a quick plan for the purchase of surplus grains to be stored in warehouses across the country to save for the rainy day but opined that there was a need for moral pressure on exporters by traditional and religious authorities to curtail the depletion of the home market.

  • ‘How to fight recession’

    Former member of the Old Western Region House of Parliament, Elder John Oladeji Adeyemo,  has urged Governor Ibikunle Amosun to harness the potential in local rice production to boost Ogun State’s socio-economic development.

    He spoke at a thanksgiving service for his son, Pastor Toyin Abayomi Adeyemo’s elevation to Divisional Overseer of Christ Gospel Mission International, Lagos and Ogun chapter.

    He said there were many benefits if the government could shift attention to local rice production, adding that it would be a major factor for the state to get out of recession.

    ”I want to draw the attention of Governor Amosun to local rice production as it will be a major factor for the state to be out of economic recession.

    “Research conducted few years back shows that, demand for local rice intake in a social event is higher  than that of the refined rice,” Adeyemo said.

    He said the state is blessed with vast  land that can boost the production of the local rice variety in high quantity as well as exporting it to other African countries.

    Speaking on Amosun’s performance with regards to infrastructural development, Pastor Adeyemo said the governor should focus on developmental drive, saying he should not be distracted.