The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Firm plans multimillion naira tomato project to empower farmers

    Firm plans multimillion naira tomato project to empower farmers

    Vegefresh Group, a top agro business conglomerate is building multimillion naira tomato processing factory at Imeko, Ogun State to support farmers to grow more high-value crops.

    Speaking in Lagos after receiving a delegation of chiefs from Imeko, led by Oba Benjamin Oyeditan-Olantie, the Group Chaiman, Prince Samuel Johnson Samuel, said the project which will also involve tomato cultivation in 3000 hectares, noted that out of the amount, contract farmers will be engaged to farm on 2000 hectares.

    By engaging the farmers, Samson said the company will protect them from losses as tomato is vulnerable to price shifts and external market factors.

    The effects, according to him, are hard felt with farmers losing so much in earnings, affecting the employment of hundreds of thousand people involved in production as small-scale producers were unable to cover costs of production.

    Given the structural changes within the sector, he noted it is clear that large numbers of farmers will never be able to effectively compete in the transformed market, adding that the company needs to  work with them to identify opportunities that will provide a higher income.

    In addition, the projects being implemented specifically target rural development as it promote new opportunities for trade, investment and rural economic prosperity by promoting agricultural diversification and off-farm employment for the area’s inhabitants.

    The company, he said  is prepared to assist farmers with access to input, including seed, fertiliser and know-how.

    Farmers, according to him, are facing serious logistical problems, and crops are often unable to make it to the market in time.

    According to him, storage facilities are insufficient, so they lose their harvest.

    To address this, he said his organisation is establishing a crushing  plant to help farmers process their  produce.

    The other plan, according to him, is to increase the land area under irrigation using available water resources.

    The plan is to increase investment in water storage and secure water sources.

    Samuel said the company needs to expand irrigation to cover the whole farm area instead of depending on rain-fed agriculture.

    He said Vegefresh had a major tomato processing plant in Bauchi State, which has not been functioning because of the activities of Boko Haram.

    To this end, he said the company decided to implement its South West development plan, pending when the activities of the insurgents will be brought under control.

    The Onimeko of Imeko, Oba Oyeditan-Olantie said the community is ready to support Vegefresh to promote economic diversification and competitiveness of the area.

    According to him, increasing the overall competitiveness of the sector through the project run, the  monarch noted, would transform smallholder production and marketing systems to boost productivity and incomes.

    He thanked the group for embarking on the project as it will help to  develop profitable agricultural product value chains and make farms more attractive to agribusi-ness in the value chain.

    If it pulls through, the project would have unleashed its own agrarian revolution — as well a modest green revolution throughout the community.

    Together with locals, the project is organising tomato-growing farmers into groups and will   taught them the basics of cropping, farm economics, tomato and tomato seedling production, business planning, and marketing.

    With the project’s assistance, participating farmers could increase their tomato yield.

    The increase yield will result in additional income for the participating farmers.

    In addition to increasing profits, the project will facilitate large, group quantity purchases of fertiliser, seeds, and other inputs, thus resulting in a more than decrease in the price.

  • ‘Neglect of agric ‘ll slow down economic recovery’

    President, Federation of Agriculture Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama, has warned that the economy will continue to decline due to the lack of attention paid to the agriculture sector, which has been the backbone of the economy for decades.

    He said contribution of the agriculture sector is likely to drop further this year as new government failed to deliver on infrastructural  development through budgetary  allocation.

    Iyama who is also Chairman, Board of Trustees, Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN),urged the government not to cave-in to the  pressure of increasing state government debts, to reduced budget allocation set aside for improving the farming environment.

    With the drop in oil revenue, he appealed to the government to rethink its plans by ensuring that more public money is spent on measures to protect agriculture and boost  agric exports.

    He stressed that the government needed to go back to the drawing board to ensure that agric strategy finds new ways to ensure farmers provide more food to Nigerians.

    According to him, the issue of delay in salaries payment should not be used as an excuse to divert funds meant for development purposes, as there were sufficient budgetary allocations for salaries.

    He explained that the issue of delay  in salaries payment has falsely been presented urging  the  government to continue meeting all ongoing commitments to agric programmes.

    He said so long as the budget pays less attention to agriculture, the overall national development would continue to be compromised.

    What is even more worrisome, he said, was that the few good policies in various budgets have also not been implemented.

    For example, he said the budget provided for irrigation facilities, but they were never implemented.

    He observed that Nigeria’s economic woes are a reflection of the state of agriculture in the country, which has been characterised by under-investment, application of outmoded technologies, and use of rudimentary agricultural equipment.

    He advocated for a paradigm shift in policy that will oblige financial institutions, particularly banks, to provide a certain percentage of their loan portfolio to agriculture.

    This, according to him, will certainly address the credit deficit that characterised agriculture production in the country.

    He said inadequate budgetary allocations for the sector undermine its capacity to expand and create more jobs, despite the fact that agriculture has the propensity to create more jobs than other sectors.

    According to him, large numbers of unemployed youth have low skills, thereby making them not qualified for high-skilled jobs in the services sector, saying they are best suited for the agriculture sector.

    He added that the quest to reduce poverty significantly is hampered by lack of job opportunities in the agriculture sector and the declining contribution of the sector to the GDP.

    He said for Nigeria to move into total mechanisation of agriculture, the size of farm land was critical because the one or two acre holdings is not economically viable for farmers to make enough profit to cater for themselves and their families. Therefore, farmers must have realistic land sizes to be able to make great gains.

    He noted that though all governments put some premium on agriculture, farmers had no access to viable seeds and the irrigation system in the country had totally collapsed.

     

  • The rise of private farm estates

    The rise of private farm estates

    In a new push to revive agriculture, private operators have established farming estates where they sell and lease land to new farmers. It is an effort to lay a stronger foundation for growth in the agric sector, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Ibadan is now a valley of gold for farmers. As a result good rainfall the area has seen in decades fields of cassava, yams and maize, tomatoes, yam tubers, bunches of plantain, mango, cashew, banana, and palm  heavy with grain that will sustain communities.

    In few places, farmers use irrigation farming using banks of existing water sources during the dry season for crops such as tomato, pepper, garden eggs, cucumber, watermelon, teferia (ugwu), okra. The Oyo State government is doing everything to preserve agricultural land, particularly that close to the city.

    This led to the development of a food system that supports sustainable production of safe, healthy food that is available to all.

    Within this context, an economic model, known as farm estates has emerged. Under the arrangement, transfer of land to investors is a core component. Benefitting farmers are given land to grow food for themselves, their families and local communities.

    To boost food  production, governments in the Southwest, have embraced farm estates strategy giving out fertile land with good transport links to  farmers at low cost for many years.

    To attract  investors  to fish  farming, Lagos State government has unveiled opportunities in  its fish farm estates which investors could tap into and make millions of naira.

    The fish farm estate targets the low income groups, such as artisan and fishermen, school leavers as well as high income groups and corporate bodies.

    For instance, Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate established on a 34-hectare parcel of land at Odogunyan, Ikorodu, had 262 production plots which had been allocated to 176 allottees, making the estate fully subscribed.

    The estate is producing an average of 10,000 tonnes of fresh fish per annum. This project has created jobs directly and indirectly to hundreds of young school leavers and undergraduates of fisheries. It has a technology demonstration centre comprising 50,000 juvenile/cycle fish hatchery and 300 kg fish capacity processing unit  constructed by government to serve as a demonstration centre.

    While the government is promoting investment opportunities using farming estates  models, private organisations and individuals have jumped at this opportunity and have been active at all levels of the market. Private promoters involved are those who demand a new paradigm for agriculture.

    One of the entrepreneurs involved in the private farm estate project is the Chief Executive, Natural Nutrient Limited,Mr Sola Adeniyi.

    He has over 220-acre farm estate in Ewekoro Local Government area, Ogun State. He gives at least a plot to  start-up farmers to plant plantain. Sales so far, showed the strength of demand across the country. Since there is competition for farmland, he is getting good returns on his investment.

    He has been getting many enquiries from expanding farmers looking for land to farm.

    The farm includes pasture, arable land and woodland. His main enterprises include arable cropping, In addition, there is an arrangement for a number of residential farm houses to help support the estate.

    Adeniyi said his company is ready to welcome visitors to the farm to find out more about what they do. This includes other farmers, customers and the local community.

    What he envisions is a new generation of Nigerians who want to generate income through absentee agriculture.

    For  civil servants and business people  who  live in Lagos, he wants see them make money  through farms  in the estate that will be manage for them  in their  absence.

    Nigerians living away  from the estate location will be able to reap thousands of naira yearly in profits from cash crops grown with the help of workers employed to run their farms by the estate management.

    What is required is the capital to buy the land and monthly management costs.

    Adeniyi stressed that his organisation wants to support Nigerians to increase their incomes through absentee agriculture. With prices for basic foodstuffs at their highest levels, many Nigerians would be  well rewarded by farming.

    Adeniyi  has a huge diversified farm and wants to help absentee farmers prosper.

    Before going into private farm estate business, he had established a thriving Moringa tree plantain.

    Through training provision, he has   helped new farmers to deliver better quality produce while increasing outputs and decreasing costs, as well as spoilage. This had led to higher incomes for the farmers, who are mostly smallholders.

    He trains local farmers in areas such as cultivation methods, post-harvest handling and food processing to improve their entire process according to international quality standards such as Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), which is one of the most widely trusted standards for food safety.

    For him, the benefits for farmers operating through farm estates are quite obvious: enhanced product quality and productivity, reduced post-harvest loss through proper product handling and faster delivery to the market, more stable income on a regular basis thanks to larger, demand-driven orders in the setting of an up-to-date distribution system and reduced third-party costs and enhanced efficiency in the supply chain.

    Most of the farmers who have brought into the project are local small and medium farmers and food processors from different areas of Ogun and Lagos states.

    They are going to produce fruits and vegetables, some will run aquaculture businesses.

    Another promoter of a private farm estate is Mr. Sanmi Akindipe, chief executive, Set Group. He believes for more farmers to escape poverty, higher yields and greater revenues are needed.

    According to him, they can only achieve this under a low-cost location with, natural farming potential, nice weather and plenty of opportunities. He has acquired a 500 hectares farm estate that will be given out to farmers and  retirees thinking of farming. The farm is to be organised into reasonable sized blocks. Few metres  away from the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, the facility provides for residential farm apartments. Akindipe is eager to see the estate help to build a healthier ecosystem for locally grown food.

    Investors buying into his farm estate project can also use the presence of agricultural institutions and related agencies such as Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP), Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority (OORBDA), National Institute for Horticulture (NIHORT), Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), (IITA), Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN), Oyo State School of Agriculture, Igboora, University of Ibadan, Lagoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbo-moso, Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER).

    With the location near Ibadan, producers and urban consumers will now be connected at a regional scale, bring together the demand from consumers and, on the other, aggregate products from local and producers in surrounding areas.

    For him, farming estates is one of the best examples of a successful farming system, providing real income to producers. Consumers, particularly the new middle class, are hungry not only for new foods, but also for new food systems. In the estate, each farmer is a free to  acquire enough equipment to run an independent operation.

    He said farmers would seek out new production methods, new marketing approaches and new technologies.

  • Govt empowers Itsekiri fishermen co-operatives

    The Federal Government has empowered Itsekiri Fishermen Co-operatives in the Niger Delta with 24 Yamaha outboard Marine boat Engines, Fishing Nets, Floats and Marine ropes.

    Presenting the equipment and input to the representative of the Olu of Warri and the facilitator of the government support, Mrs Rita Lori Ogbebor at the ministry’s Store in Sheda, Abuja, the Deputy Director, Artisenal Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development,  Mr. Olusegun Babatunde, stated that the gesture was in line with government effort at increasing local production of fishes with an additional 200,000metric tonnes in Nigeria.

    Babatunde said artisanal fishing has contributed to the 80 per cent  of fishes produced locally in Nigeria, saying the inputs would provide employment opportunities to the Itsekiri Youths and helped them in contributing their quota to the fisheries sector in the country.

    He said the government has designed a programme that is targeted at 27 selected states that are engaged in artisanal fishing with focus on 200 fishermen per state. According to him, such fishermen are expected to benefit from the empowerment drive in form of fishing inputs like boats and canoes, as a way of support and not subsidy from government.

    Receiving the fishing inputs on behalf of the Itsekiri Fishermen Co-operatives, Mrs  Ogbebor, thanked the Federal Government for empowering the youth in the region, saying the gesture would reduce restiveness in the Niger Delta.

    Mrs Ogbebor stated that government gesture would also address some of the grievances in the Niger-Delta region and pleaded for more assistance in swamp rice production and piggery. She said such assistance could be in the area of equipment for rice processing, harvesting and polishing.

     

  • Abia community benefits from WAAPP’s technologies

    Abia community benefits from WAAPP’s technologies

    The West African Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP)-Nigeria has adopted Oriendu Village, a rural Community in Umuahia North Local Government Area of Abia State for the establishment of Biogas Digester.

    This step, in collaboration with the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, is meant to demonstrate to the adopted community alternative cheap source of energy for cooking and lighting in the rural areas; creation of employment opportunities by training some persons in this respect; and discouraging deforestation, among others.

    At the training, the NRCRI Director of Extension Services/  WAAPP, Dr. Godwin Asumugha, said the technology is an alternative and cheap source of energy in rural areas, adding that already more than 10 youths were undergoing training on how to establish, or set up the technology.

    According to NRCRI Executive Director, Dr. Julius Okonkwo, the organisation has since 2011 been collaborating with WAAPP to facilitate the dissemination of improved agricultural technologies, stating that  the Adopted Village Concept which was first introduced to the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) in 1996 under the World Bank- assisted programs of the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP) was re-activated and consolidated by the WAAPP.

    According to him, the concept was introduced for developing, disseminating and evaluating technologies emanating from Research Institutes. The institures are to conduct their demonstrations in the identified and adopted villages for adoption and impact, and impres on intending farmers and end users on the viability of technologies being promoted.

    Other objectives,he listed, are to encourage large-scale adoption of improved technologies, economically empower resource poor farmers, and create job opportunities for youths and enhance  food security.

    On the main features of the adopted villages, he said they include empowerment of the communities through initial provision of some facilities, capacity building of the communities, empowerment of farmers to identify their problems and search for solutions, facilitate community activities, operate an agricultural research outreach center including information flow.

    On the other activities, Okonkwo said that apart from establishing adopted villages, the Institute established secondary schools outreach programs around them for the purpose of establishing Agricultural Research Outreach Centres (AROCs).

    The main purpose, he explained, “is to ensure that the impact of agricultural research and training is felt in these schools and increase students interest in agriculture and home economics, adding that NRCRI has 13 Outreach Schools in seven states out of which five are in Abia.

    Describing the training and the Biogas Digester project as first of its kind in his community, the community’s traditional ruler, Eze Philip Ajomiwe, a farmer, commended WAAPP and NRCRI for considering to adopt Oriendu for the project.              Meanwhile, the management team from the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP), Nigeria, has lauded FUNAAB during its visit to the university, to assess the progress made so far by Institute for Food Security, Environmental Resources and Agricultural Research (IFSERAR) in the  collaboration between both bodies. While welcoming the team, the Director, IFSERAR, who is also the WAAPP Co-ordinator in the university, Prof Akin Omotayo, thanked management as well as WAAPP for their support in ensuring that IFSERAR was at the fore-front in research and increasing food productivity so as to end hunger in the land. He said a lot of progress had been made since the collaboration started about a year ago.

    Omotayo said IFSERAR was into projects such as cassava seed multiplication and fingerlings multiplication, distribution, technology dissemination and adopted school project, noting that recently, the institute empowered some farmers by giving them farm inputs such as fingerlings and cassava stem, free of charge.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Olusola Oyewole, who is also the President of Association of African Universities (AAU), appreciated the contributions of WAAPP-Nigeria through IFSERAR, in strengthening the University’s extension village farmers. He added that the FUNAAB recently bought a Toyota Hilux Van to support the programme, adding that a lot of things needed to be done in providing food security. He stressed the need to embark on sensitisa-tion and enlightenment activities that would enable the youth take up farming as a means of livelihood, to create more employment opportunities. He gave the assurance that the University would continue to ensure that its research efforts waxed stronger and that WAAPP team members should feel free to visit various ongoing farm projects on campus.

    The National Co-ordinator of WAAPP-Nigeria, Dr. Sheu Salawu, said he was impressed with the serenity of FUNAAB, noting that the objective of the visit was to review the activities of the project in the University in line with the determination of the World Bank to eliminate poverty globally.

    He acknowledged the enormous effort being made by FUNAAB in supporting the WAAPP programmes, adding that he had a strong belief that the communities around the university were feeling the positive impact of WAAPP.

    Salawu urged the Vice-Chancellor to continue to support, and include entrepreneurship courses for graduating students to facilitate their accessing of finance. The team members were shown various research findings in the University as they visited ongoing agricultural projects on campus.

  • Fertiliser: Farmers resort to animal dung in Zaria

    Farmers in Zaria and Kaduna states have expressed concern over the delay in the distribution of fertiliser for this year’s farming season, a sittuation that has forced them to resort to using animal dung.

    The farmers made their position known in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria in Zaria.

    Alhaji Musa Dogara, a Zaria-based farmer, said the call became necessary following the commencement of rain across the state.

    He said: “We thank God Almighty rain had already commenced, therefore, I want to appeal to governments at all levels to speed-up effort at supplying fertiliser to enable us put in more efforts towards realising a bumper harvest.

    “This delay has forced us to resort to using animal dung in order to bridge the gap,” he said.

    Dogara observed that the delay in the supply of the commodity would not only affect the input of individuals and farmers generally, but it would negatively affect the overall output.

    On his part, a peasant farmer at Rafinyashi village, Malam Mutawakkilu Rafinyashi, described early supply of fertilisers as a path to national food security.

    He called on farmers not to rely 100 per cent on inorganic fertilisers, advising that they should endeavour to be prompt users of organic fertilisers such as animal dung and refuse.

    “Relying 100 per cent on conventional fertiliser is not the best for our farmers but they must resolve to use organic fertilisers with a view to reviving the soil acidity,”he said.

    Rafinyashi also appealed to government to consider the possibility of replacing the conventional fertilisers with organic.

  • Tackling post-harvest food losses

    Tackling post-harvest food losses

    Ending post-harvest losses has been a goal of governments, businesses, farmers and traders.  Attributed to improper handling of agro commodities from field to market, the impact has been detrimental to farmers. In the last 10 years, organisations and donors have taken steps to reduce losses in crops, such as tomato and other perishable produce which account for an alarming 86 per cent of total farm produce losses, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Approximately, one-thirdof food grown in the farm never reaches consumers. Waste and spoilage occur across the value chain, threatening farmers’ livelihoods and people’s access to nutritious food.

    At harvest level, farmers struggle to ensure the perishables being harvested are handled properly, kept free of bruises, stored and moved fresh to the market.

    One of the crops most affected is tomato.

    Described as more lucrative than rice, maize and yam, tomato is in high demand. However, farmers face tremendous challenges in getting their products to market.

    At the height of the harvest season, farmers lose up to 40 per cent of their produce due to a lack of processing facilities. This results in severe price fluctuations for tomatoes.

    In most of the areas where it is cultivated in the North, there are no storage facilities to preserve their produce. As a result, tomato rots on the road to market.

    To watchers, what the sector needs is small-scale and low-tech interventions in the areas of storage and transport.

    Speaking with The Nation, President, Federated FADAMA Community Association, Lagos State, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan said such much is required to implement tomato value chain improvements and post harvest quality systems that enable farmers produce crop that will meet standards such as reliable freshness, minimal damage and professional packaging.

    According to him, post harvest losses is a major issue that require interventions.

    To this end, he said Lagos State is taking steps through initiatives to minimise losses, preserve quality, maintain nutritional content, and to ensure year-round availability while empowering equitable income distribution along the value chain.

    The approaches include storage devices, good agricultural practices for harvesting and sorting crops, plastic crates for transporting produce, and others.

    Against this backdrop also, Growth and Employment in the States (GEMS), a joint programme of the Department for International Development (DFID) and World Bank (WB)   is exploring techniques to ensure that small   farmers have greater income and economic opportunities, improved resilience, and increased food and nutritional security through reduced post-harvest loss in the food crop value chain.

    Working with business associations, service providers, producers, retailers, wholesalers and other actors involved in the market, its GEMS 4 programme is seeking significant reductions in food loss by improving farmers’ use of good agricultural practices, such as for proper handling of crops.

    Consequently, 60 members of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Dealers Association of Nigeria have been trained as master trainers on good handling practices for fresh perishable produce (and further courses are on-going).

    The master trainers will then train other handlers of perishable produce in collection centres and markets across the country.

    The programme target is increased growth, income and employment, especially for poor men and women, in wholesale and retail markets in selected states and 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs and improved incomes for 500,000 people.

    The project assists farmers to maintain Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards and comply with standards that most small farmers do not possess.

    To further enable farmers’ success, GEMS4 provides value chain actors with tomato colour charts that depict the different quality levels of tomatoes and their associated prices. The quality improvements benefit value chain actors further downstream as well, as they capture more value as a result of trading and selling higher quality goods.

    To help the programme, GEMS4 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between it and the Tomato Sellers Association in Mile 12, Ketu, Lagos State.

    Senior Intervention Manager, Mr Arafat Hossain said under the arrangement, high-end markets such as hotels, restaurants, supermarket chains and catering service providers would access quality tomatoes delivered in crates.

    The fresh produce are well sorted, graded and hygienically handled by trained handlers under Good Handling Practices (GHP).

    Already, the association has 10 of its members primed to receive and deliver orders up to one metric tonne each as pioneers of the new mode of doing the tomato business.

    GEMS4, using tomatoes as an entry point into the entry produce market, analysed operations from farm to the traditional markets, thereby identifying the challenges in the supply chain that lead to produce damage and cash losses.

    After the trial deliveries from farms around Zaria to Mile 12 market in Lagos, it developed a business plan, which would include a cold chain.

    The result showed only five per cent loss using plastic crates as against 45 per cent the traditional raffia baskets.

    As it stands now, bankers are willing to fund the use of plastic crates in this largely lucrative business that has big chains like Shoprite showing interest in the arrangement, while the State government has supported the Mile 12 market sellers with 2,600 crates of the 4.000 crates released state-wide for a start.

    The Association led by Alhaji Yahuza Alasan, represented by its secretary, Alhaji Shehu Usman, showcased that cleaned sorted, graded and packaged in plastic crates are now available for purchase in Mile 12 market.

    This is being made available through a pilot providing access to Returnable Plastic Crates (RPCs) for farmers, traders and dealers of perishable produce.

    GEMS4 is providing an install-ment repayment plan that will enable traders purchase the plastic crates.

    This had been a challenge for traders in Mile 12 market, who have been struggling to meet market demands of Higher Value Markets and quality conscious buyers.

    The stakeholders involved in this pilot are the Tomato Sellers Association (TSA) arm of the Fresh Fruits Vegetable Community Dealers Association of Nigeria (FFVDCAN) with a national membership spread of over 300,000 across Nigeria.

    There are about 28 other perishable produce groups under this apex association and it is planned that after this pilot, the model will be extended to them as a scale up to enable RPCs become a part of the supply chain operations of the sector.

    GEMS4 Intervention Manager, Richard Ogundele said tomato is big business. The market for it is large, including buyers who run grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. But they need high-quality produce.

  • Lack of infrastructure in ports hampers agro exports

    Lack of infrastructural facilities in ports is negatively affecting agro exports as the ports are struggling to cope with commodity traffic.

    National President, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN), Mr Tola Faseru said ports have serious capacity problems, adding that this has lead to slow processing times. In most ports, he said lack of infrastructure hampers agro exports most as it cause delay in movements of produce in the major ports.

    Though the concessionaires have initiated the modernisation of facilities, most of the improvements, he observed, however, were designed to boost agro exports.

    This, he maintained, made it difficult for agro exporters to ship cargoes and experience waiting period to load the commodities.

    He urged the government to made capacity building a major concern along with improving the rail and road connectivity to minor ports, stressed the need to reposition the ports as a gateway for trade.

    According to him, the potential for agro export growth is enormous, but observed however that the nation’s share in the global market for agricultural products is still severely hampered, by a lack of infrastructure in the ports. Tackling logistics infrastructure deficit, he noted would open up large new trade opportunities both inside and outside the country as well as enhance returns on existing trade.

    He urged stakeholders in the industry to work together to boost exports and strengthen the domestic market by mapping out obstacles to the country’s trade.

    For watchers, high-cost logistics, poor infrastructure and lack of export financing are among the major bottlenecks that have long hindered agro exporters from expanding their reach.

    Currently, exports are still less significant to spur growth in compared to domestic consumption and direct investment, which are the top drivers of economic expansion.

    Another concern to address is the building up of the capacity of small and medium agro enterprises to increase their competitive edge over tighter competition from foreign goods, in the industry.

  • How to boost food production, by experts

    How to boost food production, by experts

    To increase food production, experts say Buhari’s administration should make agriculture a top priority to meet the needs of a growing population. This, however, will require building on the foundation of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and navigating current resource limits, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The agricultural sector is facing an exciting future. The sector is reviving, helped by positive policy actions that have improved confidence in agriculture. To continue on this trend, experts said there was the need to accelerate structural reforms as the sector is the bright spot in the economic landscape.

    While there are many challenges ahead, the good news, however, is that enormous opportunities exist to turn the situation around, create profitable farms that produce an abundance of healthy food while improving the soil, enhancing biodiversity, and protecting habitats. To this end, they urged the President, Muhammadu Buhari to find  ways to increase food production.

    Speaking with The Nation, Prof  Daniel Gwary, of the Crop Protection Department, University of Maidugari, Borno State, said bolstering agriculture sector health would support growth going forward. He believes farmers and agribusinesses could create a food secure economy if they can access more fund, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value crops.

    Gwary said the agriculture sector  has capacity to boost growth rates, create more jobs, significantly reduce poverty, and grow enough cheap, nutritious food to feed its families.

    He urged the government to  carry out the reform of the food  production system to make it  more efficient, effective and to be more relevant to the mandates.

    The agric development blue print, he noted, should aim at restoration of high economic growth.

    Nigeria, he noted, has great potential for expanding  food production but that the sector is facing  a lot of challenges including slowing yield growth of major food crops,  land degradation and water scarcity issues, and a changing climate.

    His concerns is shared by other  experts with the report that post-harvest losses run 45 per cent for perishable products due to poor storage and other farm infrastructure.

    His position is that the government could support farmers to boost food production without punishing the environment. This will require experimenting with less harmful farming practices.

    According to him, rural underdevelopment has been the main drag on the potential and prospects for growth in agricultural production and productivity, adding that  inadequate infrastructure such as electricity, roads, and potable water, account for the lag in agricultural development.

    To him, poor and inadequate infrastructure, among other problems, increase operational expenditure in agriculture and wants  the administration to address  it. In addition to inadequate infrastructure provision, he   noted  that  there is scarcity of a myriad of required direct farming inputs and needs for productive and profitable agricultural business.

    Inspite of the identified problems that inhibit growth and productivity in agricultural production and food security, Gwary expressed  optimism regarding current scale and enthusiasm of foreign direct investors in the sector following  the efforts made by the outgone Minister of Agriculture, Dr Adesina. This has prompted the global momentum in the support for agriculture in Nigeria from outside.

    The Dean,  Faculty  of Agriculture, University of Uyo, Prof Ini Akpabio, urged President Buhari  to  put agriculture and agribusiness at the top of the development and business agenda.

    He pointed out that productivity in agriculture in Nigeria remains relatively lower, suggesting the need for incentives for farmers to produce more food. He argued for support of the government in the sector for expanded growth in production and a greater coordination of public ministries, departments and agencies that have linkages to the agriculture sector.

    According to him, Nigeria needs a standard policy towards agriculture improvement. In this regard, he identified with the move to  support the production of viable agricultural commodities to facilitate economic and industrial growth. These measures, he noted, would help the nation utilise its potential and the comparative advantages in agricultural production.

    To address the economic growth objective, World Bank  Consultant, Prof Abel Ogunwale, called for the strengthening of the macroeconomic framework, a more responsible fiscal stance, increasing the role of private sector in economic development and improvement in physical infrastructure.

    To reduce poverty, he urged the government to focus on expanding  productive capacity in agriculture, development of rural areas, and upgrading the living conditions for urban dwellers that had suffered from poor urban infrastructure and social services arising principally from high urbanisation rates.

    Ogunwale called for clear plans for agricultural development.

    Farmers, he noted, need support   to enable them to acquire critical inputs such as fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, storage facilities, tractors and other modern farming tools, hybrid seeds, to increase productivity.

    He urged Buhari’s administration to construct dams and irrigation projects to enhance agriculture development with many rivers flowing through the country.

    This, he said, could lead to self-sufficiency in the production of some critical food crops and the national food security programme, which must necessarily be a component of the national security programme. He said that one way of addressing its food security problem is to move from the present over-dependence on the weather for food production, and also promote agro-processing and good storage facilities to reduce the current high levels of food losses.

    This aside, he said the sector requires good transportation network to facilitate agricultural activities and a vigorous transportation programme to build more highways, railways and improve water transport to enhance agriculture development.

    Ogunwale said there is also the need to provide basic infrastructure and facilities such as roads, hospitals, water, electricity and other basic facilities in the rural areas.

    This would prevent the exodus of youths from the farms in rural areas to the cities and the industrial centres in search of jobs.

    Ogunwale said the sector needs more investments, especially in water, agri-R&D, farm mechanisation. For  him,  the industry should  improve in terms of gross capital formation. But much of this, he   said, should come from the government and also from the private    sector.

    According to him, considering   a stable mandate for the government, backed by strong political will, the government should be able to turn around the economy, through the agricultural sector.

    For him, the government may walk the extra mile to boost growth through infrastructure development.

    According to him, the government needs to increase capital expenditure on agricultural infrastructure to make it an important contributor to GDP growth and job creator.

    He  urged the government to  accelerate policy reforms and invest in transport and storage infrastructure to encourage more participation in agribusiness.

    Experts stated that agribusiness has potential to lift Nigerians  from poverty. They urged the government to empower farmers through training, exposure to new markets and provision of subsidised inputs  such as  seeds and fertiliser.

    They challenged the government to invest in training for farmers and partner with banks to extend to them affordable credit.

    To experts, however, the importance of the agric industry to the  economy has been recognised  by  the  outgone Federal  Government in its economic Strategy 2011 to 2015.

    Demonstrating this, the government through the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina   developed a strategic action plan for the industry through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). The plan recognised the need to target those areas which have the greatest potential for growth.

    To some experts, his initiatives have empowered more than six million farmers across the country to embrace agriculture as a business as he has been relentless in unlocking opportunities for farmers and changing Africa’s narrative on agriculture to wealth creation, away from poverty reduction.

    His Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) ended four decades of corruption in the fertiliser sector, eliminating the middlemen and scaling up food production by nine million metric tonnes in the first year -almost half of the 2015 production target. To further enhance this process, he introduced an Electronic Wallet System which allows smallholder farmers to receive electronic vouchers for subsidised seeds and fertilisers directly on their mobile phones and enable them to pay for farm inputs from private sector agricultural input dealers. The system has reached over six million farmers and enhanced food security for 30 million persons in rural farm households.

    With the success of the electronic wallet system, Nigeria has become the first country in Africa to reach farmers with subsidised farm inputs through their mobile phones. The impact is already being noticed beyond Nigeria with several African countries, Brazil, India and China now expressing interest in adopting the electronic wallet system in their agriculture sector.

    The World Bank, African Development Bank and other global development finance institutions have put up over $2 billion in support of his bold initiatives.

  • ‘Livestock identification ‘ll reduce spread of diseases’

    ‘Livestock identification ‘ll reduce spread of diseases’

    Livestock expert, Dr Ademola Adeyemo, said the establishment of a livestock identification programme will help the government to track livestock in cases of disease outbreaks.

    Having recovered from the attack of Ebola and bird flu, Adeyemo,who is Deputy Director, General Management,Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute(ARMTI), said there was  the need for a registry to track animals’ movements so that agriculture and health officials can quickly establish quarantines and take other steps to prevent the spread of disease.

    He said livestock producers need to affix identification to their animals, while there should be records of medical treatments such as vaccinations, medications and feed requirements.

    At the nation’s stage in development, the don said animal identification should be required and producers accept the concept to save the industry from diseases occurrences.

    According to him, tracking cows should be a concern as identification will make investigations faster and easier.

    Meanwhile, Sub-Saharan African countries have adopted a declaration on animal identification and recording, a move that is expected to improve food security, livestock genetics and better flock management as well as manage animal health and disease control.

    “By adopting the Pretoria Declaration on Animal Identification and Recording Systems for Traceability and Livestock Development, the countries have affirmed their commitment to identification of animals and recording of their movements and health and put in place measures such as surveillance, early detection and notification of outbreaks, rapid response, control of animal movements, and zoning or compartmentalisation,” said Food and Agriculture Organisation( FAO) Representative in South Africa, Tobias Takavarasha.

    Livestock is one of the most important and fastest growing agricultural subsectors in developing countries, fuelled by increasing demand for animal products. Livestock accounts for 37 per cent of agricultural Gross Domestic Product and it continues to grow. Despite the rapid growth globally, animal production (meat, milk and eggs) in Sub-Saharan Africa is   increasing at a slower pace.

    A substantial and sustained increase in animal production and productivity is therefore required and animal identification, performance recording and traceability can significantly contribute to the much needed growth. The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme targets an annual growth rate of 4.2 per cent for the livestock sector by enhancing the role of livestock in agricultural intensification and promotion of market-based livestock development.

    Animal Identification and performance recording systems are also key to genetic improvement and to better herd and flock management and, thus, enable sustained productivity gains. This has  been demonstrated in many countries where decades of performance recording and selection have resulted in remarkable improvements in animal productivity, particularly in the commercial sector. “Africa needs investment in animal identification and performance recording to become competitive in the markets for breeding animals as well as animals for consumption,” said Irene Hoffmann, Chief of FAO’s Animal Genetic Resources programme.

    Presentations and group discussions during the Symposium provided ample examples for the integrated approach and multipurpose benefits from animal identification and recording.

    “This holistic approach is nicely illustrated in the FAO guidelines for the development of integrated and multipurpose animal recording systems that were designed to support countries in the development of such systems”, said Badi Besbes, FAO Animal Production Officer.

    About 130 participants from 30 countries met in Pretoria, South Africa, at the occasion of the international symposium on ‘Animal Identification and Recording Systems for Traceability and Livestock Development in Sub-Saharan Africa’.