The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • Ogun gives farmers free cassava stems

    OGUN State Government  has given free cassava stems to farmers for planting during this rainy season.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun, made this known at the first harvest of cassava at Ibiade, in Ogun Waterside Local Government area.

    Represented by the Director, Planning, Research and Statistic, Rev. Gbile Olugbebi, the commissioner said it was government’s duty to encourage farmers by providing them with farm input which necessitated the giving of 10 bundles of cassava stem each for planting.

    She explained that the cassava varieties were the improved ones, noting that they grow faster and end up good after processing, especially for food produce, such as garri and lafun.

    “This cassava variety is called TMS/92/0326 and TME419, they are the improved variety. They were selected because of their specialties and they fit in well for our conventional products like garri, lafun and others,”she said.

  • Govt boosts ginger production

    The  Federal Government has taken measures to boost the production and export of ginger  by   providing technical assistance to the growers and the industry.

    Provost, Federal College of Produce Mallam Ibrahim said the help is offered to the growers and the industry for planting, replanting, rejuvenation, quality upgradation, value addition and market promotion.

    Addressing 60 participants at a training   organised  by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in partnership with the  school venue in Kano, Ibrahim said the programme  was  to  promote export of ginger  and the  emphasis  is  to  ensure standard quality production to enable  the  country  earn  much through foreign  exchange.

    He  emphasised on the need for participants take post harvest value addition very serious and  that  the  school is determined to ensure  quality through grading is very germane in the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of Mr. President.

    He said  the gap in this area has resulted to rejection of many agricultural produce from abroad, apart  from   30 per cent  grains and 70 per cent  vegetable lost to post harvest.

    According to the college provost “ despite the training of the produce inspectors by the college, their absence in the export of agricultural produce has led to returning of many produce outside the country. We all know that 30 per cent of grains is Nigeria are lost to post harvest and 70 per cent vegetable to the same challenge”.

    He enjoined the participants to utilised the training for the betterment of the crop in the area quality standard through production with best agronomics practice, processing and marketing for higher earning.

    The Director, Federal Department Agriculture, Mr. Eniayeju who was represented by the desk officer on ginger, commended  President Goodluck Jonathan and the agric minister saying the inclusion of the crop has stimulated production as two bags of fertiliser were given to farmers with training in the value addition for higher pricing locally and internationally.

  • Don stresses need for soil preservation

    A lecturer in the Dept of Crop and Soil Sciences, College of Agriculture, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Prof . Olusola Omosofe Agbede, has  said  Nigeria could face food crisis if urgent action is not taken to preserve the soil that has been overstretched.

    Speaking during a public lecture titled: Assessment, development and conservation of soil fertility key to national food security, at the university, he said man was created from the soil and from that creation depended on soil for prosperity and survival, that any departure from this divine arrangement usually incurs unpleasant consequences.

    According to him, through man’s carelessness and misuse of soil resources over time, soil productivity has declined. He warned that if soil is not adequately managed, many countries, including Nigeria could face food crisis.

    While acknowledging that the government is making efforts at upgrading soil fertility assessment development and conservation to increase food production, Agbede advised that in order not to be caught up in this crisis, the government should arrest the problem early.

  • Price hike inimical to food security, says consultant

    INCREASED food prices will have negative impact on food security, an expert, Prof Abel  Ogunwale has  said.

    Speaking with The Nation, Ogunwale, a consultant to the  World Bank, said the  prices  of   commodities, especially those  grown  in the North, were experiencing spikes and could remain higher if there were no increase in local production following insecurity.

    He said markets are sensitive to price fluctuations and there are  impacts on household income and food consumption across the country.

    He  explained  that  acute price hike adds to inflationary pressures and  that poor consumers could spend even higher share of their limited income on food.

    In most  cases,  households of employees in urban areas are most affected by price increases.

    The main income source of paid employees, service sector and industrial livelihood groups is non-agricultural wage, which accounts for over 80 per cent of income.

    Apart from paid employees, he   noted  more low-income households are also affected in both rural and urban areas.

    When floods are taken into account, low-income groups and agricultural income-dependent livelihoods are worst hit, with the highest increase of under-nourishment among sharecroppers.

    However, Ogunwale  said  increasing purchasing power was essential to the undernourished to obtain access to food.

    Meanwhile, the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, has raised the alarm over the rising food prices, blaming the loss of 40 per cent of the nation’s total food production on farmers’ lack of storage facility.

    At the institute’s monthly seminar series held in Ibadan, Head, Productive Sector Group, Economic Policy Research Department (NISER), Dr. Timothy Oni, who delivered a paper titled: ‘Reducing food crop losses through post-harvest management in Nigeria’, said availability and accessibility of most food crops in Nigeria was being threatened, leading to an astronomical rise in food prices. He warned that if not quickly checked by the Federal Government, increase in population and dwindling land resources could lead to adverse impact on food security and economic development.

    He said: “It is necessary to reduce food crop losses in order to combat hunger, raise income and create employment along food supply chain and thus tame poverty in Nigeria.

    “Post-harvest losses due to inefficient harvesting, processing and storage techniques ranged between 20 and 40 per cent of the total food production in Nigeria. Rural areas typically have poor transportation, poor water supply, poor source of energy and poor marketing facilities. All these, coupled with predominance of poor farm implements and rudimentary post-harvest technology, worsen the problem of post-harvest food losses.”

    Oni added that despite the Federal Government’s effort in addressing some issues responsible for the loss, post-harvest food losses were still substantial while food imports bills have been rising in order to meet the shortfall in food availability.

  • Govt urged to examine packaging materials

    Govt urged to examine packaging materials

    A don, Dr. Ademola Adeyemo  has called on the government  to enforce the policy on the examination of packaging materials to avoid contamination.

    Adeyemo,who is Deputy Director, Directorate of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Institute (ARMTI), said the migration of chemicals from packaging materials into food has highlighted a gap in the nation’s food safety regulation.

    He said authorities should focus  on the regulation on packaging, with particular attention to the migration of chemicals from packaging and food contact materials, adding that  there are possibilities of contaminated chemicals in plastics used in food and food packaging affecting  consumers.

    Adeyemo said there should be advice on how to use materials that are in contact with foods.

    Specifically, Adeyemo said the government  should  spelt out standards  on new packaging and recycled ones, adding that companies should step up technologies that they are using and demonstrate their  readiness to ensure  safe of production process.

    He said regulatory agencies  should explore avenues to address the issue, ranging from the provisions that are in place under the food standards code, to regulatory, co-regulatory and self-regulatory options.

    According to him, the firms  should demonstrate to consumers that they can be trusted.

  • Group laments decline in food manufacturing

    Group laments decline in food manufacturing

    THE Association of  Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN)  has decried the decline in food manufacturing, urging the government to reverse the situation.

    Its President, Prince Saviour Iche,  said Nigeria used to be attractive  to multinational companies seeking to reduce production costs, but because of poor infrastructure, costs have gone up.

    According to him,  food manufacturers are grappling with some problems. He listed these as increased wages, cost of doing business and a weak currency, noted that these have forced multinational companies to rethink their strategy to remain competitive.

    For firms that are not in a position to move up the cost/quality curve, an attractive option, he  suggested, is to shift their operations to other parts of West Africa where production costs are still a fraction of what obtains in the country.

    He said beacause local and multinationals were facing competition, some of them had to  relocate.

    He said the government should     create a high value-adding manufacturing industry, as opposed to its traditional low-cost, low value-added ecosystem.

    In doing so, he said, the focus had been on indigenous innovation – creative production that is less reliant on foreign capabilities.

    He called on the  government to create an industrial corridor by   investing in vital support infrastructure, such as power plants, water facilities and transport infrastructure.

    “This means that local  manufacturers need to be prepared for increasing competition in higher value manufacturing and consider some options when looking to offshore operations,” he added.

    He noted that  the economy  needs to expand its industry base to cover new products and transform relationships between research, skills, training and industry.

    At the micro level, he  said companies were creating a workforce, which needs to begin through schools, universities and even into organisations.

  • ‘High cocoa price could boost investments’

    High cocoa prices reported  at the global market may encourage farmers to increase investments, the Chief Executive, Centre for Cocoa Initiative Mr Robo Adhuze  has  said.

    He said to break even farmers  need to invest to improve productivity,  adding  that a lot is required  in terms of husbandry to control diseases through insecticide and fungicide.

    According to him, there is no high profit with the prices of insecticides and fungicide rising across the industry.

    He said  the  farmers  will be more inclined to buy input with the prices of  cocoa  rising but  the  costs of fertiliser, pesticides and fungicides should be considerate with increased demand.

    The International Cocoa Organisation forecast a global cocoa deficit of 75,000 tonnes in 2013/14.

    Officials have suggested next season will also finish with a shortfall.

    The deficit should translate next season to an increase of the farmgate price, which was fixed at 750 CFA francs ($1.55) per kg at the beginning of the 2013/14 season.

    Meanwhile, fairtrade cocoa farmers in West Africa are investing in their farms, crop infrastructure and communities – but they need deeper, long-term partnerships to drive change. Thus concludes a new report ‘Fairtrade Cocoa in West Africa’ released by Fairtrade International and Fairtrade Africa.

    The report reveals Fairtrade certified cocoa farmer organisations chose to spend 36 per cent of their Fairtrade Premium on projects to increase the productivity of members’ farms and the quality of their cocoa – far above Fairtrade International’s suggested 25 per cent  minimum. Fairtrade provides defined premiums of $200 per tonne paid directly to farmers’ organisations and managed at the sole discretion of farmers via their general assembly.

    Approximately 140,000 cocoa farmers in West Africa areFairtrade certified.

    Fairtrade is working with some of the smallest and most disadvantaged cocoa farmers in the region. Their averageplot size is 2.6 hectares. On average, Fairtrade farmers inGhana farm the smallest plots.

    Nine out of 10 West African Fairtrade cocoa farmers arein Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire. The rest are in Sierra Leone, Cameroon, Togo, and Sâo Tomé and Príncipe.

  • Push for warehouse receipt system

    Push for warehouse receipt system

    To ensure a food-secured future, the government is adopting innovations that are capable  of improving the lives of farmers.  One of these is the Warehouse Receipt System. It is meant to  help farmers gain access to loans from banks and prevent hasty sale of agricultural commodities at a loss. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Farmers, whether corporate or individuals,face a lot of risks. Not only are they prone to input and output price volatility, but they also face high financial risks resulting from the production cycles.

    Agric producers also have to deal with risks associated with negative outcomes mainly deriving from extreme weather shocks, such as drought, floods or cold waves. The change is significant, as temperatures rise, rainfall patterns change and pests and diseases find new ranges, posing new risks to food and farming.

    Added to this, is the challenge of    struggling with storage at post harvest levels. Those who  have  debts to  repay sell the produce when harvest season begins. They cannot   hold onto their crops until the lean season, when the price and potential for profits are at their highest. This lead them to sell off their produce immediately after harvest, when the price and potential for profits are at their lowest.

    However, a financing solution has been introduced, which seeks to cushion the producers against such eventualities, known as Warehouse Receipt System.The process starts with gathering   produce among small producers into bulking centres where quality are  affirmed. The produce is then moved into certified warehouses where it is handled professionally to guarantee quality while in storage.

    With warehouse receipt finance, a farmer or trader delivers his produce to a warehouse that has been approved by a bank, or other lender. The warehouse, or collateral management company in charge of it, then issues a receipt vouching for the quantity and quality of produce being stored.

    The bank then takes the receipt and provides financing to the farmer or trader – typically up to 70 per cent of its current market value – against it. The receipt acts as collateral for the bank, giving it the right to take ownership of the stored produce if the loan is not repaid.

    The credit advance, which is secured by the warehoused commodity, is then recovered a few months later when the depositors choose to sell their produce.

     The Team Leader, Agric Extension, Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), Prof Tunji Arokoyo,  said  the  warehouse receipt system (WRS) is gaining momentum due to its potential in boosting agricultural growth.

    Its  existence, he  explained, protects farmers from seasonal price change   by giving them the opportunity to store their product and sell it during favourable price periods.

    Beyond this, he said the project helps rural farmers to access bank loans in return for storage of their produce in a community- based warehouse. Once the harvest is stockpiled in the warehouse, the producer organisation obtains a loan from a microfinance institution and distributes it to its members on the basis of their share of the total stored commodity.

    According to him, a well developed WRS can provide a platform for the development of the entire commodity chain, providing incentives for a range of different parties, including farmers, financiers, traders, processors, public sector buyers, food aid managers and investors in storage capacity.

    Warehouse receipt finance is spreading fast, giving smaller traders and bigger farmers, or cooperatives the chance to tap finance immediately while they protect their produce and hopefully negotiate better prices for it.

    There remains huge challenges though.

    According to him, if not properly managed, warehouses remain vulnerable to everything from theft,  fraud to insect infestation. And although using a collateral manager provides more comfort to banks extending the credit, there still are not enough active WRFs outlets in Africa.

    The President, National Cashew  Association  of Nigeria (NCAN), Tola Faseru, said warehouse receipting is part of a package of innovations designed to modernise and enhance the efficiency of agricultural marketing systems.

    Faseru said improper preservation or drying techniques, coupled with inadequate storage facilities, can force small farmers to let commercial or foreign traders reap the rewards of seasonal price swings.

    With warehouse receipt, howver, he said a whole series of problems are resolved. Apart from protecting the crop where an estimated  40 per cent of harvests rot before reaching market, it also frees up financing for the farmer. Without warehouse receipt finance, many commercial traders would not have enough collateral to meet banks’ requirements, given the huge quantities of grain that they are dealing with.

    Warehouse receipt finance is especially helpful for smaller traders who might struggle to borrow otherwise.

    With the use of warehouse receipt financing, also known as inventory credit, he said small farmers  will gain an advantage on the playing field.

    Expectedly, the warehouse receipts are administered to producer groups, instead of individuals, which helps the flow of market information. It   will create price transparency which empowers farmers to make informed sales decisions rather than waiting for “farm gate” buyers who often offer below- market prices.

    Negotiable warehouse receipts allow transfer of ownership of that commodity stored in a warehouse without having to deliver the physical commodity. These receipts are issued in negotiable form, making them eligible as collateral for loans.

    Banks have more faith in such negotiable warehouse receipts and farmers would be able to seek loans easily against these receipts.

    It also enhance banks’ interest in lending in respect of farm goods deposited by farmers in the registered warehouses.

    For watchers, there is need for an enabling policy environment that recognises and supports a free market – willing buyer willing seller and with minimal distortions is necessary.

    To make it work, the government needs to certify warehouses with higher  tonnes capacities  nationwide, where produce can  be deposited nationwide.

    More financial institutions have to join the warehouse receipt systems process to enable them advance credits to farmers on warehouse receipt financing using the deposited commodity.

    Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, (BoA), Dr Mohammed Santuraki, share the same  thought  about the project.

    He said the launch of the Electronic Warehouse Receipt System, e-WRS for farm produce would bring farmers closer to the market.

    Speaking during the launch of the system in Abuja, Santuraki listed the commodities to be traded to include, cocoa, sesame seeds, maize, sorghum and cashew.

    According to Santuraki, post-harvest loss is a very big challenge for the Nigeria farmern as it forces farmers to sell their produce at very low prices.

    “But with this system, the farmers will get better value for their products and it will increase the margin farmers get for their produce.

    Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, described the implementation of the e-WRS for farm produce as a game-changer for Nigeria’s agriculture.

    Oteh said it was a significant milestone for the Nigerian economy and the backbone of any commodities exchange.

    “It is bound to have transforma-tive impact on agriculture, food security, poverty alleviation, economic inclusion and ultimately on the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria as encapsulated in the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

    “Agriculture employs over 65 per cent of Nigerians and this scheme will help address the persistent problems our farmers face in terms of limited access to markets and credit,” she said.

    According to Oteh, commodities exchange helps in creating effi-ciencies in the production and distribution of essential raw materials across countries.

    “They provide a centralised marketplace where commodity producers can sell their products to those who wish to use them for manufacturing, export or consumption.

    “They also facilitate price discovery, reduce risk and costs, while improving the allocative efficiency of the economy.’’

    Oteh said the federal government’s agricultural transformation agenda; ATA had already brought remarkable dividends for over 10 million farmers, making it easier to access inputs and agricultural extension services.

    “This warehouse initiative will go a long way in consolidating the gains of ATA and improving the livelihood of millions of smallholder farmers in our country,” she said.

    President, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria, FACAN, Dr Victopr Iyama said the implementation of the system would lead to sustainability along the value chain.

    “It will lead to remuneration gain for farmers as over 25 per cent of farmers’ products are lost due to lack of storage facilities.

    “A lot of sensitisation is on but we need to do more after this launch in the pilot states because no farmer will see the advantages and not jump at it.’’

    In his remark, the Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Yinka Sanni, noted that agriculture contributes 22 per cent of the country’s GDP and affects a significant number of the people.

    He pledged the bank’s commitment to the scheme, adding that it would stand as a middleman to give confidence to participants of the programme.

     

  • ‘How varsities can spearhead farm revolution’

    The National President, Cashew Association of Nigeria, Tola Faseru   said universities have a huge stake in the success of the farm sector as well as welfare of the common man.

    Driving a sustainable green revolution, he noted would require  high-level human capital, that  will come  functional, relevant and consistent tertiary education institutions.

    According  to him, universities have been neglected for decades and are now all too often non-functional institutions with dilapidated infrastructure, unmotivated staff and poor learning environments and this  is not helping the growth of agriculture.

    To  revamp the food production system, Faseru said the  government must support the university research systems to  produce  new technologies.

  • UNN’s Faculty of Agric needs N1b

    The Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) needs about N1billion to replace broken down equipment in the six departments which make up the faculty.

    Its Dean Prof. Simeon Ugwu made this known  in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Nsukka, Enugu state.

    He said the dilapidated state of laboratory and field equipment being used to teach students constituted a serious challenge for the faculty.

    “I believe in practicals. It is good to also demonstrate the practical aspects when you teach your students.

    “That is why the faculty recently organised a homecoming for the alumni of the faculty, so as to interact with them and to see ways the ways they can assist the faculty.

    “The faculty needs about N1billion to replace broken down equipment in the six departments which make up the faculty, as well as bring the faculty to standard.

    “With adequate funding, we will rebuild and replace our poultry, hatchery and feed mills and farm equipment which have worn out, because some of them have been there since 1980.

    “With enough funds, we will also be able to meet other needs of the faculty,’’ he said.

    Ugwu explained that arrangements had been concluded for the faculty to produce six million fingerlings and 10,000 egg-laying birds before the end of the year.

    According to him, the faculty now has 10 hectares of land planted with quality cassava which, when harvested, will boost the revenue base of the faculty.