The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • ‘Foreigners shouldn’t own agric land’

    A Don, Dr Kola Adebayo has advocated that foreigners be restricted from owing farmlands in the nation’s interest.

    Speaking with The Nation, Adebayo, who is Director, Africa Region, Cassava Adding Value to Africa, CAVA, said the government should impose a “much more definitive test” of the national interest when considering request for farmland and agribusinesses by foreigners.

    According to him, government should not allow purchases of the nation’s natural resources where national security could be under threat.

    He said he preferred joint ventures rather than outright acquisitions by foreigners,which he described as “land grabbing.”

    The practice, he said, had put strain on land and water resources ,adding that the indigenes were excluded from the use of land because of foreign companies involved in food production.

    He said land acquisition by foreigners was a global phenomenon, that always resulted in conflict with the communities.

    Nigeria, he said, was now a laughing stock of the investment world beacuse of its slack regulations.

  • IBB inaugurates agric skill acquisition centre

    IBB inaugurates agric skill acquisition centre

    Former military President Ibrahim Babangida has inaugurated the multi-million naira agricultural skill acquisition centre constructed by Sokoto State government at Milgoma village, Bodinga Local Government Area.

    Babaginda, who began a two-day official visit to the state, commended, Governor Aliyu Wamakko, for establishing the ultra-modern centre.

    He said that agriculture plays key role in the socio-economic development of the state and the nation at large.

    “We came to Sokoto, we saw and we have testified that Wamakko is executing people-oriented projects. He needs the support of the people of the state to continue to deliver the dividends of democracy,’’ he said.

    Babaginda, who described Wammako as “a worthy successor’’, urged him not to relent in his efforts to develop the state. All the projects the Governor has been executing directly affect the masses and this laudable gesture should be sustained,’’ Babangida said.

    In his remark, Wamakko said the Centre would train 3,000 people from the seven Local Government Areas of Sokoto South Senatorial zone per annum.

  • ‘Govt to capture leather industry in Growth Enhancement Scheme’

    ‘Govt to capture leather industry in Growth Enhancement Scheme’

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, said the leather industry would be captured in the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme to advance the Agricultural Transformation Agenda.

    Adesina gave the assurance in Abuja in his opening remarks at the Leather Industry Revival Initiative conference with the theme: Supporting the leather transformation of Nigeria’s leather industry.

    Adesina, who was represented by the Director, Livestock, Dr Joseph Ayanger, said the Ministry would partner with the Ministry of Trade and Investment to ensure quality production in the industry. “Leather comes from livestock and livestock contributes to several agricultural commodities such as meat, and even earns much more than any other non-oil export.

    “That is why we are happy to be partnering with Trade and Investment. What we are trying to do as much as possible, is to provide them with the raw materials.

    “Leather is part of the commodities we are handling as a value chain; for the past two decades, this is the first time leather has got a budget line in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.

    “From this month, we are rolling out some form of support in our Growth Enhancement Scheme.

    “We are also doing the same for leather and especially to support small scale buyers who are skin collectors so that we make sure that the quality of what we get is good enough.”

    Commenting, Mr Christian Rogg, the acting Head of Office, DFID Nigeria, said that the department was committed to supporting LAPAN because of its potential to create more jobs in the industry. Rogg, who was represented by Ms Ogechukwu Omeribe, the Programme Manager of the Economic Growth Team of the organisation, said that the support was to guide LAPAN on how to improve the industry performance.This, he also said, was to help it engage in dialogue with government and other stakeholders to shape the leather transformation plan.

    “The reason DFID Nigeria has decided to support LAPAN is that we see LAPAN as a credible partner in the sector. We also believe that the leather industry has tremendous potential to generate foreign exchange and create employment. We know that there is a lot of unemployment in Nigeria, particularly among the youth.“ And we know that this will be of benefit to micro and small businesses as well as to the youth and the poor in our communities.

    “Through our GEMS1 programme, LAPAN has been supported along with other regional associations to access finance through collaboration with NIRSAL and other commercial banks. We hope that soon, the leather sector will be able to get finance to be able to do the work that they (stakeholders) need to do.

    “Furthermore, with ‘ENABLE’, LAPAN is being supported to build its corporate governance because we know that building a structure is an important thing in order for it to attract members and for the members to know that you will provide efficient services.

    “Because of the support that DFID Nigeria has given, LAPAN as an organisation started with 16 associations in membership; today it has around 70 members.

    “Each of these associations has a huge number of memberships; one of these associations has close to 5,000 members. So, if you multiply 5,000 members by 70, it shows the number of members that LAPAN hold.”

  • Reducing poverty through contract farming

    Reducing poverty through contract farming

    A new farming model has emerged that allows multinational companies struggling with prohibitive cost of importing raw materials into the country to contract farmers to grow produce on their behalf. This has opened new opportunities for farmers. Known as contract farming (CF), it will not only provide them financial benefits but it will also encourage young persons to embrace the business. Daniel Essiet reports.

    An American farmer, Calvin Burgess of Guthrie, Oklahoma, owner of Dominion Rice and Integrated Farms Limited, is set to begin a large scale mechanised rice farming in Taraba State. Calvin, who is an experienced American rice farmer, had last year acquired massive farmland of about 30,000 hectares to begin mechanised rice farming in the low land part of the state, close to Rivers Benue and Taraba.

    The farm, when completed, will require up to 15,000 well-trained men and women working daily. Approximately 90 per cent of the land will be operated with contract farmers with the remainder utilised as a corporate farm and for educational training purposes by the lead investor, Dominion Farms.

    Approximately 300,000 tonnes of rice will be produced annually for the marketplace. Nigeria imports as much as two million tonnes of rice annually. It will offset 15 per cent of imports.

    Rice has become a major staple in recent times. It is an important food for both rural and urban dwellers. Unfortunately, the sharp rise in consumption has not impacted positively on the local rice producers’ income. Other challenges faced by local farmers is the high cost of production, lack of access to credit, shortage of water, pests, diseases, non availability of suitable varieties, low quality of locally processed rice and inefficient markets for inputs and produce. These enormous challenges cannot be borne by local farmers.

    To this end, a new farming model is emerging between farmers and multinationals in which the companies struggling with expensive cost of imported raw materials contract farmers to grow produce on their behalf. This has opened new markets for farmers. The multinationals looking to cut cost of imported raw materials and maximise on locally available cheap ones, are spending millions chasing farmers with incentives such as free training, high yielding seeds and ready market. This arrangement has enticed farmers who have long been grappling with low and erratic market prices for their produce.

    The business model has linked farmers to markets and enabled them share production and marketing risks with promoters while exposing them to new opportunities to earn income.

    Chief Executive, Talon Group, Dr Lanre Talabi said contract farming has the potential to link farmers to markets and stimulate agricultural production.

    According to him, it makes access to inputs, technologies, credit and other services easy. Talabi said the adoption of contract farming by the firm was very important.

    According to him, under contract farming arrangement, agricultural production is carried out according to a prior agreement under which the farmer commits to producing a given product in a given manner, and the buyer commits to purchasing it at a given price.

    It does not only guarantee enough rice production, but efficiency in promoting sustainable development of poor communities surrounding the project.

    According to him, the Taraba project’s success is fostering sustainable community development which will be reflected in the smiles on the faces of the people. Incidentally, part of the strategy of the promoters is to promote social inclusion by integrating the communities in contract farming.

    A farmer, Pastor Segun Adewumi, said contract farming was one way agro businesses are partnering with farmers to provide seed, money and skills to produce better commodities.

    Not only will it give a company credibility, win the support of local communities, it will also improve, in a sustainable manner, the living standards of those previously excluded. The contracting company, he said, comes in to improve access to quality raw material/paddy rice and provide technical assistance on best practices.

    Adewusi, who is the National President, Cassava Growers Association of Nigeria said contract farming arrangement enables multinational agro business to negotiate with input suppliers, tractor owners, banks, rice processors and traders on behalf of the farmers. This, he explained, is beneficial to them especially in terms of helping them access credit, inputs and tractor services. Often, the buyer provides the farmer with technical assistance, seed, fertiliser, and other input on credit, while offering a guaranteed price for the output.

    Such arrangements, he said link farmers to lucrative markets and reduce the constraints they face in diversifying into high-value commodities and connecting to markets.

    He said the contract faming approach increases revenues for poor communities and encourage collaboration at all levels.

    Adewusi said buyers train farmers in land preparation, planting, harvesting and storage, pest and disease control and marketing.

    The Taraba project, he indicated, demonstrates the viability of poverty reduction through entrepreneurial capacity building.

    He said one of the objectives of his association was to encourage buyers to enter into contracts with farmers to buy their produces after the end of the project. This has already started, he declared.

    CF, he noted is meaningful as it shows poor communities the potential that their produce have for alleviating poverty and, even more important, for entering solidly into the world economy. The evolving industry, he noted would lay the foundation for long-term economic vitality for the communities involved.

    Experts see CF as a strategy capable of re-directing the economy on the path of rapid growth and poverty reduction. It is a written commitment or an agreement made between the farmer and the buyer for cultivation and sale of specific quality, quantity, grade, and variety of commodity at predetermined price.

    Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Prof Ini Akpabio said contract farming has demonstrated the viability of poverty reduction through the empowerment of farmers.

    He said introducing contract farming is meaningful for agricultural development.

    Finding show that a lot of multinationals are employing contract farming as a strategy to get their commodities.

    Olam Nigeria partners some farmers to produce rice. The farmers are to produce rice using the inputs supplied by Olam (as in-kind credit), comply with the farm management practices and ensure prompt repayment of loans through sale of the paddy produced to it. On the other hand, Olam is to deliver the required inputs to the farmers at the right time and buy back the paddy after harvest. The rice CF guarantees sustainable supply of raw materials, provides a boost to the rural economy and promote pro-poor growth.

    Under the ginger CF, the responsibility of farmers is to produce ginger, dry, pack in polybags and transport to Olam’s warehousefor sale.

    According to reports, there has been a reduction in the sharp practices of middlemen and in the number of middlemen participating in the ginger market. British American Tobacco (BAT) has been involved in tobacco contract farming arrangement with farmers in Oyo State. The obligation of the farmers under the contract is to produce and sell to BAT only good quality flue/air cured tobacco of the quantity and at the grades specified by it.

  • FAO alerts on re-emergence of bird flu viruses

    FAO alerts on re-emergence of bird flu viruses

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that the H7N9 and H5N1 avian influenza viruses continues to pose threats to human and animal health, especially in the upcoming flu season.

    This warning is contained in a statement issued in Rome.

    “The world is more prepared than ever before to respond to bird flu viruses in light of a decade of work on H5N1 and the recent response to H7N9.

    “However, constant vigilance is required. Bird flu viruses continue to circulate in poultry.

    “Efforts must continue and be strengthened, not only in affected countries, but also in neighbouring states and areas with strong trade linkages.

    “This is especially true for H7N9 since it causes no clinical signs in birds and, is therefore, very difficult to detect in poultry,” said FAO Chief Veterinary Officer, Juan Lubroth.

    Lubroth spoke at a joint meeting with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).

    Heads of FAO Reference Laboratories in Australia, the People’s Republic of China and the US, were also in attendance, along with representatives from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and the US Department of Agriculture.

    Along these lines, FAO has committed $2million of emergency funding supplemented by over $5 million from USAID, to start H7N9 response efforts.

    USAID support has enabled FAO to help countries at risk to improve surveillance capacities.

    “Several at-risk countries, previously unable to pick up the virus, can now accurately detect H7N9.

    “Identifying the virus with consistency is critical to targeting control efforts and reducing spread,’’ Lubroth said.

    Dennis Carroll, Director of USAID’s Emerging Threats Programme, also spoke.

    “The early detection and excellent characterisation of the H7N9 virus by Chinese experts has created an unprecedented opportunity to mount a coordinated effort to stop the further spread of the virus – and thwart a possible global event.”

    He said that significant progress over the past decade in forging national and international partnerships and validating interventions for control of avian influenza could be adapted to address the threat posed by the H7N9 virus.

    FAO and USAID stress that more work was required, the statement said.

    In the short term, this includes continued, targeted surveillance and trace back throughout the production and marketing system, contingency planning and compensation scheme development.

    In the longer-term fight against H7N9 and other viruses, FAO and USAID, are urging countries to invest in improving the way they market and sell poultry.

    “We need keep our eyes on the bigger picture of promoting healthy food systems, especially when it comes to animal production and marketing.

    “Restructuring can create healthier, safer markets by developing facilities that employ proper food safety and hygiene measures.

    “Since animals, and therefore, viruses are inevitably gathered at markets, keeping these markets clean and safe reduces the chances for viruses and other pathogens to spread.

    “Healthy markets mean healthy birds, and that means improved public health, better food security and more sustainable livelihoods,” Lubroth further said, in the statement.

    According to the statement, FAO has continued its call for funds to bolster the global H7N9 response.

    The UN agency is urging countries to make key investments in improving markets and promoting healthy food systems to fight viruses affecting animals and humans.

    This is part of overarching efforts to ensure that the animal sector realised its potential in the promotion of healthy and productive lives, the statement said.

  • Food businesses battle high regulatory costs

    Farm businesses are struggling under the growing weight of unnecessary regulatory burden, the Director, Africa Region, Cassava Adding Value to Africa, Dr Kola Adebayo has said. Also, a web of complex regulations which increase costs will limit the food and agric industry’s ability to produce more food, he added.

    While acknowledging the need for effective regulation, Adebayo said regulation protects food industry operators, but that it was important that regulation is appropriately targeted, clearly communicated, and that its restrictions are minimised as far as possible to avoid adverse outcomes.

    He said there is a range of regulatory requirements across the food sector which are stifling the growth of start ups, saying issues such as registration with the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control, is a cost burden to comply with.

    He said there is a need to address challenges to competitiveness on farm with increased input prices driving cost of production, adding that the issue becomes compounded when unnecessary regulatory burdens are imposed on industry.

    The don urged the government to reduce excessive regulatory coverage; overlap, or inconsistency; unwieldy approval and the licensing processes, saying there are a number of areas where improvements could be made to regulatory processes to ease the burden on the sector. He said it is expected that the government would be working towards a lighter regulatory regime, where possible, to help keep farm businesses profitable.

    He stressed that it was in the interest of government to actively pursue red tape reduction as a way of stimulating economic activity and increase government revenues, as well as limit their own costs associated with administering and enforcing regulations. He contended that an improvement in red tape impacts for the food sector was particularly important as it has numerous implications on industry activities.

    According to him, farmers have frequently expressed concerns over the approval process involved when looking to change the existing land use function on-farm, in addition to the myriad of local and state governments’ environmental regulations farmers have to comply with daily.

    He expressed the need for regulators to be transparent, efficient and consistent in the way they interact with farm businesses, particularly regarding any costs they wish to recover from the sector.

  • Fadama disburses N272m to 72 groups

    No fewer than 72 Fadama User Groups in Kwara have benefited from a N272 million facility disbursed by the Fadama Office in the state, the Coordinator, Mr Usman Akanbi, has said .

    Akanbi, told reporters in Ilorin that the project is being implemented successfully in the state as more farmers are benefitting from the World Bank-assisted project. Akanbi said the scheme has created about 2,292 temporary jobs for the unemployed in the state.

    However, he said that the project was rounding up by December and that Kwara and Plateau have been adjudged the best in the implementation of the programme.

    Akanbi said that small-scale farmers were developed under the second and third phases of the programme, especially in the area of storage and processing of farm produce.

    The coordinator said Fadama User Groups had successfully increased their income by 40 per cent.

    Also speaking, Chief Jacob Aina, the Environmental Officer in the office, said that the programme had mobilised about 1,120 project operators across the state to interact and sensitise small-scale farmers on how to increase their input.

    Aina said that farmers in all aspects of agriculture had received training on environment, air, water and noise pollution as well as enlightenment on the best method of tackling such problems.

    “Fadama project had made it possible for these illiterate farmers to convert waste to wealth, especially animal droppings, cowpea and rice husks into valuable resources,” he said.

    He, however, said that the project was facing several challenges, including funding.

    “We also see people diverting the money intended to boost agriculture into their pockets.

    “These people think they are also having a piece of the national cake,” he said.

  • ‘Tackle invasive species on agric, fisheries’

    Fisheries expert, Prof Martins Antekhai, has urged the government to take measures to prevent the growing threat from invasive species in the fisheries sector.

    Invasive species, are foreign plants and animals that adversely affect the habitats and bioregions they invade economically, environmentally, and/or ecologically.

    Antekhai,who is of the Department of Fisheries,Lagos State University(LASU),said invasive alien species, could cause damage through hazards to human health, damage to infrastructure and yield losses in agriculture.

    He urged the government to conduct a Food and Veterinary Office audit into whether fishery products are suitable for imports.

    He said the audit was to evaluate whether the official controls put in place by the competent authority can guarantee that conditions of the production of fishery products.

    He called for a robust strategy to stop the import of invasive alien species and manages existing populations in a humane and efficient way to prevent animal suffering.

    On cases of fish diseases, Antekhai said emerging fish diseases are mostly due to warming temperatures.

    He said fish are highly dependent on environmental conditions, especially temperature, to help maintain critical physiological processes such as immune function that can affect whether a fish gets a disease or parasite, how it is affected by it, and how the disease progresses.

    He highlighted the importance of developing and maintaining disease-monitoring infrastructure and training to identify pathogens and parasites.

  • How to stop N356b annual spent on rice importation

    Expanding irrigation infrastructure to harvest and manage rainwater for rice cultivation, are some of the ways the N356 billion spent annually on rice importation,could be stopped, the consultant to Lagos State on rice project, Dr Rotimi Fashola, has said.

    Fashola said promoting the cultivation of rice by guaranteeing the availability of water will reduce overreliance on rainfall.

    He told The Nation that many irrigation dams did not meet the standard and as a result, they easily get bridged.

    Rice imports, Fashola added, would reduce if effort is made to rehabilitate damaged irrigation systems across the country.

    Fashola said the government was aware of the negative impact of importion,adding that it does not only constitute a massive drain on the public purse,but it also puts the country in an extremely vulnerable position if global rice prices increase.

    He said the government has put a lot of emphasis on trying to change the situation.

    A Professor of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering at the University of Ilorin, Ayodele Ogunlela said rice production depends on the capacity of irrigated areas.

    He said the productive capacity of the local rice environments was being threatened by increasing water scarcity caused by droughts, salinity, uncontrolled flooding,and climate change.

    Overall distribution of rainfall, he said remains uncertain, and so could affect rice production.

    In environments prone to drought, salinity, and floods, he said a combination of improved varieties and specific management packages has the potential to increase on-farm yields, provided that investment in research and extension is intensified.

    To boost production ,Ogunlela said there should be investments to support the adoption of water-saving technologies and improvement of irrigation supply systems, while sustaining the resource base of the rice fields.

    Ogunlela stressed the need to manage water and make it available for farming activities.

    To address the challenge, the World Bank said it is providing $400 million (about N64 billion) to support the development of irrigation systems.

    The fund is part of the bank’s efforts to support development projects in the country. The money would be used to boost irrigation and other water management projects, adding that studies were already being carried out on what is expected to be covered by the fund. The project would target existing irrigation schemes that have not been functioning optimally, particularly those located in the north-west region of the country.

  • ‘Infrastructure vital to agribusiness’ growth’

    Agribusiness need functional infrastructure to grow, the Country Managing Director, Accenture boss, Niyi Yusuf has said.

    “Agriculture on its own cannot be self-sustaining if there is no infrastructure to support the sector” Yusuf said this at the just concluded Nigeria Economic Summit held in Abuja recently.”

    According to him, agro business cannot thrive if there are no infrastructures to “move the goods from farm to the city; if there is no technology to provide information on the price, supply and demand; if there are no banks to provides fund and credit facilities; if we don’to have insurance to provide the covers for the risk; if we don’t have the media to publicized role models and who have done successfully, if we don’t have educational system that aligned with its curriculum to aid the agribusiness, so we need to do all these holistically to connect the dots that have talked about.”

    The Accenture boss said there is the need to also involve the private sectors as obtainable in the banking, telecom and media.

    “If we can get the agribusiness liberalised, what we witnessed in the telecom sector will be small to what we will get compare to agribusiness.

    “We need to make agribusiness more attractive by getting all the different players- the government, legislature, judiciary as well as private sector to be involved. If we do this the chances are there that we will be able to make something better out of it.”

    Yusuf said his company is partnering with Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to explore opportunities in agric sector.

    “We are also working closely with Ministry of Technology, we recently designed a project called Techlaunchpad, where we have young technology entrepreneur to design a solution useful to a particular sectors.”