Category: Agriculture

Rising cost of animal feed is forcing pig farmers out of business, Managing Director, Latosa Farms, Oyeleye Babasola Olumide, has said.

He lamented that farmers are counting their losses with every hog sold and his colleagues are feeling the squeeze caused by rising input costs.

According to him, feed forms a greater proportion of the costs for pig producers.

Poor weather has impacted on crop growth. The knock-on effect has seen a hike in feed prices by 25 per cent in the last one year. This is pushing up the cost of production. Olumide said the cost of one tonne of palm kernel has risen from N22,000 to N27,500.

He said pig farmers are either being forced out of the market or to cull livestock as the price of producing pork continues to rise.

For watchers, if the cost of feed continues to rise, more pig farmers would go. He said farmers are struggling to cover the extra costs, a situation made worse by consumers reluctant to pay more for pork products.

Pigs and poultry rely on grain and soyabean based feeds and this have been impacted heavily upon by the recent weather events. Alternative use of corn is impact on the tightening demand for animalfeed ingredients. Typically feed represents 60 per cent of pig meat production costs and this has risento over 65 per cent in recent months.

The impact of the dramatic rise in livestock feed prices has been to increase the cost of pig production. Unless pig prices improve, this could result in pig farmers losing much in the year ahead.

With feed costs skyrocketing, he said improving feed conversion has never been more important.

He said transport, energy, labour are key cost areas for producers.

Olumide said many farmers have been plagued by short-term supply chains and volatile costs, which have prevented them from investing for the future.

The rising cost of feed means that pig farmers are struggling to make a living and many small and medium producers may not survive.

Olumide said the economy is burdened with many hidden risks for the average farmers and raised concern about economic instability, citing risks carried over from last year.

He argued that farm businesses can only survive in a relatively stable macro-economic environment, enabling their access to important resources such as capital and markets.

Due to limited resources, he said the government should ease difficulties confronting businesses, unfreezing capital for instance, to generate jobs and stimulate economic growth.

The Minister and Deputy Chairman,National Planning Commission, Dr. Shamsuddeen Usman, has called on state governments to work out a mechanism that will ensure effective implementation of the national sugar master plan.

He spoke a workshop on the development of sugar and wheat value chain in Nigeria organised by the Nigeria Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER) and supported by Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria in Lagos.

The programme brought together over 200 participants from research institutes, banks, farmers, national planning commission.

According to him, state governments have a key role to play in the promotion and the implementation of the sugar master plan if the desired objectives are to be achieved.

He said this is true in terms of their role in facilitating access to land and in providing an enabling investment climate for the various actors in the value chain to enable them to derive appropriate returns.

He assured that the Federal Government remained committed to the development of sugar and wheat industries in the country, adding that steps have been taken to improve the prospects of the sugar and wheat industries and boost the contributions of the manufacturing sectors to Gross Domestic Product from less than five per cent to double digit rates in future.

“The key thrust of the plan is to urgently raise the country’s level of self sufficiency in sugar production from its current rate to double digit rate during the plan period which will require huge investment and technical knowhow from the state and other stakeholders”, he said.

Poor pasture, persistent livestock diseases and lack of infrastructure are among challenges of the livestock industry, an expert, Dr Ademola Adeyemo, has said.

Adeyemo of the Department of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, said persistent tick and tick-born diseases and lack of facilities, veterinary services and extension officers in rural areas have for long retarded the growth of the livestock sector.

According to him, people rely on livestock for their livelihoods, yet their lifeline livestock are commonly wiped out by diseases, adding that ensuring welfare is a major concern for producers.

He said many Nigerians are afraid of going into the livestock industry because of disease outbreak. For so many people, he said money raised through livestock and animal products pays for education and health care and animals supply manure and traction to support crop production, create employment and provide business opportunities.

The loss of animals through disease, he said, devastates the lives of individuals, families and communities.

He noted that there is dearth of modern abattoirs in the country that would help meet the demand for standard and quality processed meat for both local and international markets.

Adeyemo said the industry needs infrastructure to booast production.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is to partner with the Kwara State Government on the realisation of the State’s agricultural development master plan.

The USAID Country Director, Ms Dana Monsuri, said the partnership is expected to lead to the training of 500 sorghum farmers in Kwara state on modern cultivation methods, group dynamics and leadership in order to build their capacities, while cassava farmers would also be trained on cassava production and field management, as well as access to credit facilities.

Ms Mansuri, during a joint courtesy call with Professors of Agriculture from Cornell University, New York  on the Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, said the areas of cooperation will include building of institutional capacities of farmers, farmer organization and agricultural business associations; strengthening of market linkages for small scale processors as well as the development of the capacities of local service providers.

She added that 5,000 farmers would be mobilized and trained on improved production, have access to quality seeds and agro-inputs as well as link farmers to processors while 198 farmers involved in aqua culture would be trained on water quality management, fish health and disease control.

Other areas of aqua culture training that the farmers would enjoy, according to the USAID Country Director, include training on floating case, tank culture system of tilapia and improved hatchery techniques.

The country director recalled that USAID had also worked with 16,000 farmers in Patigi, Edu and Ilorin South local government areas of the State on improved rice yields, adding that 120 farm groups have been formed.

Leader of the Cornell University team, Ronnie Coffman, who is an International Professor of Plant Breeding and Genetics, in his remarks, said his team was in Kwara State to assist in the implementation of the Kwara State Agricultural Modernisation Master Plan (KAMP) which was jointly developed with the State Government.

He said the Cornell University team will be following up on the essential units of the KAMP such as soil and water analysis, and that it was expected that cooperative groups would be primary means for the implementation of the master plan.

In his remarks, the Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed expressed optimism that the partnership with Cornell University and USAID would revolutionize agricultural practice in the State.

Ahmed, who identified poor planning and lack of access to finance as problems facing agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa, said KAMP will develop the agriculture value chain in the state and pool innovations in farming in order to accelerate commercial agriculture.

He disclosed that ten farmers from each of the 16 local government areas of the State would be used for a model scheme under KAMP with a focus on rice, cassava, soya and maize cultivation.

“Hopefully, the success of these ten farmers per local government will serve as a learning ground for other farmers and test ground for challenges that will be faced with in the implementation of this programme. One thing which comes out clearly here is that Kwara State is on the path of growth and development in agricultural transformation”, the governor emphasised.

The Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN) is working to increase cocoa production to 500,000 tonnes per year in the next five years,its President, Dr Victor Iyama, has said.

He said the private sector would work with the government to tackle poverty.

He said cocoa would be used to tackle the problem,giving its production figure as 300,000 tonnes. The production figure, he noted, is lower than those of Ghana and Ivory Coast, which stand at 1.5million tonnes and 1.7 million tonnes yearly.

The aim, he said, is for at least 1.5 million Nigerians to be gainfully employed in the cocoa industry. The association, he said,would work with its members to develop a new processing and manufacturing market for cocoa.

Iyama said the association is determined to develop a sustainable supply chain for cocoa, rice and sesame seed to provide jobs for Nigerians.

He said Nigeria meets a host of essential criteria, including abundant resources to boost food production and that the association is determined to carry out a sustainable agricultural development programme in coordination with agricultural groups in the country.

He said the association is committed to integrating food growth initiatives to impact socio-economic and rural development.

He said farmers will expand their cultivation areas to meet market demand.

Iyama said ensuring food security and the supply of major farm products will always be a top priority for the association.

According to him, work will be done to accelerate the development of modern agricultural industry and strengthen material and technical support for agriculture.

He said the nation needs to address food security, household incomes and increase exports by promoting the production of key food crops, such as corn, grains and cereals.

The Osun State government has reiterated its determination to give priority to agriculture by stepping up investment. The Commissioner for Finance, Economic Planning and Budget, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, in a statement, said the government is ready to reposition agriculture by investing in programmes to transform the energy of young people into tangible development targets.

According to him, youth participation is critical to the achievement of sustainable agriculture development. He said the government will continue to attach high importance to the youth agenda.

He said the Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme(O’YES) has taken 20,000 volunteer youths off unemployment for a range of social services and public works with direct positive impact on the comfort and health, or even on the economic betterment of the citizens.

“The state government allows each O’YES cadet N10, 000 relief allowance monthly, which translates to about N6 billion for the cycle of two years each batch of 20,000 cadets stays on the programme. This is apart from the outlay on kitting and training. The first batch of the cadets passed out a week ago, paving way for the second,” he explained.

Bolorunduro pointed out that the government is pleased to spend the money to lift a large of number of youths from poverty.

On the O’MEAL programme, the commissioner said it is another social services initiative that provides one balanced meal a day for primary school children.

At the cost of N260 million a month, he said the programme brings vital nutrition to children who might otherwise have gone hungry or even stayed back from school. “O’MEAL engages 3,000 food vendors in the state and they are also assisted with soft loans from the state government,“ he explained.

The Commissioner said that the social capital expenditures are deliberate efforts to stimulate the domestic economy of the state and that the government is using fiscal tools to achieve a fairer distribution of wealth by making allocations to favour the vulnerable groups.

He urged the youth to take advantage of the several programmes and projects initiated by the government to boost agricultural production in the country.

A Food expert, Prof Tola Atinmo, has thrown his weight on the inclusion of information on countryof origin on food labels.

Atinmo, president, Federation of African Nutrition Societies (FANUS),said fresh meat, poultry, fish and dairy products, fruit and vegetables, and other single-ingredient products should carry labels of countries of origin. This, according to him, would help government agencies to address the challenges of food safety.

It would also ensure that consumers know where their meat or dairy products come from. It will also help to know if foods were transported over a long distance so consumers can avoid buying them.

He said people have the right to know what’s in the food they buy and they need to be able to do it easily and quickly so that they can make healthy choices.

He said all kind of edible products were being imported into the country without proper examination of the potential for negative consequences. Consequently, Atinmo of the Department of Human Nutrition University of Ibadan, advocated a regulation that will compel food companies to add key data on food labels, including name, list of ingredients, ‘best before’ and ‘use by’ dates.

Atinmo canvassed stronger rules against deceptive labelling of ‘fake’ foods.

He said consumers must be concerned about welfare and the environment and should know where the meat they buy comes from, including those in processed products .

Also,a food safety advocate Prof Stephen Fapohunda welcomed “improvements” on origin labelling and fake foods.

Fapohunda of Department of Biosciences, Bacbock University, Ogun State, said there was no good justification for ‘hiding away’ core health information on food packaging.

He said every piece of information should be legible, adding that the origin country of products is a key criteria for consumers when buying food. He said that it is not easy for consumers to find out where their food comes from as origin information remains absent from many foods sold in the markets.

According to him, when manufacturers do declare the origin on a voluntary basis, writing “made in” or “product of”, it’s often also impossible to figure out if a product was only processed, transformed or farmed in the given country.

He said most consumers are interested in the origin because they relate this to the quality and the safety of the food.

He advocated that origin labelling should become mandatory for all meats, milk, unprocessed foods, single-ingredient foods such as flour and sugar and ingredients that represent more than 50 per cent of a food.