There have been calls for increased finance to support modern agricultural start-ups and small and medium enterprises and strengthen food security, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

AFRICA’S startup sector has been heating up, with small businesses and start-ups innovating. Efforts are being made to modernise agriculture, help farmers boost yields and overcome threats from climate change.

Despite this, small and medium-sized agriculture businesses in developing nations are facing a $106 billion funding gap, according to ISF Advisors, a sector-specific strategy group.

ISF estimates that about 220,000 “agri-SMEs” in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia need a total of $160 billion in financing; but only $54 billion of that amount is being met through formal channels.

According to the Africa Agribusiness Outlook 2022 report by AGRA and KPMG East Africa, SMEs are keen on increasing investments in affordable smart technologies for small farms as part of a measure to transform agriculture on the continent.Improving local agricultural production through the promotion of the adoption of modern agriculture is a priority for governments in Nigeria and the other parts of Africa. This is in line with their strategies to enhance food security.

In support of this, many development and strategic partners have joined forces with the Federal Government to explore opportunities that drive agricultural production, and launch appropriate financing schemes to attract agro entrepreneurs. This ranges from support of agritech startups in grants and incentives assist support for SMEs in the agriculture and food landscapes to rebuild and strengthen their businesses. 

Last year, MasterCard Foundation launched a $200million fund for African SMEs. The MasterCard Foundation Africa Growth Fund (MFAGF), supports early-stage, growth-oriented SMEs on the continent. The goal of the MasterCard Foundation Africa Growth Fund is to enable dignified and fulfilling work for youths, particularly young women. The fund of funds is bold and catalytic, helping to crowd in capital for African entrepreneurs by strengthening and de-risking African investment vehicles that are committed to advancing gender equity in entrepreneurship. As concerns increase over the ageing farming population, MasterCard Foundation and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) have announced plans to increase youth participation in the agricultural sector through building creative and digital skills. 

The Country Head, Nigeria, MasterCard Foundation, Chidinma Lawanson, at the Agribusiness investors’ network organised by the Innovative Youth in Agriculture (I-Youth), said the foundation has identified agriculture, creative and digital sectors to achieve the feat.

She stated that the challenge of agriculture for the youth is that they only think in terms of drudgery, saying that they are automatically attracted to the creative sector and not to agriculture. She, however, stated that the foundation plans to create at least 30 million work opportunities for young Africans by 2030.

Team Lead for Eupepsia Place Limited (Soilless Farm lab), Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ogbole Samson is working with the MasterCard Foundation to build tech skills for youths in agribusiness.The organisation is not alone in this drive. The USAID Agriculture Programme has been dolling out innovation grants to catalyse innovation in agriculture sector to increase revenue, create jobs, and drive economic growth in rural areas.

USAID grants are awarded based on the capacity and promise to implement impactful agriculture investments that can drive long-term growth in the sector. Microsoft, in partnership with Pangea Trust, with the support of Seed Builders inaugurated a startup accelerator programme to foster a culture of innovation among African startups. The Acceleration programme enables and empowers agri-food tech entrepreneurs with the skills and resources needed to build successful and thriving agri-food tech businesses across Nigeria.

Apart from this, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has established Creating Sustainable Youth MSMEs Through Urban Farming (SYMUF) initiative, to support young farmers in Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda, attracted to urban farming.The bank is partnering a consortium of incubation centres in participating countries to implement the project. They are the Africa Projects Development Centre (APDC) in Nigeria, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA-Bukavu) in the DRC, and the African Agribusiness Incubation Network in Uganda.

The SYMUF project has received $937,000 in grant from the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance, a multi-donor trust fund managed by the AfDB. While in different regions of the continent, the three countries grapple with high youth unemployment and limited economic opportunities.

SYMUF, which is under the bank’s Empowering Novel Agri-Business Led Employment (ENABLE) Youth Programme, will use business incubators and financial products to help transform start-up micro, small and medium enterprises into bankable ventures. It will provide youths with agribusiness and technical skills, including climate-smart agriculture practices, technologies, market networks, and professional mentorship.

The Chief Executive, African Agribusiness Incubation Network in Uganda, Alex Ariho, said the SYMUF project would help young African ‘agripreneurs’ overcome start-up incubation and management challenges.

“Working together with all the partners, we are committed to making the SYMUF Project one of the best projects sponsored by the African Development Bank,” he added. The bank has invested over $400 million in 15 African countries under the programme,” he said.

The bank has committed to investing in financial services and products designed to strengthen the agricultural business sector in poor communities. Also, Germany’s Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation’s (BMZ) is working  with International Fund for Agricultural Development to provide SMEs with better access to finance through IFAD’s Private Sector Financing Programme (PSFP), particularly in nie African countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Togo, and Zambia).

”Agricultural SMEs along the food value chain are essential to small-scale farmers. They provide services, input, and link to a multitude of market opportunities, increased incomes and employment in rural areas,” said IFAD President, Alvaro Lario.

As Nigeria and other parts of Africa are developing, the agricultural sector faces enormous challenges to growth, with systemic problems of water scarcity, the energy transition among others. Deputy Managing Director, Project Incubation West Africa, OCP Africa, Caleb Usoh, believes the startup sector provides a testing ground for new ideas and technology aimed at solving the problems of tomorrow.

To this end, he said the company is working on supporting agritech startups to embrace diversification and support agric SMES in enabling long-term growth.The incubation programme, according to him, will be designed to inspire the country’s future generation of AgriTech entrepreneurs.  He is convinced Nigeria has the potential to position itself as a major innovation hub in the agro-industrial sector in Africa. Still in the work, the programme, according to him, is dedicated to innovative solutions in agro-industrial value chain and other sectors.

Heifer’s Country Director, Rufus Idris, believes that initiating and equipping the sector’s stakeholders with the latest technologies available is fundamental. For this reason, the organisation is empowering more tech entrepreneurs provide solutions to allow farmers to make the best decision at the right time. 

Heifer International’s AYuTe Africa Challenge launched a new national competition to boost agriculture across Africa. The contest offered young entrepreneurs in Nigeria the opportunity to pitch for investment in their agritech solutions to boost the incomes and productivity of Africa’s smallholder farmers with a $20,000 for winners.

He said: “The National competition in Nigeria has been initiated as an enterprise development programme to further identify, nurture and support innovative, relevant and technology-driven agriccentric enterprises to grow, scale and thrive. Idris said the programme was initiated to support innovative, relevant and technology driven agriccentric enterprises. Three agritech innovators won the Heifer International ‘AYuTe Africa Challenge Nigeria’$20,000 grant to shape the narrative of agriculture in Nigeria using technology, as well as to reimagine farming and food production across the continent.” 

About five finalists reached the grand finale out of over 600 entries, which was held in Lagos, with Soupah Farm-en-Market Limited emerging first to get $10, 000, Simkay Foods Limited emerged second to get $6, 000, while Evet Technology got $4, 000 for third place. Idris said the country’s agriculture is one of the most underperforming in yields and productivity, as well as under-mechanised where families have no choice but to engage in manual labour that sometimes could be more expensive. He said there are smallholder farmers that are operating in regions vulnerable to farming chain impacts, such as flood, drought, pest and diseases.

”We are also operating a sector where small holder farmers are struggling and living in poverty because they cannot access essential services, care market, improved input and seeds, as well as finance and technology that can help them to increase and improve their productivity.

“Nigeria and Africa’s small rural farmers’population are aging. We have an average of 60 years old and the younger ones are not interested in replacing those that have retired,” he said.

He said to address these issues, Heifer International invests more than $1.5 million to accelerate digital agriculture entrepreneurship in Africa through the AYuTe Africa Challenge grants to support promising young agritech innovators across Africa who are using technology to reimagine farming and food production across the continent. There is, undeniably, a huge scope for bringing in innovations in agriculture sector, according to Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abiola Olusanya, who observed that the turbulent times of climate change and other challenges require action from tech entrepreneurs to ensure growth and sustainability for agri-preneurs.

With farmers being on the top of the priority list of the government, she reiterated that every effort is made to ensure innovative agriculture contribute immensely to make Lagos self-sufficient in food production. She reiterated the need to build capacities to promote agriculture as agri-SMEs are a vital piece in the puzzle to address the food crisis.  In 2021, investments into agritech startups in Africa hit $ 482.3 million. 

Coffee is the most traded tropical product, with up to 25 million farming households accounting for 80 per cent of its global output. But Nigeria’s production has fallen to less than 60,000 metric tonnes yearly. Stakeholders are calling for the repositioning of the industry to enable the country to earn more foreign exchange from it. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Coffee is one of the most consumed and traded commodities globally.

According to ResearchAndMarkets.com, its global market could reach $237.6 billion by 2025.

Also, coffee shops are going to become icons of urban neigbhourhoods. It is for these and more that agro entrepreneurs are pushing for increased domestic coffee consumption.

According to a United Kingdom-based Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI), coffee is a primary source of income for more than 12 million households in Africa, particularly rural-based populations. It stated that over 38 per cent of the total population of Burundi, 23 per cent Tanzania, 22 per cent Uganda, 17 per cent, Côte d’Ivoire and 14 per cent Ethiopia depend on coffee farming.

Although a high-value commodity and a major contributor to major economies in West and Central Africa, Nigeria’s production has been about 70,000 tonnes yearly, according to Cocoa  Research Institute of Nigeria(CRIN). Also, Nigeria has not been recognised since the crop production has, for over two decades, been on a downward spiral.

Lamenting the situation, the Secretary-General, National Coffee and Tea Association of Nigeria, Dr Usman Hassan Kakara, said Nigeria was losing over N500 billion yearly as revenue from local and international markets. Notwithstanding, ResearchAndMarkets.com has forecast that the coffee market in Nigeria may reach $4.62 billion between 2020 and 2025.

CABI said the growth in domestic coffee production would lead to increased job creation.

For instance, in 2017, the Senate received a Bill for an Act to establish the National Tea and Coffee Development Council and for other connected matters, 2017 (S.B. 462).

Sponsored by Senator Yusuf Abubakar Yusuf (Taraba Central), it aimed at providing a national and coordinated approach towards the growing, processing and marketing of tea and coffee. Consequently, the bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Agriculture. The advocacy for the bill intensified.

In December 2020, the bill passed second reading. This February, the Senate passed a bill seeking to establish the National Council for Tea and Coffee Development. This followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

In his presentation, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Abdullahi Adamu (Nasarawa West), said the Council, when established, would be saddled with developing and promoting the production, processing and marketing of tea and coffee.

According to him, the Council would facilitate the generation of foreign exchange to reduce the dependence on the export of crude oil as the mainstay of Nigeria’s source of revenue.

He explained that tea and coffee are most consumed beverages around the world.

Adamu explained further that the National Council for Tea and Coffee Development would, among others, provide the technical, managerial and horticultural extension services as catalyst for tea and coffee growth and development in Nigeria.

The lawmaker said the passage of the bill by the upper chamber would be a “bold-step” towards revamping tea and coffee business in Nigeria, while creating jobs for the youth.

Last year, Nigeria finalised its membership in the International Coffee Organisation (ICO) and its International Coffee Agreement (ICA). The appointment makes Nigeria one of 43 coffee-producing countries in the ICO.

As a member of the ICO, Nigeria will also be involved in the restructuring of the 2007 ICA, the international accord overseen by the ICO and its members designed to support coffee producers and strengthen the global coffee sector.

While the demand for coffee is increasing, there has been a dramatic decline in coffee production.

Stakeholders attributed the situation to lessening coffee plantation areas, degraded soil, aging coffee trees, inefficient land-use, lack of knowledge and skills among coffee farmers and little adoption of best farming practices and management.

But the industry is holding Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN) responsible for the poor coffee research.  Stakeholders had called on the institute to partner others to rejuvenate the industry.

Last month, CRIN held its Farmers’ Field Day. And its Executive Director, Dr Patrick Olusanmi Adebola, spoke about the innovative products that have been added to the institute, including its coffee.

On the results from studies by the institute, Adebola indicated that there were prospects of producing high-quality coffee in Nigeria, if processing was well done. To this end, CRIN, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM) and Kaldi Africa have collaborated to develop three machines for wet processing, which include depulping, dehulling and coffee-roasting machines, to find lasting solutions to the issues and to put smiles on the faces of coffee farmers.

National President, Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama, called on the government to work with farmers to boost efficiency in the coffee value chain. Noting that constraints were major obstacles to coffee producers, he emphasised the need for cooperation to support stakeholders engaged in the value chain. He sees growing potential in the booming coffee market.

Iyama called for increased local production to enable exporters to explore the global coffee market valued at $102.02 billion.

With coffee prices on the rise, Iyama said exporters could gain foreign exchange from the sector.

He confirmed that cocoa and coffee were among the most traded agro commodities, urging the government and the private sector to empower more growers to offer coffee around the world.

According to him, increased demand for coffee would also raise prices.

He said commercial coffee farming was struggling to expand due to lack of technical knowledge and poor use of modern technologies.

He also said the government should put in more while the private sector should join hands to grow coffee on a large scale to make the industry sustainable.

Iyama noted that the price performance would be bright, calling for intensified local production to enable Nigeria achieve tremendous success in the sector.

Elsewhere, high global commodity prices, new rising markets are helping countries such as Ethiopia improve the performance of its coffee export. The East African country, known as the origin of Arabica coffee, is recognised for its rich coffee quality and flavor, which ranges from winy to fruity and chocolate, making the country’s coffee varieties on demand across the globe.

Like Iyama, Chief Executive, Happy Coffee Nigeria, Princess Adeyinka Tekenah, shares a lofty dream for the coffee industry.

Buoyed by this, she is driving a campaign to ensure that Nigerians have access to local coffee.

Princess Tekenah sees the next wave of growth in the international coffee industry coming from Nigeria and wants to play a role in driving the growth. She has been part of a comprehensive stakeholder consultation study to understand the problems of the coffee industry and also to find ways and means to get coffee farmers out of deep distress and debt.

While coffee has the potential of a key priority agricultural commodity in Nigeria, there aren’t many policies to support the development of the sector.

At present, spending on coffee, according to Fitch Solutions, is 2.5 per cent, compared to tea or cocoa, which are forecast to account for close to 40 per cent of Nigeria’s non-alcoholic drink spending by 2023.

According to it, consumer coffee spend for Nigeria is set to hit $286.8million in 2023. Despite this, farmers are not tapping the potential as the produce has seen a significant dip in production and export. However, analysts believe a competitive coffee market will boost local production.

In collaboration with AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited (AFEX), a private commodities exchange firm, Princess Tekenah, said her company was establishing a data platform to help coffee farmers.

Oloni of Eti-Oni, Osun State, Oba Dokun Thompson, was confident that smallholder farmers could raise coffee quality. He advocated that the government work with farmers on training – from agricultural practices and farm renovation to post-harvest techniques. This, he said, would help farmers to achieve higher yields and quality standards that would open up opportunities for them to secure premiums from certification and specialty markets, while lowering their production costs.

Despite the efforts, however, studies indicate that the nation has not  properly reap the potential of the sector to its economy due to various reasons.

To reverse this predicament, stakeholders are calling for a coffee development strategy to boost production and foreign currency earnings.

The strategy would address key challenges that hamper the growth of the coffee sector. Analysts believe Nigeria is very well-endowed with very good climate conditions with huge diversity and varieties.

During the International Coffee and Tea Day in Abuja, the founder, Centre for Coffee and Tea Initiative (CCTI) in Africa, Mr Innocent Mbonu, called for increased coffee production.

“About 23 states can produce coffee in Nigeria without stress, the highland tea, the lowland tea as well as coffee.

“So, we want to see how we can sensitise every stakeholder so that Nigeria will produce coffee and tea. “Tea and coffee are next to oil. Ethiopia is using it as their foreign exchange.

“In Nigeria the land is there, they are fertile. In the north, south, east and west – everywhere is fertile for growth. So, why don’t we do it by ourselves?” Mbonu added.

According to him, most of the coffee and tea produced in the Mambila Plateau in Taraba ended up in the hands of the French through Cameroon.

“The French people produce it as made-in-France,” he claimed, adding that Nigeria should take measures to properly utilise the resources. Mbonu said Nigeria should strengthen its relations with Ethiopia to tap from its experience and expertise in tea and coffee production.

Also, the Ethiopian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Yonas Sanbe, said both countries could leverage on their population to strengthen bilateral relations in the area of tea and coffee production.

He said that Ethiopia consumed about 50 per cent of the coffee it produced while the rest was exported.

“We are trying to diversify our economy from agriculture to promote foreign exchange which Nigeria can also take a cue from,” he said.

The USAID-funded West Africa Trade and Investment Hub (Trade Hub) has awarded N562.9m in co-investment grants to Golden Agri Inputs Limited (GAIL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc (FMN).

Through this partnership Flour Mills of Nigeria, GAIL is co-investing over N3 billion.

The co-investment partnership activity titled ‘YALWA Abundance” will engage smallholder farmers in an outgrower program to cultivate 10,000hectares (Ha) of land and generate 22,500 Metric tons (MT) of maize and 12,500MT of soybean; provide improved agronomic trainings, extension support, and input loans to 10,000 smallholder farmers to increase the productivity of maize and soybean and minimize post-harvest losses.

The project is also designed to create 151 new jobs in Nigeria thereby helping to bridge the unemployment gap in the country whilst directly benefitting about 10,000 maize and soybean farmers with 30% being female and young farmers respectively and over 60,000 indirect beneficiaries.

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Mr. Boye Olusanya, Group Managing Director/CEO of the company said: “FMN is one of the largest food processors in Nigeria with an aggregate combined processing capacity of over 750,000 Metric Tons (MT) per annum. For over six decades, the Group has been significantly investing across its five key value chains – Grains, edible Oil and Fats, Feeds & Proteins, Sweeteners, and Starch, thus GAIL’s co-investment with the Trade Hub to expand its “YALWA” project and to provide input credit to 10,000 smallholder farmers across four states in Nigeria is an invaluable venture for both the organization and the nation, this is strategic for us as a Group to progressively drive local content development in Nigeria so as to ensure that the national mandate of attaining food self-sufficiency in the nearest future is attained. Our partnership with the Trade Hub will help fastrack this mandate whilst creating varied job opportunities for Nigerians.

“The Trade Hub strives to promote and expand employment, trade & export, and investment opportunities both within the West African sub-region and international markets” stated Mr. Robin Wheeler, Chief of Party, Trade Hub “The Trade Hub is a five-year trade and investment facilitation program that seeks to improve private sector competitiveness in West Africa. Having closely followed the investments made by FMN through its subsidiary GAIL, especially with the level of success recorded under the ‘Yalwa Abundance’ program, we strongly believe that this partnership will positively transform Nigeria’s food security and boost the local production of maize and soybean.”

In the last 12 months, the agricultural sector has been characterised by lower yields, higher food prices and growing security concerns. For stakeholders, the balance of food sustainability and national security hangs on a balance. DANIEL ESSIET reports

There have been worries about the inadequate food production in Nigeria caused by short-term climate effects and longer-term yields and production declines.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned Nigeria and other African countries  that they faced challenges in food production to keep up with demand from swelling population.

In a study, it warned producers to take action to narrow yield gaps. Team Leader, International and Rural Development, Livelihoods Support and Development Centre, Prof Kola Adebayo, expressed worry about the insecurity on the farmlands  and how this would continue to lead to food insecurity amid worsening poor agricultural production, price spikes and economic crisis.

According to him, the crisis in the agric sector has caused acute shortages of essential products, including food, agricultural input, thereby severely affecting the economic activities.

Adebayo indicated that insecurity has made it difficult for farmers to engage in production optimally, thus affecting productivity and causing market disruptions with attendant food price shocks.

The President, Federation of Agricultural Commodities of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama, agreed with Adebayo. He explained that attacks on farms and erratic weather, caused in part by climate change, were equally affecting agriculture.

Former President, President, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Kanayo Nwanze,  noted that the recent flooding – the worst in a decade – has destroyed vital food supplies in Nigeria.

Since 2020, food prices have been  rising.This has exacerbated food inflation.This year, United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) warned that the number of Nigerians at the risk of hunger had been rising. Rising food prices, according to a recent World Bank report, is severely impacting on households, adding that food prices accounted for over 60 per cent of the total increase in inflation as of April, last year.

Similarly, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that the yearly food inflation surged to 20.6 per cent in June due to cost of such essential commodities as bread and cereals, potatoes, yam, meat, fish, among others.

In July, NBS alerted that inflation rate has soared to 19.64 per cent. In its Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, NBS stated that the rising rate of food inflation is evidenced in the rising prices of food items such as rice, beans, bread, yam, vegetables, fruits and eggs, which had gone up by at least 100 per cent between 2011 and the year The food inflation rate by last September was 23.34 per cent, marking an uptick from the 23.12 per cent  recorded in the previous month.

The increase in the food index was attributed to the increases in prices of bread and cereals, food products, potatoes, yams, other tubers, oil, and fat.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, observed that the inflation rate of food prices might drive more Nigerians into the poverty, unless appropriate measures were taken.

He expressed this concern in Abuja at the national workshop on the applications of Juncao technology and its contribution to the achievement of sustainable agriculture and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.

The workshop, which was organised by the African Union Development Agency-New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD), was supported by the National Engineering Research Centre for Juncao Technology of the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU) of China and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

Represented by the Director, Federal Department of Agriculture, Abdullahi Abubakar, the minister said: “Food may become more expensive as climate change mitigation efforts increase energy prices.’’

Several farmers in Zamfara, Borno, Benue, Niger, Kaduna and Plateau states have been kept away from their farmlands by the bandits, Boko Haram terrorists and kidnappers.

Chief Executive, Kereksuk Rice Farm, Rotimi Williams, said it had been challenging running a rice farm where safety could not be guaranteed for the farmers to increase food production. He said insecurity had forced him to abandon his farms.

In Nassarawa and other parts of the Middle Belt, for example, attacks on farms and extreme weather events have crippled rice cultivation. Floods, diseases and pests have increased the risk of crop and income losses. Right now, farmers rely on seasonal weather patterns. Farmer’s paddies were damaged, following the floods.

Williams explained that the rising cost of agricultural production is driving farmers to leave the land.

According to him, rice production is impacted by the changing climate. He maintained that future rice productivity will depend on climate action and innovation techniques. He said a lot would have to be done to incentivise and support young people to stay on the farm.

Chairman, All farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Chief Femi Oke, sought protection for farmers. According to him, farmers were not safe. With devastating floods, which plunged great swaths of agricultural land under water, Oke forecast a major strain on food security and continuous spike in food prices.

His concern was that local production would not be able to keep up with the demand curve, with so much lost to the flood.The situation is,  particularly, critical with some parts of the North experiencing drought.  The recent rise in inflation, according to him, has resulted in higher food prices, eroding the purchasing power of households. This has raised questions about the country’s food security.

For the Managing Director, Niji Group, Kolawole Niji, food production had been affected by high energy prices. It has been challenging to address expensive diesel prices as farmers are facing a cost-of-living crisis, he added. He said the situation had impacted on progress made in addressing key food security challenges, placing a serious strain on food supply chains.

Niji expressed concerns over logistics challenges and increased freight costs. According to him, the consequences of a food security crisis were real, urging for more efforts to better harness the productivity of farmers, increase crop yields, and ensure of food sustainability.

In its latest ‘Nigeria grain and feed update’, United States Agriculture Department (USDA) predicted that Nigeria’s rice production would fall by seven per cent within the marketing year, starting from last October to next September, following insecurity and recent flooding that has eroded rice-growing areas.

According to USDA, households have started to see a substantial increase in the average price of bags of rice, rising to about 50 per cent.

It added that yield increased marginally due to good weather, improved management practices, and improved varieties. For most Nigerians, the country is facing an incredible set of challenges. These include prices for staple food, making it difficult for many to keep kitchen fires burning.

Of the 24 countries classified as hunger hotspots by FAO and WFP this year, 16 are in Africa. According to FAO and WFP joint reports, the continent accounts for 62 per cent of food insecure in hotspot countries.

FAO and WFP stated that Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Ethiopia accounted for more than 56 per cent of the food insecurity on the continent.

According to FAO and WFP joint reports, floods in 27 states last February damaged 450,000 hectares of farmland, thereby affecting this year’s harvest.

Last month, however, Dr. Abubakar said the country has enough food to feed its citizens.

Abubakar spoke during at the fifth  “PMB Administration Scorecard 2015-2023 Series,” at the Radio House, Abuja.

He blamed the rising cost of food  on inflation and the aftermath of the  pandemic, which forced many countries, including Nigeria, to shut important economic activities for months.

He noted that to improve food stock, the ministry was constructing 10 large scale integrated rice mills with 320 metric tonnes capacity daily in Jigawa, Kano, Adamawa, Niger, Kaduna, Gombe, Ekiti, Ogun, Bayelsa states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), in addition to supporting the production and distribution of breeder, foundation and certified rice seeds for farmers.

Abubakar said the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative launched in 2016 had increased the number of fertiliser plants from eight to 200 and raised production from 300,000 metric tonnes to seven million metric tonnes.

He said: “We have enough food to take care of Nigerians. We are producing food across the country and we will continue to do so to feed Nigerians in line with our mandate and expedite the transformation of the rural communities of Nigeria.’’

The minister noted that the ministry was also constructing two 2000 metric tonnes specialised warehouse for the storage of food commodities at Federal Government-retained silo complexes in Irrua, Edo State, and Ilesha, Osun State.

In Nigeria and the rest of Africa, farmers and food producers have recognised the opportunities offered by drone-based systems. Drones, known as unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), now provide farmers with real-time, actionable data on their land, crop and livestock to help maximise input efficiency, minimise environmental impacts/risks, and optimise produce quality. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The race is on to drive digitalisation to enable farmers to get the best out of their fields. One of those on this campaign is the President, Beat Drone, Odionye Confidence. He conducts drone-based planting and spraying on behalf of local farmers. He is among the growing number of drone operators serving farmers, and helping them to seed, spread and spray pesticides. With drones, he delivers high-resolution images from every corner of farm fields, controls weeds, fungal diseases, and pests.

He said: “Beat Drone provides drones which assist farmers in spraying chemicals for weeding, spraying liquid fertiliser, mapping farms; the map makes it possible for small holder farmers to access finances from the government, co-operatives and the banks; we also aid the financial institution track the funds on input for the farmers while also providing detailed crop health information to advice the farmer on the health needs of the crops. To date we have provided services to Dangote, Olam, Flourmills of Nigeria, Ho corn among others across, Niger, Sokoto, Adamawa, Nassarawa, Oyo and 15 other states in Nigeria.”

He travels with drones to many fields. The Beat Drone team came together in 2016, with Confidence joined by co-founder Yinka Ojomo.

Confidence and other tech-savvy young people have brought farm drones to help farmers boost productivity and profits. With drones, he can map out how the soil will be prepared for sowing, which crop variety to be planted, and what fertiliser and crop protection products have been deployed. The information provided through drone based survey is the roadmap for a successful harvest. Before large scale farms and plantations spread thousands of hectares in size across the continent, spray crops by helicopters. But it was too expensive for many farmers to afford.

Amid rising farm input costs, corporate organisations owning large hectares are now using drones to spread fertiliser and pesticides, forging a new path to increase outputs. Now, there are drone services providers offering plant protection. Thanks to the increasingly prospering market of UAV and farmers’ gradual acceptance of new technology. As drones have been adopted into Nigeria’s agricultural production, a new career has opened up to young people, to become drone pilots.

Though he has relocated, Asia-based agri technologist, Ndubuisi Eze, is still riding the wave of agriculture revolution he initiated in the North, using drones on hundreds and thousands of hectares of farm fields. He deployed drones to explore business models for mechanisation of farming in Northeast.  Indeed, drones have simplified crop planting for farmers, in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.

Known as the flying farmer, the founder, Integrated Aerial Precision, Femi Adekoya, has been working with farmers to deploy drones to map land, report crop health, analyse soil, improve spraying accuracy, and locate livestock, among others. He had recognised the value of using technology to improve crop yields. Today, his company provides farmers with precision crop protection solutions.

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As a drone pilot, he has harnessed technology to make a good fortune in the sector. With his drones, his teams help farmers finish the fieldwork much faster and easier. The introduction of drone has attracted the youth to agriculture and provides a business opportunity. As the drone gains more attention in Nigeria, the number of farmers using drone for autonomous operations is increasing.

Adekoya has been working with local businesses to meet the rapidly increasing demand for drone spraying service. He wants farmers to appreciate the benefits of using drones in terms of efficiency, precision, and cost-saving. As in the rest of the world, drones are used in various areas of agriculture in Nigeria.

Analysts believe with significant growth, drone market holds opportunities for big agro firms in search of accuracy in data collection and for firms which want to provide farmers with intelligent tools to feed the world. Another group promoting drones in agriculture in Nigeria is Flying Labs.  An international social enterprise, it is dedicated to promoting the use of robotics and automation skills for the betterment of the society.

The organisation has trained UAV pilots, whose skills will be used to boost productivity across the continent.

Generally, individual Flying Labs are coordinated by local not-for-profit organisations, local companies and/or academic institutions.

In Nigeria, Flying Labs South West Hub has been applying their expertise in drones, drone data, and geographic information systems (GIS) to empower local businesses and small holder farmers. The team has trained youths in smart farming techniques and drone technology.

Outside Nigeria, more startups are excited that the possibilities of putting drones to work on the farms are skyrocketing as they help farmers to obtain powerful insights into crop performance and elevate their agricultural efficiency.  In Senegal, Agtech startup is leading the homegrown pack. The startup uses a combination of drones, robotics, sensors, and predictive analytics to provide farmers with nearly real-time data so they can maximise crop yields.

In Senegal, climate change could result in more droughts, flooding and extreme temperatures. As such farmers need to turn to digital technology to get accurate, timely data they can act on quickly.

The use of drones in farming is rising steeply. Tolbi is raising $500,000 this year to develop its activity. Founded by Mouhamadou Lamine Kébé, a graduate of the Dakar Polytechnic School in 2019, with three of his classmates to tackle the water management problems experienced by Senegalese farmers, Tolbi offers a set of connected objects based on artificial intelligence and edge computing to facilitate field irrigation and improve agricultural yield.

The strong impact Tolbi has on agriculture has earned it several awards including the Grand Prix of the President of the Republic for Digital Innovation in 2020. The startup aims to become a leader in smart agriculture in Africa. Next year, it plans to enter Nigeria, Kenya, Algeria, and Morocco.

Apart from Senegal, agritech startups have been using drones to ignite a big change in Morocco’s agriculture. Startups develop drones for soil analysis, crop monitoring, irrigation, spraying, field mapping, among others. At present, a few startups have achieved so much using drones to boost precision farming through aerial application.

From remote sensing drone to unmanned ground vehicle, Moroccan startup SOWIT has developed products that can be applied on farm to yield a bright future.

SOWIT offers digital solutions that enable farmers to preserve irrigation water and fertiliser needs for a range of major crops on the continent such as cereals, maize, sugar cane, and citrus.

Founded in 2017, SOWIT has offices in France, Morocco and Senegal. SOWIT was founded by Hamza Rkha Chaham and Hamza Bendahou, two individuals passionate about using technology to help fulfill Africa’s great agricultural potential. The agri-tech start-up has helped African farmers in 15 countries optimise their crop yields. The startup uses precise images captured by drones, supported by algorithms, to help farmers assess water and input needs and determine ideal harvesting times.

The company is rapidly expanding the use of agricultural drones through tie-ups with companies in Nigeria, Morocco and East Africa.

Following SOWIT’s success in Africa, the use of drones for precision agriculture is gaining momentum. The startup has used UAVs to transform how agriculture is done.

Co-founder, SOWIT, Hamza Rkha Chaham, has been involved in activities to empower farmers to use drones to monitor and spray their fields precisely and rapidly. In September this year, SOWIT signed a partnership agreement with Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire (BCP) to provide farmers in the Beni Mellal-Khenifra region with access to innovative diagnostic and monitoring solutions for sustainable and effective farm management.

He is not alone. Moroccan Aerospace Institute has demonstrated how farmers can benefit by using drones and other tools of precision farming technology to monitor the health of crops, estimate soil conditions, plant future crops, fight infections and pests. The institute co-founder, Mohamed Belkora, launched startup, Korair, because of his passion for agri-tech.

With drones, farmers are supported in crop spraying. The company manufactures drones, which can outreach more than 30 hectares of farmland a day. The technology disperses very small droplets (0.2 micrometers) of insecticide liquid spray, making it easier for the plants to absorb the pesticides.

In recent years, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UMP6), based in Ben Guerir, Morocco has been directing its research towards improving smart farming, an initiative to accelerate the incorporation of data processing and technology to optimise cultivation.

UM6P’s Smart Farming unit is a multifaceted innovation lab utilising diverse modes of technology to optimize the yield.

One of the  university’s innovation hubs is an experimental farm. The centre specialises in so-called smart farming – harnessing technology and data processing to improve cultivation.

Aerodrive Engineering Services is one of the hub’s startups. It provides consulting services to farmers, using drones to detect pest insects, nutrient deficiencies or water stress.

Within the lab, Aerodrive Engineering Services is harnessing drone technology to improve cultivation.  Using drones, the startup harvests data by scanning soil. It then uses the compiled data to offer feedback to farmers on how to use fertiliser, watering techniques, among others.

In Rhamna, a region suffering from severe drought, UMP6 has helped farmers transition to a high-yield crop production that is resilient in the face of climate change. So far, Morocco has been in the forefront of technology use in agriculture. Images and data obtained from drones and satellites are combined in agricultural area and crop planning to help create a productive, profitable and sustainable sector.

Organisations are investing in the research of small-unmanned aerial vehicles-drones to make them easier to use in farming business. Moroccan-based precision agriculture services platform and digital marketplace for agro-products, AgriEdge, is leveraging satellite data and cutting-edge technologies to boost yield and reduce operational cost for small-large holder farmers in Africa.

AgriEdge incubated at UMP6, leverages geospatial technology to provide crop yield prediction and estimation service using satellite images.

To  feed the world’s ever-growing population, Agricorp Chief Executive Kenneth Obiajulu believes farmers deserve all the help they can get.

For agriculture to prosper, he believes building a modern ecosystem is important, and technological platforms can enable farmers to confidently increase yields.

With modern platforms, smart farming technology, including drone and satellite imaging, he sees farmers leapfrogging into modern, highly efficient techniques.

The Director General of International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, Dr Nteranya Sarginga, has described Nigerians as the most hospitable people in Africa.

He spoke as he bows out after 11 years of leading the largest agricultural research institute in Africa.

Sarginga, who is the first African to lead the institute, hails from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He had served as a student researcher before returning as the first African DG in 2011.

While giving account of his stewardship to select reporters at the weekend, the outgoing chief executive called on African leaders to invest more in agriculture to feed Africans and lead in exportation of farm produce to strengthen economies and provide jobs.

Sarginga, who took over leadership in 2011, is famous for his ‘people first’ policy which saw the institute regain the trust of staff, a development that helped staff and other stakeholders give their best to the institute.

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The policy has helped IITA regain its position as the leading agricultural research institute in Africa attracting new grants and projects across the world.

He said: “ When I became the 7th DG of IITA and started work on 1 November 2011, 1 used the People Strategy to inform the Business Strategy (IITA Refreshed Strategy 2012-2020) as the best approach to lead and develop the organization. Both strategies had to work together to enable the organization to deliver on its mission and mandate of transforming the agricultural agenda in Africa.

“Most staff in IITA and other organisations have asked me about my People Strategy. My answer has been that you will not find that in any annual report and probably not in any internal IITA document either. Yet we all agree that “people are the most important assets in any institution.” For me the people strategy is the link between the business strategy and the implications for human resources. It answers questions such as what are we good at, what capabilities do we need, and when and where do we need them? I spent a lot of time early in my administration to get answers to such questions from all categories of IITA staff at headquarters and hubs.”

To his credit, IITA successfully introduced the youth agripreneurship programme which opens up opportunities for youths in agriculture.

The programme makes youths see agriculture as a business instead of a punishment. They get trained by IITA and are supported with resources to succeed in agriculture business.

Through the programme, some selected public secondary schools have been renovated, and supplied technology laboratories to help young tots embrace technology in farming.

Sarginga also built partnerships to with local, national and international stakeholders to promote agriculture and agribusiness and financing.

Though he indicated interest in returning to his country of birth, DRC, Sarginga, who was installed as the Aare Afurugbin-ola of the Source by the Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi last year, said he still has a lot of work to do in Nigeria.

He commended the enormous hospitality he enjoyed in Nigeria, saying Nigerians are perhaps the most hospitable people in Africa.

While global food prices may be falling in Europe and United States, those of Nigeria and the rest of Africa are soaring. Analysts attribute this to inadequate storage capacities and logistical infrastructure for agricultural commodities. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Food prices worldwide have repeatedly fallen this year, data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has revealed. But those of Nigeria and the rest of Africa are still soaring. Africa has been hit with spiralling food prices. Across the continent, food inflation has reached record highs, according to the various Bureaus of Statistics.

This and other issues have prompted the FAO to warn of rising food security issues in Africa where agricultural production has fallen.

Indeed, food security has resurfaced to the forefront of global issues as supply chains exacerbate growing hunger and malnutrition.   But worrying for analysts are lack of capacity increases and technological upgrade at the various storage terminals and silos and non-enhancement of intermodal transportation. Against this backdrop, the sector is grappling with bottlenecks in storage capacity and logistical infrastructure for crops storage.

FAO estimates that over 40 per cent of food in sub-Saharan Africa perish before it reaches a consumer.  The organisation’s experts are convinced waste could be as high as 60 per cent for fresh produce, pointing to unmet demand for temperature-controlled cold-storage warehouses and transportation services.

If African agriculture is to play a greater role in supplying local food demand, a study by McKinsey, an international multidiscipline practice group,  posited  that it would be important to improve cost competitiveness for food crops compared with major trading partners.

The report said sub-Saharan Africa needs at least $8 billion of investment in basic storage (not including cold-chain investments for horticulture or animal products) to fulfill its agricultural promise.

According to International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other institutions, sub-Saharan Africa loses an average of 13.5 per cent of harvested grain at the post-harvest phase, which is equivalent to nearly $4 billion yearly.

For the Chairman, AFEX Nigeria, Mr. Deji Balogun, Africa’s agriculture holds great promise, but the continent is hampered by lack of infrastructure. According to him, the poor level of grain storage is one of the key leaking points in the harvested cereal’s supply chain.

Hence, efforts to strengthen the sector have often achieved only limited success because of failure to improve the provision of storage facilities and logistics infrastructure development.

For him and others, what Nigeria and the rest of Africa need is a comprehensive strategy that synthesises diverse approaches to improving growth, harvesting, storing, and distribution of food supply, while prioritising resources for the most-promising areas of improvement.

Bottlenecks in Nigeria’s storage capacity and logistical infrastructure

According to the World Bank, Nigeria’s logistical supply chain will need to be bolstered by increasing storage capacities and road haulage, in addition to infrastructure upgrades if agriculture is to grow.

Chairman, Multimix Academy, Dr. Obiora Madu, believes Nigeria’s logistical competitiveness has deteriorated as a result of ageing infrastructure. In some parts of Nigeria, due to a lack in storage structures, losses have been estimated between 40 and 45 per cent. He noted that storage played a vital role in the food supply chain, and several studies reported that maximum losses happen during harvesting. The hauling industry, he noted, is one of the most critical links in the chain when it comes to reducing food waste and alleviating agro commodities congestion at ports, warehouses and rail terminals.

A consultant, Prof Abel Ogunwale also shares this view. The lack of adequate transportation infrastructure, he noted, results in large spillage and high contamination.

He reiterated that the upgrading of rail and inland waterways was critical in the transportation of crops from cultivation areas to their final destinations.  So far, he said road is extensively used for crop and transportation of other goods.

Trucks, he maintained, play a huge role in long-distance transportation of crops.

The next link in the chain, he believes, is railroads as trucks bring agro commodities to various hubs where the produce are stored and later loaded on trains and taken inland.

Sadly, major railroads have their own issues to contend with, including lack of good storage for transportation of agro commodities.

Higher costs of hauling and storage can lead to higher produce prices and overall inflation.

Ogunwale cited upgrading of rail infrastructure as a priority the government should focus on to undertake transportation of agricultural products, particularly grain.

To reduce grain waste, AFEX is currently upgrading its infrastructure. Increased harvest may well grow trickier in the coming months, with some crops due to be harvested, also putting pressure on domestic storage capacity.

AFEX has opened its newly built multi-grain processing plant in Kaduna, with an annual processing capacity of 100,000 metric tonnes (MT). The new state-of-the-art plant, fashioned with modern grain sorting, cleaning and packaging equipment, also features the state’s largest single unit storage space with a holding capacity of 30,000MT. The plant has the capability of processing a wide array of grains, including maize, soy beans, sorghum, among others, sourced from local farmers in the northern region.

Established in 2013, AFEX commenced operations with just seven storage facilities with an aggregate storage capacity of 12,000MT. Since then, the commodity trader has expanded to 150 storage facilities across the country with a holding capacity of 400,000MT, enhancing access to storage facilities by farmers, minimising post-harvest losses and enabling them to have opportunity to assess the market and sell their produce at the most-favourable time.

Analysts believe the sector needs giant grain storage facilities and distribution centres to help in selling food crops across the country.

After dealing with the fallout from COVID-19, the recent flooding, grain storage and handling suppliers are facing rising prices and supply chain concerns. This follows the impact of insecurity at the farms which makes it difficult for them to store grain.

One challenge operators of storage facilities face is aggregating small quantities of production from widely-dispersed smallholder farmers.

Infrastructure

According to analysts, agricultural infrastructure is significantly underdeveloped. This leads to enormous challenges within the value chain and the agricultural industry. The road networks in rural areas are underdeveloped, which means that majority of the commodities from the farms are brought on small vehicles or motorbikes which is an inefficient way of transportation because there are no centralised aggregation points.

Having inefficient or inadequate systems of transportation, logistics, and trade-related infrastructure, according to Madu, severely impedes a country’s ability to compete on a global scale.

According to him, connectivity encompasses physical facilities, services, and ways to facilitate the movement of food within and across borders.

He is not satisfied with Nigeria’s position on the global Logistics Performance Index (LPI) that measures how well countries connect to international logistics networks.

Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN) President Victor Iyama said the dearth of infrastructure logistics and high cost of diesel to transport agricultural commodities had led to further increase in food prices across the country. He noted that Nigeria has capacity to mimimise that increasing costs of transportation and storage of food as freight transport is critical to domestic and international trade.

The Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), South West zone, Dr. Olufemi Oke, said prices of commodities had escalated because of the challenge of infrastructure gap, logistics and high cost of diesel to transport agro commodities.

Stakeholders’ response

Recently, stakeholders at a forum in Lagos called for massive investment in cold chain logistics as the agricultural sector continues to suffer huge losses in food production.

Giving a preview on Nigeria cold chain logistics industry, the Chairman, Governing Council, Nigerian Institute of Transport Technology, NITT, Zaria, Olorogun John Ejovwoke Onojeharho, said: “The development of an effective forum to market cold chain is vital to increasing availability and affordability of safe, nutritious food for low income Nigerians.

“Presently, Nigeria has less than one per cent of the world’s cold storage and mobile refrigerated logistics capacity. We have not started!

“It is estimated that Nigeria can save $9 billion by avoiding spoilage of goods through transportation of the refrigerated products (fish foods, dairy products, fish market, supermarkets) that requires cold chain logistics in day to day operations. Over 100 million metric tonnes perishable produce is transported between elites each year with only less than 10 per cent.

“Implications: Nigeria loses an estimated 1.5 million metric tonnes of perishable farm produce annually; between 40-50 per cent of fresh fruits and vegetables are lost during transportation, storage and processing; tomato produce, for instance, it is estimated that more than 40 per cent of tomato must travel long distances. They are largely grown in the northern part of the country, but mostly consumed in urban centres in the South.”

Private sector responses

Several entrepreneurs and investors have identified the storage and preservation of agricultural produce in Africa as an area with compelling opportunities.

African Infrastructure Investment Managers (AIIM) has set up a pan-African cold chain logistics platform with the acquisition of a cold storage operator from Oceana Group for $46m (€40m).

AIIM has led a group of investors including Bauta Logistics and the Mokobela Shakati consortium to buy Oceana’s CCS Logistics as the first acquisition for the newly launched Commercial Cold Holdings (CCH) platform.

AIIM will hold a 59.2 per cent stake in CCH via its flagship open-ended SADC region infrastructure fund IDEAS and its fourth generation pan-African infrastructure fund, AIIF4. The two vehicles intend to invest up to $150m in CCH to help fund the CCS deal as well as other transactions.

CCS, Southern Africa’s leading cold store operator, has been in existence for over 50 years. The company currently operates about 100,000 pallets of storage across six facilities in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Walvis Bay, Namibia.

AIIM’s Investment Director Damilola Agbaje said the cold chain logistical infrastructure sector is underdeveloped, and in places non-existent, across Sub-Saharan Africa and the investment diversifies AIIM’s current portfolio into a high-growth and high-impact area.

“South Africa, which possesses the continent’s most advanced TCL [temperature-controlled logistics] infrastructure at 13m3 of cold storage per 1,000 residents, lags comparable economies such as Egypt and Brazil, which have 105m3 and 83m3, respectively our research has indicated.

“TCL infrastructure is critical for both improving Sub-Saharan Africa’s food security; allowing domestic producers to meet the standards required to participate in global trade; and creating higher value jobs through more formal food retail and wholesale models,” said Agbaje.

According to Agbaje, CCH would focus on acquiring and developing facilities with strategic physical locations and/or integration with market-leading food producers, wholesalers, and retailers.

“Anchoring CCH’s strategy with such an established player is crucial for the platform’s regional expansion. New market entries will leverage CCS’s technical expertise and operational track record to secure strategic customer relationships,” he said.

The Managing Director and co-head of AIIM, Olusola Lawson, said: “Food security in the current global and African context is a topic of increasing importance, and we believe the CCH platform will play a role in addressing these critical matters. We look forward to further announcements as AIIF4 continues to expand its portfolio.”

The Managing Director, Bauta Logistics, Michael Osekereh, said: “Bauta is pleased to be partnering with AIIM and Mokobela Shakati in establishing this Pan African cold storage platform.

”As we build out a network of temperature-controlled warehouses in key demand hubs and food production regions on the Continent, we are excited about the role that CCH will play in facilitating intercontinental trade.”

After suffering a significant financial loss from transporting chicken in a malfunctioning refrigerated truck, Ope Olanrewaju started Kennie-O Cold Chain Logistics, which provides cold-storage solutions to fresh produce farmers. He said seventy per cent of Africa’s food is supplied by smallholder farmers and they are losing so much money because of the post-harvest losses in our fresh food and vegetables. He said his organisation has been able to bridge that gap by helping the b smallholder farmers transport it to other temperature-controlled environments.

The Mediterranean has been one of the most active food trading areas, supported by a transport network linking Europe and North Africa. Spain, Egypt, and Morocco have achieved tremendous success in promoting the effective integration of the region into an increasingly connected food economy.

Kebbi Governor Senator Atiku Bagudu has approved the release of N100million to the Kebbi State Fishermen Cooperative Union.

This was contained in a statement by the Commissioner Ministry of Animal Health, Husbandry and Fisheries, Aminu Garba Dandiga to newsmen in Birnin Kebbi.

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According to the statement, the gesture by the Governor was in line with his commitment to boosting fish farming as well as empowering fishermen in the State.

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The statement further said that not less than 2,000 members of the association will benefit from the loan package. which the Governor pledged when they visited him in Government House, Birnin Kebbi recently.