Category: Agriculture

Despite that Nigeria and other parts of Africa are battling the challenges of achieving economic recovery after the COVID-19 pandemic, there is one lingering issue: rising fertiliser price.This has implication for food insecurity. DANIEL ESSIET looks at how governments and organisations on the continent are responding to increased cost of fertiliser.

RUSSIA’S attacks on Ukraine has had considerable impacts on Africa’s food security. Throughout Africa, increased fertiliser use has played a key role in stepping up domestic agricultural production.

However, market prices for fertiliser have increased significantly following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

In normal times, farmers will spend less amount on fertiliser to ensure a good harvest. This time, many do not have enough fertiliser fields because of the rising cost of the product.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) said in May that fertiliser prices on the continent had quadrupled since the start of the war in Ukraine, which has disrupted supply chains, and that Africa faced a shortage of two million tonnes. Skyrocketing fertiliser prices are threatening to reduce agricultural input on the continent, an AfDB report laments.

For farmers in Nigeria, less fertiliser means lower crop yields, and the shortfall in supplies has prompted Abuja-based agro businessman, Innocent Mokidi, urged the government to take steps to mitigate the steep rise of fertiliser prices, which have doubled in the last year, making the commodity to soar out of the reach of farmers.

This year, a bag of fertiliser has sold for N5, 000, N5, 500, N12, 500 and N15, 000.

A bag of urea is selling for above N17, 000. Despite this, fertiliser is scarce in the market.

According to Mokidi, it is quite a struggle for farmers to access fertiliser at the going price.This has a negative impact on food production in Africa. Currently, the use of fertiliser in Africa is well below that of Europe and Asia.

Generally, it has been reported that fertiliser production has raised, thanks largely to major plants expanding. But this has not made fertiliser cheaper for farmers. Dry bulk fertiliser has risen. Also, the war in Russia and Ukraine has driven natural gas prices, resulting in reduction of the production of ammonia, a key component of nitrogen fertiliser.The outcome is raising prices.The crisis also introduced delays and disruptions in supply chains.

Responding to the situation, Country Manager, OCP Africa Nigeria Fertiliser, Caleb Usoh noted that fertiliser prices had been bolstered by higher input costs. He  explained that the conditions for  farming were not so promising with  devastating logistics costs which have contributed to rising fertiliser  prices.

The Chief Executive, Rwanda-based Pan African Farmers Organisation (PAFO), Dr. Babafemi Oyewole, noted: “Fertiliser is a critical input for farmers and the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, which has led to the rapid increase in the prices of this critical input is causing concerns about food security not only in Africa, but also globally. For example, the price of urea has doubled between 2019 and 2022, thereby constraining the ability of farmers to procure the needed amount for their farms. However, this may be a blessing in disguise for Africa because it will present the opportunity for the regional fertiliser plants to operate at full capacity.The only challenge is that rising exchange rates could also affect the ability of the local companies to produce at prices that will be affordable to the farmers.This is where there is the need for the government to come to the assistance of farmers by subsidising the cost of fertiliser to farmers.”

As a regional farmer’s organisation, Oyewole reiterated that the principal mission of the PAFO organisation was policy advocacy, which is basically presenting the issues affecting farmers to regional bodies such as the African Union Commission as well as to the international community so that appropriate solutions and policies can be enacted to the advantage of its members.

He continued: “We believe that representing the over 80 million farmers in the PAFO network will give more force to the advocacy role of the organisation at the regional level while it supports its five regional networks in the Central, East, West, South, and North Africa to bring issues affecting farmers to the attention of the government in their various jurisdictions. Therefore, we are going to bring the issue of fertiliser price increase to the attention of the governments of various countries so that farmers can be assisted with access to the input at reasonable prices. We believe that the increasing prices of food items call for a decisive solution to the issue of fertiliser so as to avoid the risk of acute food shortage and the adverse consequences on the population.”

Vice President, West African Fertiliser Association (WAFA), Dr. Innocent Okuku, noted that soaring freight costs and logistics were responsible for the rising fertiliser prices. Globally, fertiliser price increases are being driven by nitrogen production challenges, tight global supplies, rising natural gas costs and steady demand. The country has about 70 fertiliser blending plants with combined capacity for over three million metric tonnes of NPK fertiliser. However, production is expected to go up as more private individuals are investing in the industry.

Challenges

Freight rates across key trade routes for fertiliser has been on the rise accounting for much of the surge in production costs.

Usoh explained that fertiliser was a global commodity influenced by multiple market factors beyond the control of producers. One of such  was transportation rates to get the fertiliser to its final destination.

In most cases, producers were required to pay the price defined by the global market for fertiliser and materials, plus transportation.To make fertiliser, he noted, required combining globally priced raw materials such as natural gas prices that have risen dramatically.

Responses

To avert a looming food security crisis, AfDB held talks with international partners including Morocco’s fertiliser giant OCP Group to secure emergency fertiliser.

At a meeting in May, the AfDB said Morocco’s OCP could supply 200,000 tonnes of phosphate and blended fertiliser, while Nigeria could supply 300,000 tonnes of urea.

The deal was part of the AfDB’s strategy to provide half a million tonnes of fertiliser to West Africa by this month to fend off an impending food crisis.

To ensure it achieves the anticipated volume of fertiliser, the AfDB is also mobilising $1.5 billion to mitigate disruptions to the global commodities market and its effect on rising fertiliser prices.

Last month, OCP offered 180,000 tonnes of soil nutrients in aid and 370,000 tonnes at a discount to help African states cope with surging prices. Its Executive Vice President, Performance Management, Nada Elmajdoub, noted that this would represent 16 per cent of African demand this year and a quarter of OCP group’s sales on the continent.

She said OCP planned to raise production by a further one million tonnes this year and two million next year, compared with 10.8 million tonnes last year.

Following outcry over this summer’s published fertiliser price, in June, Gambian President Adama Barrow subsidised the official price of fertiliser, bringing it down to D2000.

Following this, the price of fertiliser was announced at D2,500 per bag.

To sustain this, the National Food Security Processing & Marketing Corporation took steps to procure adequate fertiliser for this summer season and the official price was capped at D2000.

Furthermore, the government urged farmers, businessmen, fertiliser dealers and their agents not to sell or smuggle this subsidised fertiliser out of the country.

At the sub-regional level, West African leaders have demanded exemptions from a ban on wheat and fertiliser imports from Russia, whose supply chains were interrupted following its war on Ukraine.

Speaking at the Eighth Africa CEO Forum in Ivory Coast’s economic capital Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s President Alassane Ouattara expressed concern over the rising inflation and risk of shortages of several products such as wheat in Africa due to the Russia-Ukraine war. “We are concerned, to say the least, by the slowdown in global growth and the availability for Africa of certain products such as wheat, fertiliser and of course by the inflationary push,” he said.

Ouattara praised the resilience of African economies in the face of the ongoing global economic shocks.

In Ghana, the Africa Fertiliser Financing Mechanism (AFFM) of the AfDB extended a $2 million partial trade credit guarantee to support fertiliser delivery to 200,000 smallholder farmers. It also offered a $2 million partial trade credit guarantee to ETG Input Ghana Limited to support delivery of fertiliser to 200,000 smallholder farmers in Ghana’s Upper East, Savannah, Northeast, and Northern Regions.

Under the agreement ETG Input Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of agricultural conglomerate ETG, will enable delivery of 10,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser to wholesalers who will distribute it, via retailers, to farmers in the regions.

The credit enhancement mechanism is expected to reduce risks associated with suppliers selling fertiliser to wholesalers on credit, which can result in farmers having limited access to good quality fertiliser.

In March, Algerian and Chinese firms signed $7billion joint venture(JV) on phosphate mining.The project  involved the development and exploitation of phosphate deposit in Bled El Hadba, Djebel Onk, Tebessa.

Four Algerian and Chinese firms have signed a deal, to develop an integrated phosphates project (PPI) in Algeria.

The agreement was signed by Algerian firms Manal and Asmidal, a subsidiary of Algerian energy firm Sonatrach, with Chinese firms Wuhuan Engineering and Tian’An Chemical, a nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers production company.

The deal led to the creation of an Algerian-Chinese company, named Algerian Chinese Fertiliser Company (ACFC) for the integrated phosphates project.

The project would see the development of the phosphate deposit of Bled El Hadba, Djebel Onk, Tebessa. It will also include the transformation of phosphates into fertiliser, as well as the construction of port facilities at the port of Annaba.

The project is expected to have 5.4Mtpa of fertiliser production capacity.

Furthermore, the project is expected to create about 12,000 construction jobs, 6,000 direct jobs and 24,000 indirect jobs in the operating phase.

Also, Tunisia has been addressing its food security challenges. In June, the World Bank approved a $130 million loan for Tunisia to lessen the impact of the Ukraine war by financing vital soft wheat imports and providing emergency support to cover barley imports for dairy production and seeds for smallholder farmers for the upcoming planting season.The government is responding to the fertiliser challenge by securing new phosphate production.

To increase fertiliser capacity, Tunisian Chemical Group (Groupe Chimique Tunisien (GCT) is expanding its trisodium phosphate (TSP) production plant in M’dhilla.The facility has the capacity to manufacture 800, 000-1m tonnes of TSP yearly.

The agricultural sector in Africa is in need of transformation.The potential of the sector, according to analysts, is stunted because majority of African food growers are subsistence smallholder farmers. For African Development Bank (AfDB) and its partners, the solution lies in raising domestic agricultural production. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

For the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and African Development Bank (AfDB), Africa is a huge market that cannot be ignored.

Despite this advantage, however, the agricultural sector has some challenges, which both organisations believe, when addressed, could improve the industry’s efficiency, food insecurity and stability.

As a result, FAO and AfDB have been urging countries to invest in agriculture as an engine of growth.

Without assistance to the agriculture sector and programmes in rural areas, both organisations maintain that food insecurity would continue to rise.

One country that has shown interest in sharing agricultural strategies and technological innovation to tackle the challenge of long-term food security in Africa is Japan.  Having lifted the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate to 45 per cent, African governments look up to Japan to overcome their challenges to boost rice, meat and dairy production.

The Japan government advises various governments on how best to secure opportunities for farmers and food producers through innovative proposals to ensure the sector remains competitive. As there is the need for greater investment in agriculture to ensure the continent continue to feed its population, adopt more climate resilient crops and techniques, AfDB has been collaborating with organisations from Japan to explore opportunities in the agricultural sector as the demand for food grows, but that support remained insufficient, particularly for smallholders.

The President, AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, believes boosting agriculture production could help to reduce Africa’s food import bill.

He agreed that Japan’s support was crucial to reboot the sector for  growth.

In 2016, AfDB and Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote agriculture and agri-business in Africa.

Under the MoU, the AfDB and SAA would collaborate on commercialisation of smallholder agriculture and food security; gender empowerment for better participation in economic development; private sector development; as well as youth engagement in agribusiness.

Since October 2020, SAA has been conducting surveys and training trainers to promote Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment & Promotion (SHEP), which has been developed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

With the theme: JICA Project on the Promotion of Market-oriented Agricultural Extension System for Livelihood Improvement in Nigeria, it has established an implementation system for market-oriented extension service and expanded SHEP Approach to 20 states.

Last year, JICA and the African Development Fund (ADF) – the concessional arm of the African Development Bank Group – signed a loan of 73.6 billion Japanese yen ($668.1 million) to support the 15th replenishment of the African Development Fund (ADF-15).

During the ceremony, where Adesina and Japanese Ambassador to Côte d’Ivoire, Kuramitsu Hideaki signed an Exchange of Notes.

Adesina highlighted the bank’s partnership with Japan, including the Enhanced Private Sector Assistance Initiative, which was launched in 2005. As at February, last year, Japan’s total contribution to the initiative amounts to $4.6 billion.

Japan and the FAO believe that Africa’s agriculture sector should be a catalyst for growth.Therefore, major efforts should focus on making agriculture attractive and profitable for youths.

For FAO, Japan is a major ally in promoting rural development and food security and nutrition worldwide. Japan is not only one of FAO’s major resource partners in Africa; it also provides the expertise of skilled Japanese specialists for various agricultural projects in the region.

Early, this year, FAO’s Sub-regional Office for Eastern Africa (SFE) and the Japanese Government Mission to the African Union launched a sub-regional project. It is aimed at fostering employment among women and youths in agriculture and agribusiness in six Eastern Africa countries.

The project, Promoting Employment and Entrepreneurship Opportunities among Women and Youth in Agriculture and Agribusiness in Eastern Africa, is being implemented in Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan and Uganda. Ambassador of Japan to the African Union,  Horiuchi Toshihiko, said the Japanese Government was glad to work with FAO in addressing food security challenges in Eastern Africa, where the livelihoods of millions people are highly dependent on agriculture.

So far, Japan has played a strategic role to increase food security on the continent, powered by JICA, which has has supported rice development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

JICA said the organisation has been working on a three-phase programme that began in 2008 with the Coalition for African Rice Development (CARD) to increase rice production for the domestic market. JICA, along with some bilateral and multilateral donors and research institutions, makes up the consultative group.

CARD started with 23 member countries, including Nigeria, has grown to 32 countries. In 2013, Japan supported African countries with $32 billion. It aimed at increasing agricultural production and productivity, especially for rice, and empowering farmers, including through CARD.

A member of CARD, the Federal Government is emphasising the establishment of rice mill clusters and mega food processing parks.

As a result of the implementation of CARD-inspired National Rice Development Strategy 1, later upgraded to the Rice Transformation Agenda Action Plan (RTA-AP) and implemented from 2012-2015, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said the national paddy rice production rose by seven million metric tonnes (mt) in 2014, thereby making the nation to reach 65 per cent rice self-sufficiency by 2015.

Also, Nigeria has developed a new National Rice Development Strategy II (NRDS II) as  part of the implementation of CARD Phase 11. It is a 10-year (2020-2030) plan for achieving the government’s goal of self-sufficiency in  food and nutrition security, employment creation and wealth generation.

By 2030, the Federal Government expects the production of 66.6mt of breeder, 5,327.3mt foundation, and 426,184 MT of certified seeds with 80 per cent of rice farmers using certified seeds.The other targets are for the 60 per cent of small to medium scale millers to be organised into clusters for effective interventions, and they should upgrade their machinery and capacity building.

Last year, to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on food security, JICA provided agricultural input to 1,500 small scale rice farmers in nine  states through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in collaboration with the ADPs.

At the symposium  in Johannesburg in June, the Senior Vice President, JICA, Toshiyuki Nakamura, noted that regional integration was key to the continent’s future resilience.

Panelists from JICA, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and AfDB participated at the forum, which discussed how to reignite integration on the continent following the pandemic.

The event formed part of the lead-up to the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8) scheduled for August 27 and 28. TICAD 8 will be hosted by Tunisia. It is the second  since 2016 that an African country will host after TICAD VI in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference provided an opportunity to demonstrate the ongoing commitment of the International Community in general, and of the Japanese Government in particular, to the African Continent.

Established in 1993, TICAD is Japan’s flagship initiative to support Africa’s growth. Held in partnership with the African Union Commission, the United Nations, the UNDP and the World Bank, the open forum brings together African countries, international organisations, private companies and civil society for Africa’s development.

Japanese-led cooperation, outlined by JICA at the symposium, aspires to accelerate Africa’s recovery with infrastructure development and policy reforms to achieve the goals defined in Agenda 2063 of the African Union.

“Agriculture and food security are a fundamental basis of all the socio-economic activities, and hence they will be the priority agenda of TICAD8 – the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development – to be held this year,” Horiuchi said.

This year, SAA said it would host the “Healthy Soils for Food Security in Africa: The Potential of Regenerative Agriculture”during TICAD 8 to draw attention to how agriculture in Africa has been impacted by soil degradation, resulting in low productivity and food insecurity.’’

The organisation said the Regenerative Agriculture (RA) is an approach which is attracting global attention with its focus to restore soil health and contribution to climate change mitigation. Realising the vision of RA in Africa, it noted, required achieving both improved soil health and food security. This, it continued that the event aimed to define RA for Africa and explore possible technology portfolio and dissemination approaches.

As a forum for stakeholder dialogue on development that leads to direct action to improve lives, TICAD initiatives result in a myriad of community and business projects. One particularly successful TICAD initiative is CARD, a collaborative framework that has mobilised concerted efforts from African countries and international organisations that has achieved an ambitious target of doubling Africa’s rice production between 2008 and 2018.

Recalling the declaration of the AU Heads of State and Government that marked the year of nutrition, with the theme, “Building Resilience in Nutrition and Food Security on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development,”  Toshihiko underscored the significance of the project as a catalyst to foster efforts to improve the agri-food systems through agricultural transformation.

“This project is very relevant to the sub region in the sense that it focuses on women and youth, realising that women make up half of the population and provide over 40 percent of the labour force in crop and livestock production.The sub- region is also a place, where a significant percentage of the population is young, which is a great potential for agri-food system transformation,” Horiuchi said.

For over 30 years, Japan’s commitment to Africa’s development through co-hosting TICAD every  five years has become a milestone in strengthening Japan-Africa relations.Through the TICAD, Japan has been supporting African-led development. JICAVice President Kato describes Japan’s philosophy towards TICAD as a dialogue: “Japan and Africa are continuing their dialogue on development through this process. Japan is learning from Africa through this process and Africa is also learning from Japan. We learn from each other and get to know each other through dialogue. Through this process, we will build a relationship of mutual trust.” In February, the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Mr. Hirokazu Matsuno,  stated that TICAD8 would strongly support African-led development and aim at setting out a pathway for African development looking ahead to the post-COVID-19 era, as the pandemic has had given a considerable socio-economic impact also on Africa.

Agriculture has been identified as a key to economic transformation. However, Nigeria is still facing its worst food conditions, faring poorly among leading nations on the continent. The situation has attracted concerns among stakeholders. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

For the National President, Federation of Agricultural Commodities of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama these are not best of times. The rising cost of living is going up due to the rising prices of key household commodities. He aligns with citizens’ complaints of the struggle to put food on the table due to soaring food and fuel prices.

His concern is that there have not been enough effort to prompt flurry of activities to lower the cost of basic staples and expand farm production. Across Nigeria, price rises have been most pronounced with  crops  such as  soya beans, maize, rice,  and cassava that comprise the basic diet of millions.

According to Iyama, many issues are contributing to increasing food loss and disruption of food chains.

Farmers, he continued, were enduring worsening conditions and risking their lives to feed Nigerians.

As it is, Iyama told The Nation, food shortage crisis requires response to increase farm production and self-sufficiency in food-deficient areas.

More funds, he stressed, should be deployed to provide fertiliser, farm implements and improved seeds to farmers to help reduce prices for basic foods.

He also expressed concern that insecurity is adding to migration numbers, and driving more Nigerians from the farms.

Months of attacks and killings by terrorists and bandits, he maintained, have taken a serious toll on farming, with people refusing to return to their farmlands to continue with food production. The farmers, he explained, were afraid to be killed by rampaging bandits as they go about destroying farms and killing people without enough response from the security agencies.

Iyama stressed that agriculture is one of the sectors that should spur the economic success, noting however that not enough had been done to demonstrate commitment to efficiency and productivity.

To achieve growth, he explained that the government has to support and intensification development where crops that can succeed in specific regions, are promoted given factors such as weather and soil type.

According to him, accessing credit has been a long-standing issue for farmers, as many in the industry complain about the risk-averse nature of the banking system.

Until the agriculture sector gets its fair share of public funding, he said, food production will remain a challenge. He called for a transformative strategy, capitalising on technology, innovation, and the drive to make farmers prosperous.

While the sector has brought gains and breakthroughs, a lot of dent remain in the agricultural landscape, including low level of trade and export development, agri-industrial business corridors, easy and affordable access of farmers to agri financing, mechanisation and infrastructure investments, among others.

A consultant to the World Bank, Prof Abel Ogunwale, noted that it was apparent that the sector would continue to witness poor food production due to the negative effect of banditry on farming and food production. Besides, he said the sector was facing shortage of inputs prompting a surge in food prices and worries about shortages.

The expert noted that the continuing drop in crop yields and spiraling prices were also worsening the country’s economic woes. Among other challenges that could be overcome, he stressed that insecurity is an important issue that needs to be addressed urgently.

Ogunwale said what the sector needed was more investors to boost domestic production and reduce its hefty import bill.

He is among other analysts who believe the government has to open the agric sector to private and foreign investors in an attempt to slash the cost of food imports. Some key challenges to be addressed if Nigeria is to achieve its goals of improving food security, he noted, would include increasing the area of irrigated land, encouraging the use of fertiliser and promoting   new farming techniques.

Ogunwale stressed the need for the government to rehabilitate and redevelop sub-sectors across the value chain.

The Executive Director, Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State, Dr. Olufemi Oladunni, noted that reforms were needed to turn agriculture into sector  that  can help address the government’s goals of generating quality jobs and ensuring an inclusive growth.

He was of the opinion bad governance has not helped the country exploit its comparative advantage in agriculture. Beginning with high input costs during production, he noted agribusinesses have had to contend with a supply chain that progressively erodes the sector’s competitiveness.

A lot of   challenges and constraints along the supply chain, he maintained, continue to hamper the sector’s full potential including inadequate provision of infrastructure and inefficient logistics.

Oladunni said insecurity is impacting agricultural production and food security with more farmers abandoning their farms due to fears of being attacked.

He said Nigeria’s agriculture research sector loses about $100 million yearly due to its inability to attract grants from local and foreign foundations and organisations.

During the opening of a workshop on grantsmanship for agricultural research officers by the institute in Ilorin, Kwara State recently, Oladunni said the country needs agric research to improve its food production, reduce food shortages and poverty as well create job.

He stated: “Some of the commodities such as crops, livestock, fisheries or even agro-forestry are already being produced in the country, yet the quantum of our production is far below international output.

“Nigeria is not losing anything below $100 million grants every year due to inability to attract both local and foreign grants. And you know what that can do in the research system only in agriculture.

“When you extend this and look at value chain for research, there are lots to gain by research scientists among other actors along the research value chain that are losing this opportunity.

“For instance, in soya beans production, the highest you can have as output per hectare is 1.3 tonnes as against 10 tonnes per hectare in some other climes.

“You can see the enormity of what we’re saying. It’s not just in style of production, but varieties being planted. And that’s where research comes in. Research must be able to make production high yielding.

“We need to improve the tonnes of food we produce to make food shortages go down, make poverty go down and increase employment within the system. It’s only when you have the right varieties of commodities cutting across livestock, fisheries and crop production that you can get some of these things done.

“That’s the essence of having research institutes and faculties of agriculture in our tertiary institution because agric research is not meant for research institutes alone. Every participant is supposed to be involved.”

Lagos State Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Otunba Oke Babafemi believes enough has not been done to make agric a transformation agent to increase productivity, create more jobs and raise income.

He emphasised the need to adopt long-term strategies, enhance output of key crops, stimulate rural development, attract higher levels of private and foreign direct investment, and improve market structure.

Babafemi recommended the provision of adequate security and input for farmers.

He urged the Federal Government to provide security for farmers to avoid incessant kidnapping, rape and killing.

He added that without adequate security and provision of necessary inputs, the country would be fully faced with food crisis.

According to analysts, there are still gaps in strengthening long-term performance, especially in expanding the use of irrigation, to yield greater benefits.

Also, undermining growth, analysts believe, is poor governance. They underscored the need to make government agencies aware of growing good governance practices in agriculture.

They want government departments to put governance at the centre of their food development programmes, to bring about real transformation of the sector. To avert food crisis, African Development Bank (AfDB), approved a $1.5 billion to help Nigeria and other African countries.

With the disruption of food supplies arising from the Russia-Ukraine war, Africa faces a shortage of at least 30 million metric tons of food, especially wheat, maize, and soybeans imported from both countries.

African farmers need high-quality seeds and input before the planting season begins in May to, immediately, boost food supplies. The bank’s $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility is an unprecedented comprehensive initiative to support smallholder farmers in filling the food shortfall.

The African Emergency Food Production Facility will provide 20 million African smallholder farmers with certified seeds. It will increase access to agricultural fertiliser and enable them to rapidly produce 38 million tons of food.

AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina said: “Food aid cannot feed Africa. Africa does not need bowls in hand. Africa needs seeds in the ground, and mechanical harvesters to harvest bountiful food produced locally. Africa will feed itself with pride for there is no dignity in begging for food …”

The African Emergency Food Production Facility has benefited from stakeholder consultations, including those with fertiliser producers and separately with African Union agriculture and finance ministers earlier this month.

The ministers agreed to implement reforms to address the systemic hurdles that prevent modern input markets from performing effectively.

The bank’s $1.5 billion strategy will lead to the production of 11 million tonnes of wheat; 18 million tons of maize; six million tons of rice; and 2.5 million tons of soybeans.

The African Emergency Food Production Facility will provide 20 million farmers with certified seeds, fertiliser, and extension services. It will also support market growth and post-harvest management.

DANIEL ESSIET highlights the activities of the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture, which is helping universities to provide technologies to address hunger and unemployment.

REGIONAL Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM), based in Uganda, has been working with universities across the continent to improve food security, fight global warming and tackle youth employment.

The organisation is driving the Transforming Food and Agricultural Systems through Research in Partnership with Africa (TSARA), launched during the Paris International Agricultural Show in March. It aims to work with the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) to develop high-quality research in agriculture.

The TSARA programme focuses  on creating a portfolio of research, training and innovation support projects that adhere to a medium- to long-term scientific agenda based on the following priority areas, namely, soil, water and forests under climate change; the agro-ecological transition of agriculture and livestock farming; food system sustainability; human, animal and landscape health; and work and employment.

The 20 African institutions in 14 countries, namely, South Africa, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Mozambique, Senegal, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, are working  with  two French research institutes, the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development and France’s National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment in the project. The three sub-regional organisations involved in developing TSARA are the Permanent Interstate Committee for Drought Control in the Sahel, or CILSS, the International Centre for Research-Development of Animal Husbandry in sub-humid zones, or CIRDES, and CORAF – an international non-profit association of national agricultural research systems in 22 countries in West and Central Africa.

Executive Secretary, RUFORUM, Prof Adipala-Ekwamu, believes that the initiative would  help universities to play an active role in reducing  knowledge and skills gaps within the sector.

He was of the opinion that developing science leaders was to critical to shaping the pathways for sustainability, but also managing change for generations to come. According to him, African universities can benefit from the initiative through the increase in the pool of active researchers on the continent in the domain of climate change. TSARA is also expected to advance international initiatives, including the EU-AU Research and Innovation Partnership, EU-AU Plant Protein Initiative, Great Green Wall Accelerator, PREZODE (Prevention of Zoonotic Disease Emergence) and the ‘4 per 1000’ initiative (Soils for Food Security and Climate)..

The institutions involved are the University of Pretoria, the University of the Western Cape and Agricultural Research Council in South Africa; the University of Abomey-Calavi in Benin; the Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research of Burkina Faso; the University of Yaoundé and Institute of Agricultural Research for Development in Cameroon; the National Polytechnic Institute Félix Houphouët Boigny in Côte d’Ivoire; the Agricultural Research Center in Egypt; the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology in Kenya; the University of Antananarivo and the National Center for Applied Research on Rural Development in Madagascar; the Institute of Rural Economy in Mali; the National School of Agriculture of Meknes in Morocco; the University of Eduardo Mondlane in Mozambique; the Senegalese Agricultural Research Institute and Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal; the University of Carthage; the University of Tunis-La Manouba and the Agricultural Research and Higher Education Institution in Tunisia; as well as the University of Zimbabwe.

Also, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) launched a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in the Netherlands to develop and share knowledge and harness science, technologies and innovation for transforming agrifood systems. The two institutions have strengthened the partnership through development of a new MoU, signed last December.

“This dynamic cooperation offers a unique opportunity to leverage our collective comparative advantages, and accelerate our joint efforts towards the achievement of the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals),” FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said at the event. “WUR, with its broad multilateral focus, looks forward to joining FAO on a concerted and inclusive interface where scientific understanding can be verified and shared before translation into policies, legislation and public outreach to all stakeholders,” said President, Wageningen University and Research Executive Board, Prof. Louise O. Fresco.

The new agreement sets out eight areas for technical cooperation:  improved agrifood economics; sustainable animal production and health; impacts of climate change, biodiversity, and environment; sustainable fisheries and aquaculture; improved food security and nutrition; strengthened agrifood systems and food safety; sustainable forestry; and partnership enhancement.The MoU comes as FAO is engaged in developing its first-ever Science and Innovation Strategy. The strategy will cover all sectors and areas of agrifood systems, including crop, livestock, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture – from natural resource management to production, consumption, and food loss and waste.

“FAO must strengthen its position as a source of reliable scientific information and a neutral platform at the heart of important debate.

“Engaging on issues that are contentious and have presented communication challenges is, therefore, imperative,” said FAO Chief Scientist Ismahane Elouafi.

This year, Morocco’s Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) organised the 12th Arbois Round Tables, which featured multidisciplinary scientific conferences on the strategic, economic, environmental, and health related issues of food security.

The two-day event focused on food insecurity as a main issue that holds many nations from achieving sustainable development. Several international panelists debated over food production, the impact of global warming on agriculture, water, and renewable energies, as well as available agricultural techniques that allow healthier nutrition.

Themed “Feeding the world: the challenges and the limits,” the renowned experts used the first day of the event to highlight the latest scientific advances in their respective fields, to promote innovation and scientific research as means to ensure sustainable agriculture. In his opening speech, UM6P President Hicham El Habti stressed that the global economy is experiencing a surge in the prices of basic food products, with their production being a major challenge to meet the needs of the growing global population.

“Africa’s sustainable agriculture features among the central elements of the UM6P research and innovation system,” El Habti noted.

He added that UM6P has created laboratories, developed agritech platforms in Morocco, and supported several agricultural startups to strengthen the agricultural ecosystem.

Transforming the food system, analysts believe, can help reduce hunger and malnutrition and assist Nigeria to meet the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). DANIEL ESSIET writes.

Transforming Nigeria’s agricultural sector is crucial to up recovery, poverty reduction and inclusive growth. There is, therefore, the need to reform the food system towards higher productivity and sustainability.

To this end, the Federal and state governments have set an agenda to move the sector. Consequently, they are making efforts at creating jobs, raising farmer incomes and ensuring that the nation’s food security is not affected.

Several projects have been executed to  raise agricultural productivity, and reduce poverty in rural communities. An example  is the implementation of the Food Systems Transformation Pathways. It is a strategic plan aimed at growing and growing the nation’s agriculture.

To this end, the Lagos Ministry of Agriculture, in conjunction with its Economic Planning and Budget counterpart, organised the Southwest Zonal Sensitisation Workshop. During its opening, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu emphasised the state’s commitment to support food system upgrade in the Southwest through regional integration of initiatives.

Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Samuel Avwerosuo Egube, noted that  it  was  in line with this that the  Ministry of Agriculture developed the Five-Year Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap (2021-2025) to scale up the state’s production and processing capacity and improve its competitiveness.

He said Lagos residents consume about N4.5 billion food daily. He said: “The Lagos State Agricultural and Food Systems Roadmap is a deliberate effort to develop the agricultural sector by way of interventions from the public and private sector, as well as, international technical and donor organisations where it has competitive and comparative advantages towards enhancing the states self-sufficiency in food production. Our aim is to make the entire agricultural sector more attractive and for core investors to be the main drivers. As a state government, we will continue to provide infrastructure and incentives to support all private sector initiatives where required, on public-private partnerships.”

He listed  the  interventions to include the Agricultural Value Chain Enterprise Activation Programme where over 10,000 youths trained in agriculture had their business enterprises activated; establishment of 32 metric tonnes per hour(MTPH) rice mill in Imota that will produce over 2.4 million bags of Rice (50kg) yearly; collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organisation/United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (FAO/UNIDO) for  the development of coconut; establishment of Lagos State Food Production Centre in Epe and Badagry, and Lagos Agro-preneurship Programme (LAP) that serves as incubation centres for youth training.

Others were  partnership with the private sector for the establishment of the Lagos Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (LACE) with the capacity to produce 50 million fingerlings and process over 2,000 metric tonne(Mt) table size fish yearly and off-take from over 5,000 nucleus farms; food market system transformation initiative with the establishment of central food security system and logistics hub at Ketu-Ereyun, Epe and mid-level agro produce hub at Idi-Oro, Mushin.

He added the establishment of cage and pen culture on water bodies in various locations to enable 500 youths and others.

He appreciated the efforts of the Federal Government to ensure that the Food Systems Summit, in conjunction with the UN, is developed to guide governments and other stakeholders to identify and implement reforms that would transform food systems towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Sanwo-Olu emphasised the significance of transforming agri-food systems toward improved environmental, economic and social sustainability as well as climate-resilience.

Nationwide, efforts to enhance food security protect the livelihoods of farming families and improve the resilience of rural communities and support activities aligned with achieving the UN SDGs have become even more challenging. However, the Lagos Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, underlined the government’s commitment to eradicating hunger and achieving the SDGs.

Her words: “Food systems are an important part of the national economy and have contributed to a variety of solutions to developmental challenges. Consequently, improving food systems may help solve a number of issues common to most developing countries such as food insecurity, unemployment, etc. Lagos State is not an exception to this as agricultural and food value chains provide for approximately more than 40 per cent of the economically productive people. This and others are the reasons the UN called for the Food System Summit to strengthen food systems because they occupy a very good position in contributing immensely to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) efficiently and effectively. The summit is, therefore, primarily put in place to seek modalities and strategies to assist governments and other stakeholders in identifying and implementing food system reforms to achieve the SDGs.”

She noted: “It is worthy to note that Lagos State is dedicated to achieving the SDGs. Thus, the state government has implemented numerous projects/programmes to address hunger, malnutrition, unemployment, and underemployment and boost food production and supply systems in line with her Agricultural and Food System Roadmap (2021-2025) that was launched by Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, The Governor of Lagos State in 2021.”

The Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning wants to champion a transformation initiative designed to boost agricultural productivity.

Its Permanent Secretary, Mrs Olusola Idowu Emokpae,  recalled that  the under the auspices of the National Food Summit dialogues, about 40 Exploratory Dialogues were organised in some selected states and targeted communities across the six geopolitical zones.

The dialogue, according to her, saw the active participation of relevant groups such as women, youths, indigenous people, Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) as well as the private sector.

She said: “The purpose of the dialogue was to harvest ideas, and come up with recommendations/solutions to food challenges to change the narrative of food and nutrition in Nigeria. The recommendations drawn from the various dialogues were further synthesised into short, medium and long- term priority actions for sustainable food systems in Nigeria. This was submitted to United Nations and for ease of reference has been printed into a booklet. Let me reiterate that as part of our commitments to ensuring seamless implementation of the Food System Transformation Pathways, an implementation team, made up of key stakeholders, was constituted to develop an Implementation Plan for the three selected quick-win programmes out of the 80 priority recommendations of the Food Systems Transformation Pathways for Nigeria.”

According to her, the meeting focused on three low-hanging fruit programmes and 80 priority actions.

She added: “The Ministry has also constituted an Inter-Ministerial Technical Working Group made up of key stakeholders drawn from relevant MDAs and Development Partners to monitor and track the implementation of the three selected quick-win programmes across relevant sectors of the economy at the federal level. It is required that the same arrangement would be made at the state level. It suffices to state that the role of the private sector is important because it has critical roles to play in the transformation of our food system.The involvement of the private sector in our food system has helped to improve the entire food value chain – production, transportation, marketing, processing, distribution, etc. The sector has gone far in the establishment and running of farm estates as well as agro-allied structures that will support food availability, security and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

Resident & Humanitarian Coordinator, UN System, Mathias  Schmale,  commended the Federal Government for its efforts towards sustainable food systems in the country. He recalled the dialogues organised last year  by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning with the support of the UN System, ahead of the UNFood Systems Summit convened by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in September.

He maintained: “One overarching issue for the summit was to develop game-changing strategies for a dramatic transformation of food systems that achieve healthy, sustainable diets that are produced with equitable access, and that preserve or regenerate our environment. To implement the post-summit resolutions, the Federal Government called for national dialogues in coordination with the UN family. Specific, actionable, multi-stakeholder input priorities, challenges, and opportunities were agreed to redesign Nigerian food systems at national and sub-national levels.”

According to him, the momentum at which the Federal Government is accelerating the national food systems transformation pathways is highly commendable, as well as their implementation of the 80 recommendations from the national dialogue.

The Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Tokunbo Ibironke Emokpae, reiterated that the state was  strengthening agricultural collaboration to boost food production.

She maintained that the state was committed to the implementation of the various technical cooperation projects to achieve food security, and increased productivity.

Sebore International Farms, an agricultural enterprise established by former Adamawa Governor, Murtala Nyako, has commissioned a new dairy factory.

The factory, which turns out different varieties of Admiral’A Youghurt from milk sourced mainly from independent cattle breeders, is said to be the largest in Nigeria.

Speaking at the event in Mayo-Belwa, an agrarian community south of the state capital Yola, Nyako thanked God for sparing his life to behold the dairy factory 40 years after he established the parent Sebore Farms.

“I indeed feel grateful that at the sunset of my life, I have seen the sunrise of another generation that will take Sebore to greater heights. I thank my son Aminu Nyako for his vision regarding the development of Sebore Export Processing Zone with his diary project,” Nyako said.

While Nyako established the Sebore Farms in 1982 in his home town, Mayo-Belwa, the Admiral’A Youghurt Factory, located within the 15,000 hectare farm complex and commissioned towards the weekend, is the brainchild of one of his sons, Aminu.

Aminu, who is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Sebore International Farms, said the birth of the diary firm marked the beginning of a dream to contribute meaningfully to a desire of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to end importation of diary products.

Aminu said the yoghurt producing initiative marks a fresh turning point in the life of Sebore Farms which once exported Admiral’A mangos to Europe and the Middle East.

Giving the history of the newly commissioned dairy factory, Aminu said:
“Three years ago, we did a survey and found 2.1 million cattle are resident in Adamwa. That is massive potential. To harness this great potential, two things had to be in place: Power and Processing.

“To address this gap, the Central Bank through our bank, Providus Bank allowed us to access facilities that has birthed what you see today.”

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele confirmed that in a move against importation of dairy products, the apex bank supported the project.

Cassava is a staple food for millions of people across Africa and a major source of income and employment for farmers. There are efforts to create an effective cassava entrepreneurship system to boost empowerment and drive change in the cassava value chain. DANIEL ESSIET reports.

Cassava is a staple food in many countries in the tropics. Rising demand for it as food, animal feed, and industrial purposes is encouraging farmers to increase production.

In 2019, analysts listed Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thailand, Ghana, Brazil, Indonesia, Angola, Vietnam, Cambodia, Mozambique, China, and Malawi, among the world’s biggest producers.

Globally, analysts expect cassava root production in the 2021/22 crop year to increase by 1.21 per cent to 302 million tonnes.

For them, better quality cassava feeds more people and provides income-generating opportunities for agricultural entrepreneurs, with positive ripple effects on millions of people.

Appreciating the market opportunities and the high potential benefits to national economic development, the United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) has been working with countries that have identified  cassava as a national priority sector.

One of such nations is Cambodia, which cassava has opened opportunities for it to increase food production, upgrade its products lines while ensuring resilience and sustainability of farming systems. Also its smallholder farmers’ productivity have increased with the adoption of practical measures.

Last year, Cambodia launched a new national cassava policy, aimed at boosting  production and export of the cash crop.

Launched by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the UNDP, the landmark national policy will run until 2025.

For both organisations,planting, harvesting, processing and export of cassava is key to securing jobs and livelihoods for thousands of Cambodians. Also, it is a vital cash crop for farmers, said a joint press statement.

Currently,  Cambodia is ranked as the fourth largest cassava producer in Asia and the 10th largest globally.

Over 12 million tonnes of fresh cassava roots were harvested this year and the new policy will boost and diversify its growth and exports in the coming years, the joint statement from both organisations said.

Commerce Minister Pan Sorasak said: “Cassava is key to Cambodia’s socioeconomic development and to reap the full rewards in future, we aim to upgrade the value chain by strengthening capacities and moving quickly to secure emerging market opportunities.”

Equally, African Development Bank (AfDB) believes cassava offers good opportunities for Africa, if much is done to improve  output from the value chain to create consistent and high-quality supply.

The bank has been an advocate of increasing cassava production for ethanol and other industrial uses. It is in support of the plan to grow the cassava value chain target of 200,000 smallholder farmers in Nigeria and two countries  and to cut $275 million worth of ethanol imports.

One of those driving this is the bank’s Director, Department of Agriculture and Agro-Industry, Dr. Martin Fregene, who believes building the cassava value chain is one of the best opportunities for Africa to boost industrialisation.

He said increasing investment in cassava production in Nigeria would reduce the yearly food importation bill of African countries estimated at about $35 billion.

In line with the aspiration, AfDB and the Brazil-Africa Institute (BAI) launched the Youth Technical Training Programme (YTTP), an initiative that aims to train young African professionals in research and technology transfer, contributing to local capacity development.

As part of the initiative, both parties announced the commencement of training of African youth for rewarding careers in cassava processing. The first batch of the YTTP training was kicked off at the AfDB headquarters in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, targeting 30 young African professionals (between 18 and 35) of the cassava value-chain selected from 14 countries. The trainees received a two-month training on the production chain of cassava at the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (EMBRAPA), a state-owned centre in Brazil.

In 2020, AfDB pledged support for building an Economically Sustainable and Integrated Cassava Seed System, Phase 2 (BASIC-II) project of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).

Fregene stated that the development bank, through its flagship project, Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), was excited to be part of BASICS-II “to ensure the best varieties are put in the hands of farmers as soon as possible”.

The project aimed at creating a more-efficient dissemination of cassava stems that would trigger the adoption of new varieties to improve productivity; raise incomes of growers and seed entrepreneurs in Nigeria and Tanzania.

Implementing partners include Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA); Catholic Relief Services; IITA GoSeed; Umudike Seed; Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI); SAHEL Consulting; Tanzania Agricultural Research Institute (TARI), and the National Root Crops Research Institute in Umudike, Abia State. Also, BASICS-II works with the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND Foundation).

So far, PIND Foundation has been leading an effort to support cassava value chain development in the Niger Delta. This is because it is   an important source of income for farmers in many parts of the region.

For the fund, scaling up smallholder cassava value would lead increased  production of  chips, starch, ethanol, and animal feed.

As part of this, PIND has been training entrepreneurs to explore opportunities across the entire cassava value chain.

A cassava entrepreneur, Mrs. Bari Endurance, is a beneficiary. She has no cause to regret.  Following the training she received, she has been able to create a successful cassava business and become a village seed entrepreneur (VSE) in Bayelsa State.

PIND’s Knowledge and Communications Manager, Chichi Nnoham-Onyejekwe, said the foundation aimed to coordinate actors, build technological capacity, improve productivity, and create market linkages to guarantee increased income and jobs.

She said:  ”The Niger Delta region is contributing a third of the total national output.The number of people dependent on cassava for food and income in the region places the value chain at the core of our intervention efforts. We are determined to increase productivity to meet the growing demand for food products and connect competitive processors to highly productive farmers.This will result in increased income for farmers.”

According to her, about N284 million has been invested in strengthening market systems and expanding outreach to farmers since 2012.

She continued: “The institutionalisation of Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs), involved in stem multiplication to increase the availability of improved stem varieties; administration of outgrower scheme clusters to link farmers to credible aggregating companies for industrial processing; and the creation of a scalable, optimised model has improved livelihood through jobs and increased income for farmers.

“Two of PIND’s productivity-based interventions – involving the demonstration plot intervention and access to improved cassava stem varieties—are being escalated and implemented. Additionally, we have achieved two successful memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed and operating with investors for implementation of outgrower/aggregation scheme in Edo and Delta states. Furthermore, we work with SAEL Global, Shine Bridge Global, andDufil to cluster farmers into our Cassava Outgrower/aggregation scheme for industrialisation and access to markets,” Nnoham-Onyejekwe added.

She said the foundation has recorded N 4.73 billion net attributable changes in income for 19,916 farmers and reached 60,592 farmers with information and training, through demos and other outreach programmes.

Between 2015 and 2019, she noted that the organisation intensified efforts to establish a sustained supply chain for quality cassava stems, by partnering the  National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) to train 12 selected Village Seed Entrepreneurs (VSEs).

She said the organisation engaged and supported more input companies to train 218 agro-dealers and lead farmers on good agronomic practices, who, in turn, delivered the same training to thousands of cassava farmers and helped the input companies to promote and retail their fertiliser and crop protection products to farmers.

Her words:  “Cumulatively, the input companies and agro-dealers reached 39,397 cassava farmers in all states of the Niger Delta during the second phase through various outreach initiatives including demonstrations, and results sharing sessions.”

Nnoham-Onyejekwe emphasised the importance of the cassava sector as a key contributor to food security and industrial development, highlighting its usefulness not just as a food crop but also as an intermediary raw material for food and industrial processes.

For the founder and Chief Executive Officer, Niji Group, Kolawole Adeniji, agriculture remains a critical sector for the economy, given its major role in providing employment and disposable income. He runs cassava processing plants that produce high-quality flour, starch and garri in Oyo State.

Adeniji has been driving investment in cassava processing activities. The project has recorded some improvements, mostly on the production side.

A focus of his campaign in recent years has been the creation of cassava clusters across the region to encourage growers to be effectively integrated into larger value chains.

Since 2015, he has invested and supported other investors to acquire thousands of cassava plantations in the range of 50 acres and upward  in the South-west.

One area of work, he emphasised, would help strengthen the cassava value chain is providing local farmers with both improved agricultural practices and a direct access to market.

He said the government must provide a greater focus on large-scale agriculture infrastructure development, while also encouraging private investment through incentives.

Adeniji has been working on areas to make agriculture attractive and profitable to youths. He told The Nation that he has established a  training centre in Ibadan,Oyo State to  get more youths to embrace cassava production and processing.

Generally, they are  trained  to become specialists in cassava planting through seed multiplication, technical back up, exposures,and repair of machines.

His vision for cassava is that it would spur rural industrial development, helpraise incomes for producers, processors and traders while contributing to food security.

According to him, the issue of low mechanisation agriculture has to be treated immediately to increase income and food security.

In Morocco, an online platform has been established to help businesses to export cassava from any African country with ease.

The platform integrates with cooperatives, farmers groups, agro-processors and other organisations that work directly with family farmers, including smallholder farmers, pastoralists and  farming  communities, to form a valuable link to markets around the world.

Fan Milk has commissioned its newly completed model dairy farm in Odeda, Ogun State.

Fan Milk Plc is part of the Danone group, a world leading food company.

This dairy farm, which is Danone’s first investment in dairy farming in Sub-Saharan Africa was commissioned by Ogun Governor Dapo Abiodun and French Ambassador Madame Emmanuelle Blatmann, in Odeda, Ogun state recently.

Abiodun lauded the multimillion-dollar investment as strategically aligned with the present administration’s drive to foster relationships that enhance internally generated revenue.

He said: “The growth of this project in about a year since the MOU was signed is symbolic of our administration’s commitment to public-private partnerships.

“We are happy to be part of this success story. I want to assure all stakeholders that our administration will follow up and sustain its commitment to this project by continued support through the Ministry of Agriculture and all other relevant agencies, in order to make good of Fan Milk- Danone’s investment.”

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Ferdinand Mouko, the Managing Director Fan Milk Plc, reiterated the commitment to growing with Nigeria and ensuring the company manufactures its ice cream and frozen yoghurt using milk sourced locally from cattle on the farm as well as those aggregated from local farmers at the milk collection centre.

He also relayed the projected impact of the dairy farm in Ogun State, which includes empowering 100 farmers in the first year and empowering 500 farmers in the next five years and scale the number of pastoral farmers that currently benefit from Fan Milk Danone’s investment in the state.

The French Ambassadrice, Madame Emmanuelle Blatmann, commended the company’s investment and reiterated France’s pride at the milestone achievement and the company’s role in opening up more avenues for bilateral relations between France and Nigeria.

The Chairman of Fan Milk Plc Olayinka Akinkugbe recognised the support from the Ogun State government as an investor-friendly state that has supported Fan Milk’s response to CBN’s dairy backward integration programme.

He explained the partnership is one of the major investments of Danone because of the social impact it will have on the host community by training dairy farmers in Ogun State

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