The Nation Newspaper

Category: Agriculture

  • FG captures 5 million farmers for fertilizer distribution

    FG captures 5 million farmers for fertilizer distribution

    By Juliana Agbo, Abuja

    The Federal Government has said it has registered about 5 million smallholder farmers for easy distribution of subsidised fertilizers.

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono disclosed this on Monday at a Consultative meeting with relevant stakeholders on the development of template for the administration of subsidy to the smallholder farmers ons sustainable basis.

    He said the Ministry has developed and registered the database of smallholder farmers for easy targeting with the fertilizer subsidy support.

    Nanono said about 5 million farmers and their farms have been registered with biometrics including farm GIS coordinates so far.

    He said the primary concern of Government is how to get majority of the smallholder farmers out of extreme poverty through targeted support in order to increase their level of productivity, household incomes and by extension guarantee food security for the nation.

    Read Also: Nigeria to save over N302b on fertilizer import annually

    He, however, said that President Buhari has approved that, an implementation template be developed through consultative engagement with the relevant stakeholders on the best way of administering fertilizer subsidy to them nationwide on sustainable basis.

    On her part, the Minister for Finance, Budget and National Planning Zainab Ahmed said the meeting was being convened at the instance of President Buhari to discuss how to effectively implement a restructured Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI) for its sustainability.

    The Minister who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mallam Aliyu Ahmed said the PFI was to stop the importation of specifically NPK fertilizers and pave the way for its local production, thereby reviving the Nigerias local fertilizer blending industry.

    “While the initiative, a Public-Private Partnership that has the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) representing the public achieved great progress; its time to shift gears for market-oriented sustainability”, she said.

    The Minister, however, said the engagement will be guided by 4 fundamental changes upon which sustainability will be built, which includes “the role of NAIC-NPK be restricted to the importation of the raw materials, monitoring activities and provision of cost basis for FGN to effectively calculate and pay subsidies as for vulnerable smallholder farmers.

    “All fertilizer blending plants participating in the PFI now have to provide bank guarantees to cover requisite raw materials appropriate to their demand-driven production in order to substantially reduce risk to NSIA.

    “All blending plants are to handle their transportation logistics, recover their production cost and profits through the sale of their products in the market”.

  • Stringent agric loan conditions discouraging young farmers

    Stringent agric loan conditions discouraging young farmers

    In recent years, young and old Nigerians have taken a stronger interest in agriculture and knowing where their food comes from. However, many of them have discovered that making the farm dream a reality is a lot more challenging than anticipated, especially when it comes to finding funding without  acquiring  a farmland, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Given the capital-intensive nature of agriculture, new farmers struggle to access enough capital to operate at a size sufficient to earn a profit. While capital needs vary by farming system, they are in nearly all cases staggeringly high.

    Opeyemi  Lamson is a Lagos State- based agricultural landlord and a computer scientist. In the Southwest where he grew up, turkey meat is a delicacy eaten mostly by the rich. Perhaps that was what caught the attention of Opeyemi, who saw the near exclusivity in the consumption of turkey as a good investment opportunity.

    He seized the rare opportunity to venture into the business, apparently to earn income from meeting the culinary needs of the rich, most of whom prefer turkey meat to chicken.

    However, setting out for the business was not easy for Opeyemi. As a beginning farmer, he estimated start-up costs. In addition to start-up costs,  he requires significant capital for annual operating costs, even for a small produce operations.

    For instance, the average start-up cost for the business, besides structures, is N478,000. Also, acquiring a 200 day-old turkey, known as  poults, at N350 each, translates to about  N70,000. The cost of feeding each poultry to maturity is put at N2,040 X 200  for  26 weeks (182 days) is N408,000.

    At the outset, it was difficult for him to generate capital. He couldn’t get any bank support. However, Opeyemi was not deterred. He  had to raise money to start the business.

    Consequently, he resorted to bootstrapping, saving money to start small.

    He  was  able to recoup his investments within six months, even making profit, particularly after Christmas and New Year sales when demand is usually high.

    Youths between 15 and 25 years are expected to constitute 70 per cent of the population by 2050 going by various studies.

    With increasing population and surging demand for food, analysts  consider the role of youths critical in economic growth when given the right opportunities and support for farming.

    According to International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), while small farmers lack access to adequate finance services, youths are even more disadvantaged than their adult peers; with 40 per cent of them less likely to save and 60 per cent less likely to borrow from banks in comparison with adults.

    This means that they have fewer opportunities to invest in asset development, education and building enterprises, the report added.

    At present, according to analysts, agriculture  is  decidedly unwelcoming for youths and stringent agri loans conditions puts new farmers at a disadvantage, especially those who cannot provide land as collateral.

    The President, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama,  feels that way about the agric finance system.

    Speaking with The Nation, Iyama said the association had been  flooded with inquiries from aspiring farmers looking to start operations. He added that he admired  such courageous people for choosing an impactful profession and would want to encourage them. But, unfortunately, he said the lack of  access deck was stacked against their success.

    Iyama said new entry farmers were at a significant disadvantage in accessing capital, which exemplifies the old saying “it takes money to make money’’.

    Even if a beginning farmer finds a land opportunity, Iyama noted that  it was a struggle to run a profitable farm business.

    Responding to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launch of its Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme, he said empowering youths to embrace agriculture was among the most urgently needed campaign, as the nation faced economic crisis.

    He continued, however, that  it was not in the interest of the sector that CBN demanded that beginning farmers, provide land before they could be granted loans. Rather than put obstacles on the way of new farmers, Iyama urged the CBN to collaborate with farmers’ associations on a workable formula.

    His words: “ CBN  should  just provide land for beginning youth farmers. Unemployed youths  don’t have the capacity  to acquire land  and use as collateral to get  loans.”

    He said the CBN should provide them land  and work with the associations to ensure beginning farmers were achieving success.

    He said there were opportunities in agriculture for youths but the funding was still lacking.

    FACAN is driving the development of viable rural farm enterprises to provide sustainable sources of income  to youths.

    The youths  will be trained to grow  everything, including cucumbers, tomatoes, pepper plants, and sesame seeds, among others.

    The agriculture sector, the FACAN  boss noted, was  an important source of income for various groups in the society, and this is why  the  association sought to implement the project to link youths  with  decent work opportunities with improved infrastructure.

    Across the country, the dynamic winds of agriculture are driving young producers in divergent directions in a single-minded pursuit of growing opportunities. Some into soybeans, corn and many farmers experiment with double-crop field peas and cover crops.

    Yet, the greatest challenge for agriculture today, according to the Chief Executive, Peniel Gerar International Limited, Prince Enahoro Martins, is access to capital for operating equipment that poses significant headwinds.

    He has worked with a cross-section of farmers.

    He reinforced that lack of capital remained a real barrier, adding that those who start farming without start-up capital  were  vulnerable to economic downdrafts.

    “So many attempts by farmers to access Federal Government support loan through commercial banks proved abortive. Some were advised to form cooperatives and clusters and yet nothing to show.  Some farmers complained to us that some of their members even contributed money as equity and yet they couldn’t access the loan even with verified land available.”

    He was worried about the future of the rural community as more youths seeking to become farmers gave up.

    The Vice Chairman, All Farmers Association Of Nigeria (AFAN), Otunba Oke Babafemi, agrees with him on new farmers’ plight.

    While agriculture has great potential for development, Babafemi noted that the biggest impediment was lack of access to finance and the resources and services needed by young people to engage in productive activities.

    He said there was a need for a comprehensive repositioning of agriculture among the youth, including making it  easier  for them to obtain funding for agriculture.

    According to him, agricultural industry actors face issues with accessing credit facilities from traditional financial institutions, including beginning farmers.

    He wondered how it would be possible for youths without land to be able to access finance when the existing ones were  not favoured.

    “It is difficult for existing farmers to meet CBN conditions not to talk about beginning young farmers.”

    The founder, Agropreneur Zone, Kasim Farinde, highlighted the need for expanding agricultural finance in such a manner that will support new farmers. In spite of reported credit growth, Farinde said funds  were still not accessible for beginning farmers, especially start-ups.

    Added to this, he  said Bank of Agriculture (BOA) was charging beginning farmers high application fees which was not encouraging.

    CBN’s Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme

    CBN has launched guidelines for the regulation of the Private sector-led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (P-AADS). The apex bank in a circular endorsed by the Director, Development Finance Department, Yusuf Philip,  said  370,000 youths would be engaged in agricultural production, in collaboration with state governments.

    However, it noted that P-AADS was developed to complement Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS) by exploring private sector partnership to facilitate more rapid land clearing for production of key agricultural commodities.

    “The broad objective of the P-AADS is to facilitate increased private sector agricultural production of staple foods and industrial raw materials, as well as support food security, job creation and economic diversification,” the CBN said.

    The guidelines noted that the maximum loan accessible under the Scheme shall be N2 billion per obligor, while the facility shall be repaid from the Economics of Production (EOP) for cultivating on the cleared farmland.

    The guidelines stated that interest rate under the intervention shall be 5.0 per cent per annum (all-inclusive) up to February 28, 2021, while the interest on the facility from  March 1, 2021 shall be  nine per cent p.a. (all-inclusive).

    According to the guidelines, the Private Sector-Led Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme shall be funded from the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP).

    Farmers captured under this programme include those cultivating cereals (rice, maize, wheat etc.) cotton, roots and tubers, sugarcane, tree crops, legumes, tomato and livestock.

    The loans are disbursed through any of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs), Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs), all of which the programme recognises as Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs).

    According to the guidelines of the programme, upon harvest, benefiting farmers are expected to repay their loans with harvested produce (which must cover the loan principal and interest) to an ‘anchor’ who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account.

    The guidelines stated that the collateral to be pledged by participants under the scheme shall be the title of the cleared land and other acceptable collateral prescribed under the ABP.

    According to the guidelines, the CBN shall provide the fund, act as managing agent, issue and review modalities and operating guidelines from time to time and as well provide regulatory and supervisory oversight among others.

    The Central Bank said prospective P-AADS participants must be existing or new firms engaged in agricultural production with proven capacity and bankable proposal, possess an acceptable title for contiguous lands of not less than 20 hectares and must have a good credit record.

    Also, the CBN said a participant must be able to provide the required collateral for participation and provide evidence of the capacity to cultivate a focal commodity directly or engagement of farmers, including youths as in-growers or out-growers to cultivate on the land after clearing.

    Meanwhile, the agricultural commodities eligible for consideration under the scheme include rice, maize, cassava, cotton, wheat, tomato, poultry, fish, sorghum, oil palm, cocoa, livestock/dairy, and any other commodities as may be listed by the CBN from time to time, the guidelines stated.

    The concern of stakeholders was the ability of new and beginning  farmers, especially youths to acquire 20 hectares required to participate in  the programme.

  • Harnessing science, technology to increase productivity

    Harnessing science, technology to increase productivity

    The Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), the apex continental organisation responsible for coordinating and advocating for agricultural research for development (AR4D) held its Eighth General Assembly. It was done online. The spearpoint was deploying science and technology to boost productivity, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

     

    The General Assembly of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) is a statutory triennial event held to refocus investment in agricultural research, technology and innovation to ensure food and nutrition security on the continent. FARA is the continental apex organisation for agricultural research and innovation in Africa.

    At the 8th General Assembly of FARA held   online in Ghana, speakers canvassed support for continental agricultural research to  solve food production problems. They postulated that increased deployment of technology would help to revolutionise and  improve the performance of African agriculture.

    In his keynote presentation to the General Assembly, the  President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, called for the strengthening of research for development institutions.

    He affirmed with empirical data that the technology delivery platforms  were  working and that it was time to revamp FARA and to support the development of the agriculture value chains.

    He said hunger was the greatest risk confronting Africa, and to mitigate tthe risk, it  was imperative to urgently combine efforts on food security and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

    According to Adesina, the days of pilot work  were  over in Africa and it was time to work at scale and faster, to reach tens of millions of farmers with technologies and accelerated market access and financing to stimulate wealth generation.

    Adesina commended FARA for braving the odds of the pandemic to hold its General Assembly and highlighted the impact of  COVID-19 on food and nutrition security on the continent and the efforts required to mitigate its effects.

    “Africa today has some 250 million people who are malnourished…while collectively we must tackle the impact of COVID-19, hunger is the greatest risk facing Africa. Without good nutrition, medicines and vaccines just don’t work. Therefore, we must now urgently combine food security and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.”

    Adesina recapped the impressive results from the deployment of technologies to show that science, technology delivery platforms, and institutional partnerships for delivery can be leveraged to push Africa’s agriculture forward. He urged stakeholders to do more to significantly strengthen institutions for research and development.

    Re-emphasising the bank’s commitment to supporting the research ecosystem, Adesina stated: “It is time to revamp FARA and the ecosystems of research and development at the regional levels…African agricultural systems must become modern, integrated and well supported to achieve production and processing of food and agricultural products and farming inputs at scale.The AfDB will strongly support FARA, farmers’ organisations and the private sector to expand and sustain the success stories of Africa’s agriculture”.

    The African Union Commission’s Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, Her Excellency Ambassador Josefa Sacko, said “Africa cannot put agricultural research development aside and still aim to transform agriculture and report good performance. It is a paradox.”

    Emphasising the need to prioritise investment in agriculture science research for development in Africa, Ambassador Sacko cited examples from other continents which are reaping the benefits of investing in agricultural  science research, to provide the latest cost-effective technologies to their farming populations.

    “We can no longer wait for bailouts that are not forthcoming, to run African agricultural science, technology and innovation”.

    The Executive Director, FARA, Yemi Akinbamijo, called on the agricultural research for development sector to unite and implement a roadmap for food and nutrition security.

    “Agriculture is biology, and our agriculture is as good as our science. FARA drives the AU’s mandate to strengthen the application of science and technology to accelerate agricultural transformation in Africa and ensure equitable access to resources like the International Research Consortium. Meanwhile, it is vital that African partners play their part to help drive the agenda for improved food and nutrition security across the continent.”

     

  • Building capacity for red meat industry

    Building capacity for red meat industry

    The future of the Lagos red meat and livestock industry depends on an adequate pool of highly-skilled specialists. The state government has been involved in capacity building programmes. The objective is to nurture modern professionals and artisans that can make a long-term career commitment to the industry, DANIEL ESSIET  reports.

     

    The skills of butchers are valued among meat markets and processors. When the Vice-President, Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), Emmanuel Ijewere, was moving into the livestock processing industry, he visited South Africa to see what it takes to run a successful beef production.

    Rising demand for meat products has been  fuelling market growth and creating many investment opportunities. However, and  in  most parts of Nigeria, meat processing is under developed and hardly goes beyond just slaughtering of the animal.

    Ijewere believes leaders within the beef sector have to be equipped with the knowledge and skills to take on investment in the industry.

    As an owner of a meat processing business, serving clients in Lekki and Lagos Island, Ijewere was convinced  skilled hands  was the biggest problem facing butcher shop.

    He said a skilled workforce is the key ingredient to securing the potential of the red meat and livestock industry.

    A common path for an aspiring butcher  was  to simply ask the owner of a butcher shop for an apprenticeship.

    But in South Africa, there are well organised meat-cutting programmes where students learn to butcher cow, and about food, health and equipment safety.

    While there, Ijewere, who is also the chairman, Best Foods Limited,  saw an industry  where modern consumer trends were helping to create a butchery renaissance.

    But in Nigeria, he discovered there was a shortage of skilled and knowledgeable craftsmen who can take a hanging carcass from the plant to portions for the plate.

    As a novice, he had to humble himself to learn how to work on a carcass and tools needed for the job. He was taught how to saw back and forth into the meat  and create  ridges and smooth slices.  He did not just see butchery as an entry-level position but an opportunity to demonstrate meat processing skills at the management level.

    Today, he is a promoter of best practices in handling a cow from the farm to the butcher to the table. For him, it is paramount that red meat and livestock industry continues to ensure that it has an adequate pool of highly skilled research, development and adoption/extension (RD&A) specialists dedicated to the industry.

    At a forum in Lagos, Ijewere said the livestock sector was in need of knowledgeable, customer-oriented and skilled butchers and  meat cutters trained to high standards.

    He disclosed that his South African experience exposed him to high standards in the butchery trade.

    Nationwide, the meat industry is vast.  Lagos’s red meat industry includes beef, pork, lamb and mutton and goat. There are meat processing companies, manufacturing a wide variety of meat products, from fresh and frozen meat to processed, smoked, canned and cooked meats, as well as sausage and deli meats. Similarly, a lot of options available for someone interested in working in the industry.

    One of these is the butcher who slaughters and  prepares  the meat for further processing and packaging for marketing. Across the country, companies are struggling to recruit good hands. As the beef sector is a key driver of economic growth and employment, the Lagos Government  has  raisen to the challenge of  developing manpower  by establishing  a butchers’ academy.

    The goal is to train new and existing butchers in best practices on slaughtering in the red meat value chain.

    The Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya, said the academy would attract youths into the sector through the adoption of technology and, in the process, make them the next generation of butchers.

    “We have what we call the butchers’ academy coming up where we want to train our existing butchers for them to see the best global practices around slaughtering.

    “We want to start bringing in graduates and the youth to be the next generation of butchers but the only way to attract the youth into this sector is to have mechanised and semi-mechanised abattoirs.

    “We cannot bring them into the traditional slaughtering on the slab which is not hygienic, wholesome and does not attract the right customers that will pay the margins and will make this sector attractive to people.

    “The onus is on us as a government to ensure that we train our existing butchers and also to show the new butchers that this is the system we want to inculcate going forward and we believe that it is just a matter of time before that re-orientation sets in and everyone adopts this technology,” the commissioner said.

    Olusanya said that there  were 12 semi and full mechanised operational abattoirs in the state adding that some of them were setup through the public private partnerships.

    “We already have a fully mechanised slaughtering Slabhouse at Agege. We have two fully mechanised lines in Agege Oko-Oba Abattoir itself as well as other Public-Private Partnership collaborations, some are semi-mechanised, some are fully mechanised.“We need to understand also that having the kind of butchers that we have today and the mindset, they are traditionally entrenched in their way of doing things.“Inasmuch as we also want to move at a pace in line with global best practices, we need to have some patience and give a little bit of time for them to adopt new technologies before they move fully into what is global best practice.

    “The semi-mechanised line actually gives a sort of midway intersection and flexibility between what exists already and what we want to get to. So what we will be having going forward will be a mix of semi-mechanised and fully mechanised abattoirs,” the Commissioner said.

    She urged butchers to embrace technology in order to enrich themselves and make their work easier, faster and more profitable.

    The commissioner noted that semi-mechanised abattoir at Bariga would create about 2000 direct and indirect jobs when fully operational,  adding that the aim of the partnership was to show Lagosians the need for safe, sanitised and hygienic slaughtering of meat.

    “We are at the semi-mechanised abattoir in Bariga, which is a Public-Private Partnership between the Lagos State Government and a private player, Lion Unisco.

    “This project has been in the fore for the last couple of months and we are here for an actual test-run with anticipation that we should have it operational by the end of the year.

    “By right, this abattoir should have direct employment generation of well over 500 people and indirect employment of another 1,000 people, so in this facility alone, we should be having employment generation activities of between 1,500 to 2,000 people.

    “In the last couple of months, the state government had embarked on a sensitisation programme on monitoring, enforcement and compliance to ensure that the illegal abattoirs and slaughter slabs are shut down.“It is this kind of facilities that we are trying to promote,” she said.

    Olusanya said that the state government is receptive to the idea of collaborating with the private sector participants to have facilities such as the Bariga abattoir with a view to ensuring the proper slaughtering of meat in a hygienic and wholesome manner.

    “There is another abattoir in Badagry, Trans Selectal Abattoir, coming up shortly by December also. All this goes to show that in terms of our reforms in the red meat value chain, we are very serious about changing the narrative going forward.

    “We have seen the impact of COVID-19 and we have seen that there is a second wave in different areas around the globe and what this means is that, we as Nigerians need to take responsibility and begin to ask for safe and hygienic slaughtering conditions for the meat and food we consume’’.

    “That is why we are seeing a trend now where a lot of our private sector players that we have entered into agreements with are also trying to speed up the com.”

  • Firm offers youths lifeline via online food contest

    Firm offers youths lifeline via online food contest

    Our Reporter

    Imagine if Nigeria became self-sufficient in food supply within the next seven years; awesome isn’t it? She then would have broken the jinx as a leading African nation to largely address hunger within the black continent?

    Interestingly, a social interventionist firm Rich Life Africa, says a novel online contest it is launching would help not only in providing food to millions of Nigerians in abundance but making youths nationwide millionaires.

    Addressing the media at the official flag-off of the initiative tagged ‘Students Against Hunger’ (SAH), Managing Director of Rich Life Africa Mr. Modestus Bernard, described SAH as an online entertainment contest that would feature undergraduates across tertiary institutions nationwide, as well as serving and discharged members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), who would profit from a high paying job, become millionaires and as well feed millions of hungry Nigerians. among other goodies.

    Though it seems every inch a charity initiative, Bernard said it is far from it. Nonetheless, he likened SAH as a business model designed to fulfill the dual role of generating a profit and feeding millions of hungry Nigerians.

    Going down memory lane, Bernard said Rich Life, which is the initiator of the contest, went into critical thinking to evolve a model targeted at substantially addressing hunger in Nigeria within a seven-year window.

    According to him, SAH has adopted ‘Bernard Triangle’ a seven-year roadmap that would open up a floodgate of opportunities for youths and other Nigerians within the time frame.

    He said: “The Bernard Triangle is a seven-year roadmap that will provide surplus food, create millions of high paying jobs, produce millions of millionaires thereby lubricating the economy.

    “The concepts embedded in the Bernard Triangle will guarantee continuous employment and wealth creation which invariably will stimulate economic growth.”

    For instance, Bernard said the first year (2021) will see the contest generate a total of N250 billion while offering employment to

    10,417 youths on a N50, 000 minimum wage each. Besides, another N171, 233 homes would be fed and about 15 millionaires produced in the year under review.

    This trend, Bernard explained, would continue in subsequent years with an expected surge in revenues that would again cater for the aforementioned, including project ‘Save the Hungry’ which he said would ensure enough food in Nigerian households.

    He continued: “SAH first edition is projected to raise a minimum N10 billion from one hundred million votes at N100 per vote within four to six months. At the end of the contest, between 40 to 50 percent will be dedicated to the project ‘Save The Hungry.”

    Bernard appealed to interested individuals to log on SAH website with a N1000 registration fee. He said as the contest progresses, individuals would be compelled to send SMS valued at N100.00 per vote for their preferred candidate.

    Rich Life General Manager Promise Egbuijor, advocated more partners, promising a win-win for partners who buy into the initiative.

    He said the marketability of the project, makes it attractive for individuals to want to identify with it.

    “We have designed this project in such a manner that no one will be a loser. We are not asking the government to support us in terms of sponsorship; however, we are sure the government will want to partner with us once they see what this initiative is achieving.”

    Director of Communication Chris Okoro added that youth millionaires the contest would produce would be accorded mentorship so they can utilise the opportunities well.

    “This is not MMM or any other winner-takes-all reality contest. This contest will provide young millionaires, but we will not just leave them like that. We shall provide them with a support system in terms of mentorship to be able to utilise well such opportunities.

    “Aside from the millionaires, over 10,000 voters will be going home with smartphones each. We have decided to leverage this demography (students), usually because a larger segment of them have had and usually has one experience or another with hunger while in school.”

    Brand Ambassador for SAH and Nigeria’s first female Olympic gold medalist Chioma Ajunwa, expressed willingness to identify with the contest, premising her belief on an initiative which is not phoney but meant to crucially address the phenomenon of hunger.

    She said: “I am the kind of person who loves to put happiness on people’s faces, therefore this project aligns with my philosophy,” she began.

    “Students Against Hunger is a very big business, and not where a group of people gathered to milk innocent Nigerians. We went to change the life of our students.

    “I have done a lot for Nigerians and if I could stake my integrity into this project as an ambassador in Nigeria and an Assistant Commissioner of Police, that simply shows that my commitment to this project to change the life of our youths in total.”

  • Ondo State Government Signs MOU with Malaysia on Agricultural Development

    Ondo State Government Signs MOU with Malaysia on Agricultural Development

    Our Reporter

    The Ondo State Government led by the State Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN has today 27th of November signed a partnership deal with the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute.

    MARDI is a statutory body which has been mandated to conduct research in agriculture, food and agro-based industries.

    The Ondo State Government was able to reach this agreement through the office of the Ondo State Development Investment and Promotional Agency which is headed by Mr Boye Oyewumi.

    Speaking at the event, the Executive Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN revealed that among his agenda for the state is food security, and also to seek investment partners to increase the agricultural output of the state.

    According to the Governor,” We embarked on a journey of faith to Malaysia and that’s on the April of 2018. We hoped then that we could open a corridor of Trade between Malaysia and Ondo State, Nigeria.”

    ” We were convinced that when it comes to the issue of food, of Agriculture, and when it also comes to the issue of Agri-businesses, striking a relationship with Malaysia was as important as any other thing and this is because we have been together for long”

    According to the Governor, he explained that this latest Partnership is not just for the good of the state but to also consolidate on the good relationship between the Malaysian Government and the Nigerian Government.

    Arakunrin Akeredolu while congratulating the Malaysian Government for what they have been able to achieve when it comes to food security and Agricultural development in the world, he also added that the partnership with them will rub off well on Ondo State especially in the area of food security.

    The Governor revealed that during the last visit if the state delegate which was led by him to Malaysia, the state sought investors with the Technical know- how and financial capacities to increase the state Agricultural output, commercialize the state Agriculture and Agri-Businesses and this been yielding great rewards in the State.

    He added that the State delegate also proposed a collaboration and Agri-business Value Chain development in Malaysia which included the establishment of an Agricultural showcase and training centers among other things.

    Expressing his excitement, he stated that the state is ready to make the deal happen even though previous administration failed in this regards. He also added that his recent electoral victory in the state is a plus as it would see to it that the state has the time luxury to pursue this project.

    The delegate from Malaysia thanked the Ondo State Government for the cordial relationship between both parties while also expressing their readiness to seeing to the success of the partnership with the State.

  • Reclaiming guinea fowl

    Reclaiming guinea fowl

    Securing access to enough nutritious food is a major concern for most families. Beef used to be an important source of animal protein but the increasing cost of meat means that people have to seek alternatives. One way to achieve this is through guinea fowl production and consumption, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

     

    The guinea Fowl industry is ripe for expansion. This is because of its potential to create thousands of jobs, earn revenue and help  alleviate poverty.

    One of them is an International agricultural expert, Prof Funsho Sonaiya, who has been involved in training local farmers to   support the growth of the poultry industry in their communities.

    In an interview, Sonaiya said the guinea fowl industry had a great potential to create  jobs and help alleviate poverty. He explained that the industry was lucrative.

    A  Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) consultant since 1983, and the Coordinator for the African Network on Rural Poultry Development (ANRDP), Sonaiya noted: “Some of  the advantages  of guinea fowl are low production cost. It costs far less to raise  guinea fowl than to raise chicken. Another advantage is the premium quality meat guinea fowl produces. It is like bush meat which we love in Nigeria. It has the capacity to use green feeds and other vegetables that grow on the range.”

    He added that: “The bird has great ability to scavenge insects and greens. It can protect itself against predators. Infact, it is not only raised for eggs and meat but also for pest control. The guinea fowl is resistant to common poultry parasites and diseases such as Newcastle and Fowl “Pox. They produce a high number of eggs. They don’t scratch the soil. So they are not destructive to gardens.”

    According to him, guinea fowl production remains a largely unexploited investment opportunity in Nigeria.

    His words: “They start laying eggs at 31 weeks of age and it occurs mostly in the rainy season. Guinea fowl can serve the smallholder farmer when raised under an extensive system. It is a bird poor people can raise easily. It is recommended as a poverty alleviation bird.”

    He noted that there were several breeds but these two were most common: Red and Blue Wattle Guinea fowls.

    Despite the gains, Sonaiya, dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Oyo State, said there were downsides.

    He explained: “They are supreme in backyard production but cost more to raise than chicken if reared intensively. That is when you put them in a house. You get a feed conversion ratio of 3.6. They reach market weight at 12 to 14 weeks. That is a limitation because broiler chicken reaches market weight at eight weeks. They are nervous and difficult to catch. They suffocate easily when they are panicked. They are exposed to a greater risk of suffocation and death if put in a house.”

    A former Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ilorin, Prof Abiodun Adeloye, said it was  one of the poultry family that can improve nutrition and livelihoods of farmers by providing food and income.

    Compared to other poultry species, he explained that guinea fowl farming was lower in cost and required minimum labour and management.

    Adeloye said since most guinea fowl growers keep their birds in free-range rather than in fenced pens, they save much money from the prohibitive feed prices and other inputs as the birds struggle on their own to find food. He said more farmers should be encouraged to venture into it.

    Currently, most guinea fowl producers are involved in other farming activities. According to African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, guinea fowl are easier to manage by resource-poor farmers with hardly any access to formal veterinary services because they are resistant to most poultry diseases.

    However, analysts said guinea fowl production, particularly in West Africa, was saddled with some constraints that included poor hatchability and high mortality of keets at farmer level; a lack of prophylactic treatments such as vaccination and deworming; and poor early sexing techniques that would help maintain adequate breeding stocks.

    Other challenges for African guinea fowl farmers, according to them, include a weak scientific and technological information base on local breeds and feed formulations, inadequate funds to expand enterprises and weak development up the value chain.

  • Building capacity to assess poverty, progress of rural development

    Building capacity to assess poverty, progress of rural development

    With poverty index growing annually, the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin, Kwara State has partnered the Federal Government on the Village Alive Development Initiative (VADI) to ensure capacity development of  farmers. ARMTI seeks to change the way rural development is analysed and measured, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

     

    The 2020 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) data and publication: Charting pathways out of multidimensional poverty, said about 84.3 per cent of multidimensionally poor people live in sub-Saharan Africa (558 million).

    Released in July, this year, by the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford and the Human Development Report Office of the United Nations Development Programme, the MPI measures the complexities of poor people’s lives, individually and collectively, each year. The report provides a comprehensive picture of global trends in multidimensional poverty, covering five billion people. It probed patterns between and within countries and, by indicators, showcasing different ways of making progress.

    Indeed, extremely poor people are more concentrated in the sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region.

    But  the concern of the Executive Director/ Chief Executive, Agricultural Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Dr Olufemi Oladunni, is how the ongoing development agenda in Nigeria has led to the transformation of rural economies.

    He made a case that rural economies needed transformation to generate new opportunities in off-farm, agriculture-related activities. These include enterprises that process or refine packaging or transport, and store, market or sell food, as well as businesses that supply production inputs such as seeds, tools and equipment, and fertilisers or provide irrigation, tilling or other services.

    Since then, he has been driving the institute to look at policy support towards building a vibrant food system and agro-industries.

    Following this, ARMTI embarked on a study to assess multidimensional poverty in Kwara State.

    At a seminar held in Ilorin, Oladunni said the study was necessary to point the government and development partners to areas where support  was most needed  and  evaluating actions and initiatives implemented to improve rural lives and livelihoods.

    Presenting the outcome of the study in a paper, Assessment of Multidimensional Poverty in Rural Development, using the ARMTI’sVillage Alive Development Initiative (VADI) Communities as case study,   Oladunni said the focus was the rural communities of Kwara State,

    Oladunni said ARMTI’s VADI has served as an experimental success which is becoming a veritable intervention model used by the government to shift the paradigm by alleviating poverty and creating wealth through the reversal of the challenges.

    Oladunni said the study was necessary as it identified the most vulnerable households and groups and helped  government and development agencies wishing to target aid more effectively to those specific communities.

    He said nine ARMTI VADI communities were selected.

    He said the findings revealed that there was need for more entrepreneurship development and empowerment programmes for youths and the vulnerable as unemployment made the largest contribution (54.64 per cent) to the MPI of the study area.

    The other thing the study brought to the fore was the urgent need to enlighten residents in the study area to own a toilet facility and maintain proper sanitation. His words:  “Majority of the households in the study area do not own a toilet. A large percentage of the few who have the facility share it with other households. ARMTI’s) VADI was domiciled in Kwara State. The model is now extended to additional states of Oyo, Nassarawa, and Benue. He reiterated that the institute was interested in development models that will focus attention on the poor while expanding job opportunities, increased government spending on agriculture to alleviate poverty.

    Speaking during the forum, a Professor of agricultural Extension, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Olaniyi Okunlola, said there was a need for concerted efforts to turn the rural areas to zones of economic prosperity through multidimensional assessments.

    He said : “An assessment gives a more comprehensive picture of poverty,  as well as an indication of where to target policies that may address the dimensions in which people are deprived, whether it is education, health, or other aspects that could enable people to be lifted out of poverty if these investments are made.”

    He  noted, however  that no single measure  was  a sufficient guide to both inequality and multidimensional poverty, and that studies such as the MPI, Human Development Index, and Gini coefficient (which measures countries’ wealth income distribution), can each contribute important and distinctive information for policy action to effectively reduce poverty.

    ARMTI’s partner, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  also launched its Multidimensional Poverty Assessment Tool (MPAT), which aims to strengthen the design, planning, monitoring and evaluation of projects for rural poverty reduction.

    The MPAT assesses local-level rural poverty by aggregating people’s perceptions on ten different indicators, based on data collected from household, village or project surveys.

    While IFAD finances investments in sustainable agriculture and rural development as key ingredients for poverty eradication, economic growth and food security, the fund said success could only be achieved if there were clear understanding and monitoring of progress and impact.

  • Boosting agric finance in Africa

    Boosting agric finance in Africa

    According to the World Bank, demand for food in Africa will increase by 70 per cent by 2050, and at least $80 billion annual investments, most of which needs to come from the private sector, will be needed to meet the demand. To achieve this, analysts say access to appropriate financial services is vital. DANIEL ESSIET looks at the activities of financial institutions supporting agricultural growth.

     

    In Africa, the agricultural sector, according to Making Finance Work for Africa Partnership (MFW4A), accounts for 20 to-40 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and it is projected to be a $1 trillion industry by 2030.

    However, MFW4A said the sector was facing the challenge of not being able to make significant agricultural transformation possible.  The initiative said lack of capital for investment was contributing to lowering farmers’ productivity levels. MFW4A said the sector receives less than three per cent of banking credit.

    Hence, agriculture  and  agri-food  value  chains are under pressure  to  respond to unprecedented challenges of population growth.

    For this reason,  most farmers are struggling financially as their   performance depend on ability to obtain credit. Sadly, banks reject their loan applications, mainly because of insufficient collateral and high risk of default. This has helped to drive down African agriculture productivity, making it among the lowest in the world.

    To meet  the continent’s demand for food, according to the World Bank, it  will require $80 billion in investments annually to be able to feed 9 billion people by 2050.

    Indeed, there is  a campaign for a significant amount  of  new investments to  support a  transformation  into  a more  resilient  and  adaptive agriculture  model.

    For analysts,  agric finance holds promise for banks looking for ways to make money.

    Addressing the Financing in African Aquaculture  session during the annual World Aquaculture Congress underway in Cape Town, South Africa, Senior Fisheries and Aquaculture Specialist at World Bank Group, Randall Brummett, said  there  was  a profitable opportunity for banks to finance small to medium-sized agricultural enterprises in southern Africa and globally.

    According to Brummett, the World Bank was negotiating with financiers to develop options that suit the needs of farmers globally.

    At the heart of the discussion was  the need to recalibrate agric financing, drive improvements to bring benefits of closer economic integration fairly.

    Thus far, many innovative financing mechanisms that can catalyse growth in the agriculture sector are being deployed.

    For example, the  African Development Bank (AfDB) has embarked on an ambitious integration effort to create an agric finance system that will spur trade competitiveness and development.

    AfDB, African Union-NEPAD, and the Fund for African Private Sector Assistance (FAPA), a multi-donor trust fund financed by the Governments of Japan and Austria, launched the African Agri-Business Engine (AABE) in Malabo.

    To  encourage technological innovation in the agriculture and agro-industrial sectors,  AfDB  announced the launch of a $800 million scheme to support a range of activities, including the staple crop-processing zones that are being developed by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

    The  President,AfDB, Akinwumi Adesina, said the scheme  was  expected to reach some 40 million farmers over the course of the next 10 years, help improve infrastructure and access to finance, and reduce post-harvest losses.

    As many as 25 funds want to invest equity in agricultural companies  that promise high returns. One of them  was Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), an innovative public-private partnership dedicated to uplift the continent’s agricultural potential for the benefit of the poor.

    The fund aims at improving food security and providing additional employment and income to farmers, entrepreneurs and labourers alike by investing patiently and responsibly in efficient local value chains. Its outstanding credit portfolio totals around $170 million.

    Its investments have benefited over 30,000 small farmers, who have signed a contract with the financed farms since 2011.

    In February last year, AATIF disbursed a $15million facility to Sterling Bank to grow its agricultural lending portfolio. The $15million loan  was applied towards growing the bank’s agricultural loan portfolio.

    AATIF is not alone. The German Development Bank (KfW), on behalf of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), along with AgDevCo and Root Capital, launched Lending for African Farming Company (LAFCo).

    The company finances agricultural enterprises throughout sub-Saharan Africa to enhance local food security and stimulate inclusive economic growth in the region.

    LAFCo currently has funding of $20million, which AgDevCo and KfW would like to see grow above $50million  in the next few years as other investors come on board.  LAFCo was developed with the support of Dalberg Global Development Advisors and in collaboration with the Grow Africa Finance Working Group.

    Last year May, AgDevCo and KfW announced the appointment of Barak Fund Management Limited as the new manager of LAFCo. Barak is a leading alternative investment fund manager which has grown its presence in Africa since the launch of its flagship fund in 2009.

    LAFCo will become the third dedicated impact finance fund managed by Barak. Barak Fund Management, has gone on to grow from an initial $300k Assets under management (AUM) in 2009 to $1.3 billion, covering private credit in sectors including agriculture, energy and mining, addressing sustainable impact investment.

    At the same time, farmers across Nigeria  are banging down the door of the Federal Government to address financial hurdle that has   limited agricultural production.

    With  farm debt worth  several millions,  largely financed through bank debt to fund on-farm investments and maintain working capital, there has been increasing cases of the relationship between the banks and agriculture been more entrenched.

    In some instances, farmers have been forced to sell property and other assets to settle bank debts.

    In response, the National President, Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, has been in talks with the Federal Government and banks to make sure farmers are adequately financed.

    He said banks had to reset their risk assessment criteria for agriculture to play a vital role in growing the econmy.

    According to him, lack of funding  is one of the constraints farmers face. He said a practical, comprehensive plan that combines credit opportunities would be very helpful.

    To explore options in the agri-finance universe, farmers now utilise all kinds of financial institutions that specialise in agricultural loans. They also approach non-bank finance companies that offer land and equipment loans, and farmer-owned lending cooperatives.

    But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is not sitting back. A recent response of the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was that  the country needed to increase its level of bank credit to the agricultural sector by over 50 per cent within the next four years to boost food production.

    Emefiele, said at the 13th Annual Banking and Finance Conference, organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers (CIBN) held in September in Abuja, that the implementation of this was expected to drive the allocation to the sector to 10 per cent of the entire credit in the banking sector from the current four per cent.

    He urged the banking sector to  focus on increasing its support for the agricultural sector, as the Coronavirus pandemic had caused disruptions in global supply chains and food supply from other countries.

    Emefiele said some of the opportunities in the agricultural sector that banks should explore include addressing some of the existing gaps in the agriculture value chain like storage centres, transport logistics and technology platforms that can enable rural farmers to sell their produce directly to the markets.

    This year, CBN announced that banks guaranteed 28,830 loans valued at N3.6 billion to farmers under its Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) from January to October 2020. CBN said the loan values had grown in the past 10 months to 26,830 loans worth N3.6 billion. The Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) was established by Decree No. 20 of 1977 and commenced business in April 1978. Its original share capital and paid-up capital were N100 million and N85.6 million respectively.

    Hopefully, farmers are looking up to the Federal Government to provide interest-free loans as it promised. The government last month revealed plans to provide interest-free loans to farmers in the country.

    The  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, who stated this while receiving the 2020 Wet Agricultural Performance Survey on October 18, this year, said his ministry would work with the CBN in providing the loans. Nanono said, “The ministry would support the farmers with agricultural inputs and zero-interest loans, through the CBN and other financial institutions to mitigate the effect of COVID-19 and the recent flooding in Kebbi, Jigawa and Kano states.’’

    In other parts of Africa, banks are intensifying support for agriculture. For instance, Credit Agricola du Maroc (CAM) group announced that it has doubled the financing budget dedicated to the agriculture sector to MAD 8 billion ($875 million) from MAD 4 billion ($437.5million) for the 2020-2021 season.

    The statement from the banking institution said the approach was in accordance with the guidelines of King Mohammed VI. Credit Agricola du Maroc said it doubled the budget to support agriculture campaigns from MAD four billion. The budget is in line with the “strategic axes of ‘Green Generation 2020-2030.

    “The bank said the envelope should allow farmers, rural entrepreneurs, and agro-industrialists to ensure the continuity of their activities and generate growth. Credit Agricole Maroc will break down the budget into three parts. It will dedicate the first MAD 4 billion ($437.5 million) to agriculture via operating and investment credits to the equipment and modernization of farms, while MAD 3 billion ($328 million) will go to the agro-industry through operating credits and investments for agri-industrial and food projects.

    It will dedicate the remaining MAD 1 billion ($109 million) to encouraging the creation of a middle class in rural areas. It will also dedicate it to developing entrepreneurship through financing adapted to economic activities in rural areas and projects generating income and added value, excluding agriculture. The bank said that the exceptional mobilisation of funds saw light thanks to the growth of customer deposits, international financing lines obtained from donors, and various bonds issued by the bank.

    The bank also vowed that its subsidiaries would contribute to the implementation of the budget, recalling that the MAD 8 billion ($875 million) fund is an integral part of an “ambitious program” to support the 2020-2021 agriculture campaign. In Egypt, financial institutions support 13 agricultural projects worth $545.42million. Projects have reached over 1.5 million beneficiaries across 27 governorates, whilst providing 15,000 job opportunities.

  • Ceepass launches agribusiness digital bank

    Ceepass launches agribusiness digital bank

    Our Reporter

    The advent of Ceepass has been hailed as a landmark development, marking the first time a bank is pragmatically focused on the growth and development of farmers and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s agribusiness community.

    Ceepass.com is a digital bank duly registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and which works in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria-licensed banks to provide instant loans to farmers without the usual encumbrances of providing collaterals and another time-wasting requirement.

    “We are giving small-holder farmers an opportunity to grow their farms,” said Adama J Adama, CEO of the digital banking platform.

    Disclosing further how Ceepass is boosting agricultural business in the country, he said: “We are already known for our successful contract farming business which we do through Farm4Me (our agritech firm) and Viable X, our produce export financing scheme.

    READ ALSO: Agribusiness key to economic growth, say expert

    “Now, through this new platform individuals or groups can invest in either of the two agribusinesses and expect profit in the range of 32 per cent to 73 per cent.”

    This news is coming from Adama, who has already proven himself as a leading Agribusiness Entrepreneur with two critically acclaimed digital platforms, viz Farm4Me, the No 1 Agritech company in Nigeria renowned as the largest contract farming service in the country, and Viable X, the innovative agribusiness platform hailed for its far-reaching impact in the country’s agriculture sector.