Category: Agriculture

Boosting productivity and ensuring that farmers have better access to markets are key to West Africa realising its full agric potential. But this, however, depends on improving the transportation network across the region. Stakeholders have lauded the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) on the $ 22 million agreement for the technical design to develop the Abidjan-Lagos highway, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

The West Africa food services market has hit $5 billion, according to West Africa Food Services Market: Industry Trends, Share, Size, Growth, Opportunity and Forecast 2018-2023 report.

Besides, analysts have projected that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) countries’ population will increase to 426 million by 2023.This means increased food demand in the region as well as strong potential for food exporters to make money across the sub region.

Despite the opportunities provided by  the growth,  some farmers in Nigeria  have  not been  able   to export enough  food  produce to  other West African countries .

Stakeholders  attributed this to poor road network besides other  factors.

According to  stakeholders, West Africa is still  one  area  where it is challenging  for  agro entrepreneur to move  their  produce  freely  without  encumbrances. One of those who hold this view is the President, Association of Micro Entrepreneurs of Nigeria, AMEN, Prince Saviour Iche. Speaking with The Nation, Iche who described transportation as a major  challenge for  small businesses across the  sub region.

He  stressed that development of  roads, are necessary to ease the process,adding that cross-border infrastructure development is a key driver for economic development of the sub region.

However, hope has come as ECOWAS and the African Development Bank (AfDB), have signed a $22 million agreement for the technical design to develop the Abidjan-Lagos highway. The signing of the Grant Retrocession Agreement between ECOWAS and AfDB and the contracts for the feasibility, environmental, socio-economic and detailed engineering designs was done in the ECOWAS Commission in Abuja.

With this, ECOWAS is inching towards the realisation of the dream six-lane regional super highway Abidjan-Lagos Corridor (ALC) that connects Nigeria, Benin, Togo, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

ECOWAS Commission President, Jean-Claude Brou, said the signing was in recognition of the decision of the Presidents of Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo and Benin in 2014 on the construction of the highway.

“With the approval of the member states, the ECOWAS Commission forwarded financing requests of approximately 89 million dollars to several development partners, including AfDB and European Union, to fund the technical and project preparation studies.

“We thank the AfDB for their swift response and subsequent identification mission undertaken in December 2018 for possible financing.

“The EU contribution of €9.13 million was mobilised through the African Development Bank who also contributed approximately $11.06 million making it a total of $22.72 million for the project.”

The commission’s president added that contracts were also signed with three major consulting firms to undertake feasibility, environmental, socio-economic and detailed engineering designs for the six-lane highway.

He said the 1,080 km Abidjan-Lagos corridor would connect some of the largest and economically dynamic cities in Africa and also link vibrant seaports which served landlocked countries of the region.

The Senior Director, AfDB, Mr Ebrima Faal, said West Africa needed deeper market integration to promote industrialisation for the economic development of the region.

Faal reiterated that the total intra-regional trade stood at 15 per cent, adding that the project would facilitate trade within the region.

“Promoting regional trade is enshrined in articles establishing AfDB and is a key pillar in the high five priorities of the bank.

“That is why the bank is investing heavily in high quality regional transport infrastructure throughout the continent.”

The AfDB representative said the objective of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway Study was to undertake all the needed technical studies for the effective implementation, operations and economic development of the highway.

Mr Mayne David-West, Pearl Consultants and Civil and Structural Engineers, who spoke on behalf of the other consultants, said the project design would take two years and would connect to the planned East-West coastal road.

“The project design life span will take two years before construction; we will provide bid documents for the construction itself.

“The beauty of this road is that there is already an existing East-West coastal road design which starts from Lagos to Calabar and from there, goes to Cameroon.

“When this road is done, it will be connected to the East-West coastal road.”

The EU representative, Mr Kurt Cornelis, said the project fitted in the framework of the cooperation of the EU with the continent and also the region.

Cornelis said the project would strengthen the competitiveness of the territories, stimulate investments, encourage regional integration for development, growth and job creation.

Welcoming the project,  Iche  said building the trans-West African highway is critical, calling on member countries to work together to adopt measures that cut transport costs and travel time.

Iche said entrepreneurs take the whole day to negotiate endless checkpoints from Nigeria to  other parts of the sub region.

According to him, entrepreneurs are stopped several   times in Ghana,  Togo and Benin before reaching their destinations.

The  Group Managing Director , Niji Group,Kola Adeniji, welcomed  the project , believing it will help boost agricultural  growth.

Excited by the development, Adeniji stated that the boost in transport infrastructure will serve as a catalyst to intra-west African trade and an economic revamping of the region.

Adeniji explained that the highway was of tremendous economic importance to local food producers.

According to him, boosting transportation is key to increasing food productivity, and ensuring that small-scale farmers have greater access to markets across the sub region.

Adeniji,who  is  trying to establish a presence in Ivory Coast, said  the road situation is hampering  his efforts to transport his food products from Oyo State into the country.

He said some West African countries are lagging behind in terms of basic infrastructure, adding that Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway is essential to scale-up investment in efficient, seamless and cost-effective transport,  as well as fully interconnect, integrate, and transform the sub-region

Constructing, rehabilitating, and maintaining reliable and efficient regional infrastructure, he  noted, would act as a catalyst for development, by bringing down the time and costs of cross-border trade and transport.

This ,he  added,will  in turn  foster trade, create decent jobs, inclusive green growth,  leading  to an integrated ECOWAS .

Adeniji said Nigeria is the economic heartland of the West African Sub region and has to develop its infrastructural capabilities,to keep abreast of increasing traffic demands.

The Executive Secretary/ CEO: Institute of Export Operations & Management (IEOM) OfonUdofia, said improved transportation is especially important for West Africa’s agriculture, which is badly under-performing, adding that the actualisation of the Abidjan-Lagos Corridor Highway project could promote large-scale development

According to him, the poor state of infrastructure is the bane of West Africans doing business within the sub region. Despite decades of common market agreements within ECOWAS, he observed that poor transportation continues to impede market access.

Udofia explained  that  the state of infrastructure is so bad  and that African policy makers must prioritise investments in regional infrastructure that catalyse integration and facilitate intra-regional trade.

He  expressed concerns over increasing extortion racketeering and corruption at all the borders in the ECOWAS region, with security agents  positioned there raking  in thousands of Ghana cedis, Nigerian naira and CFA francs from illegal money ventures.

The Immigration Service, Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Police and National Security Agents have been positioned on each side engaging in one form or another of extortion.

From Aflao in Ghana to Lome in Togo,he said  the traveller with Nigerian passport pays so much  money at different points in the Togo section of the border.

Only heads of state, Presidents, diplomats and other high ranking state officials are exempted from such extortion when crossing the borders of West Africa.

Udofia warned that extortion will hinder the highway project from achieving the goal of food export growth.

 

 

The Maize Farmers Association of Nigeria (MAAN) says it hopes to produce about 25 million metric tonnes of maize during the 2019 harvest season following promising federal government and stakeholders’ support.

The National President of the association, Alhaji Bello Abubakar, said this in an interview in Abuja.

“Our target for this year’s production for maize is 25 million metric tonnes because of the additional manpower and other support that we are getting from different organisations, especially from the Federal Government.

“Last year, we produced 20 million metric tonnes in spite of some challenges that we were faced with and this year, we hope we will not experience those challenges.

“Some of the challenges included late supply of input to us.

“There was also the challenge in mechanisation and extension services.

“We are planning to start everything at the right time this year.

“We have already provided some tractors and other implements to our farmers so that we can tackle the problem of late mechanisation or land preparation for the wet season.

“Other implements like planter and harvesters have been provided to our farmers so that we will start our planting at the right time.

“With elimination of these challenges, we are hoping that we will experience improved maize production this year,’’ Abubakar said.

The National President said that the extension services department of the association was training farmers on post-harvest techniques to avoid chemical residue in their final produce.

On the alleged request by Grand Cereals Limited.to import maize into the country, Abubakar said that the association had sent out letters to the ministers of agriculture and rural development, environment and science and technology to register “our displeasure’’.

He said that the ministers had promised that nobody would get any permission to import maize.

The National President assured citizens as well as companies using maize as their raw materials of massive production of maize in 2019 to meet up with the increasing demand.

Cocoa price is on the rise signaling a positive year for farmers. On 18 Jan the price  of cocoa stood at $1687.33. The bullish stance on prices, according to the international Cocoa Organisation (ICCO)  was  observed during the first month of   the year. Also,  analysts said the price of cocoa increased by more than 50 per cent from January to May last  year. The main driver of the surge was high demand at relatively low prices.

Analysts  said  cocoa beans were able to grow well thanks to favorable weather conditions.

According to analysis provided by the Financial Times,         cocoa prices  last  year hit 19-month high on strong European demand. Cocoa continued its ascent, rallying as much as 5.6 per cent to a 19-month high after strong European demand figures spurred buying. The key ingredient for chocolate has been rising on the back of excess rains in the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer. However, first quarter figures from the European Cocoa Association showed a 5.5 per cent year-on-year increase in cocoa “grindings” or the amount of beans being processed. This was due to high cocoa processing margins, which rose to a ten-year high, according to analysts at Commerzbank.

Forecasts of higher demand in Asia also supported prices, which were trading at $2,781 a tonne after hitting $2,856, the highest since September 2016.

Global cocoa prices, which forced farmers to abandon their plantations in 2016, are picking up gradually.

In 2016, the price of cocoa fell from $3,500 to  $1,400 per tonne due to a glut in the market caused by excess production of 400,000 tonnes. Since then, cocoa farmers have not been finding easy to make ends meet.

But, their story is changing as the two-year meltdown in the global cocoa market seems to be coming to an end.

in prices.

Faseru said with rise in cocoa price the wild ride of the past two years was over and farmers were poised to head back to the farms.

The International Cocoa and Coffee Organisation reported in 2015 there was a boom with growing demand, particularly in the new markets of China and India. This pushed farmers to produce a surplus of 400,000 tonnes of cocoa against the four million tonnes yearly supply. In 2016 and 2017, there was another surplus of about 400,000 tonnes.

The massive oversupply, which followed led to  global glut, he said, was  detrimental to cocoa production with high price fluctuation.

With the price gradually picking, he advised that production should not be dropped and the quality of the crop should be controlled by halting early harvests.

The rural areas have become more relevant today in enhancing food production. This is because feeding the nation’s growing urban population has become harder than 10 years ago. DANIEL ESSIET looks at Nigerians’ and organisations’ efforts to boost rural agriculture.

The keys to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, according to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) State of Food and Agriculture report, are transforming rural communities and promoting agriculture. One of those, who share this view, is HarvestPlus Nigeria Country Manager, Dr Paul Ilona. To him, the   challenge ahead for Nigeria is to significantly boost food production and turn the agricultural sector into a $100bn powerhouse, selling premium food to more than 180 million Nigerian consumers.

He noted, however, that visionary thinking is needed to make this happen alongside the current government’s focus on rehabilitating highways and roads across the nation, building new irrigation dams and improving rail infrastructure.

The “big picture” thinking, he noted, was vital to make the most of rural Nigeria’s “once-in-a-lifetime” prosperity. If the nation’s rural areas’ potential is developed and harnessed, Nigeria could set off an agricultural revolution that will lead to significant increases in food production, job creation, and economic growth.

He said rural agriculture needs to be more efficient to increase its yield much higher than the current levels.

According to him, billions of people, who suffer from hunger and food insecurity, are defined as not having enough calories to live a healthy life. While this number is staggering, Ilona added that the number of people with poor access to nutritious foods, rich in essential micronutrients such as fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products,  and  biofortified  staple  foods, are even  more  alarming.

Deficiencies in  micronutrients such as Vitamin A, iron, and zinc affect the survival, health, development, and well-being of billions of people; low fruit and vegetable consumption is also associated with increased risk of chronic diseases.

He added that increasing poor people’s consumption of nutritious foods is therefore, essential to solving malnutrition in all its forms. According to Ilona, rural areas are not doomed to be poverty traps, but they could thrive with more investment in farming, food industries and better infrastructure to link farms and rural businesses to meet the rising demand for food in cities.

With the right kind of investment in rural infrastructure and farming, he said young people will find jobs on farms and food processing.

The growth of the industry, Ilona said, will bring immense benefits to the economy, raise agricultural yields, enhance productivity and create employment.

HarvestPlus has since emerged as a global leader in developing bio-fortified crops and works with more than 200 agricultural and nutrition scientists around the world. HarvestPlus is a global alliance of research institutions and implementing agencies that have come together to breed and disseminate bio-fortified crops for better nutrition.  It is co-ordinated by the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (ICIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

He said HarvestPlus is leading the bio-fortification campaign nationwide to ensure that people grow and eat fortified crops .

When consumed regularly, he said bio-fortified foods can  contribute to body stores of micro-nutrients throughout the life cycle.

The country manager said his organisation released two varieties of orange sweet potato, rich in Vitamin A, in partnership with the International Potato Centre (CIP).

He said Harvestplus  developed over 25 innovative vitamin A cassava and maize based food, 10 of which are now fully commercialised.

He said HarvestPlus provides Nutritious Food Fair (NFF), a platform annually for companies to market and promote their products and services and raise life-standards of a large number of people across the country, especially in the rural areas.

Elaborating on HarvestPlus focus on new enterprise creation in food processing sector, he said the organisation has been actively involved in conducting Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP) in various parts of the country, adding that as large numbers of entrepreneurs have started their own businesses as well as production units.

His organisation, he noted, has been promoting rural-based initiatives, including bio-fortified farming and food processing to increase local employment and sustainable livelihoods, adding that the organisation is committed to the growth of the food processing sector. He said the organisation is  educating farmers to take advantage of opportunities in bio-fortified food processing.

The sector, according to him, is a boom for small businesses to start a business with small money.

The goal is to improve income and household food security, and empower disadvantaged households by building their confidence and capacities in farming.

To Niji Group Chief Executive, Adeniji Kolawole, rural revitalisation strategy should be at the top of the government’s agenda.  The strategy, according to him, should aim to address urban-rural disparities and modernise the rural economy by improving infrastructure, supporting innovations in science and technology, advancing supply-side structural reform in agriculture, and deepening rural land ownership and subsidy system reforms.

With him, the long-running struggle with waste management is coming   to a sustainable solution. In partnership with a Dutch firm, Adeniji is training rural farmers to convert wastes to rural electricity in the farm settlements.

According to him, a new approach to agriculture and food systems that bridges the gap between the rural and urban areas is critical in addressing hunger and poverty.

According to him, employment opportunities generated by an inclusive rural transformation will be especially valuable for youth in rural areas.

He is building an agric city project, a completely self-sufficient village that can power and feed itself. The city is located in Ipapo, Kajola Local Government Area, Oyo State. The 10,000 hectares mega eco-agro-industrial park operates on the concept of the shared-service economy with profit, people and the planet as the major driving forces.

As an  off-grid neighborhood, it  will also comprise, food production units, renewable energy facilities, water management and waste-to-resource systems, and community areas. Other features, include agro produce aggregation centre, food and agro processing and agro-innovation hub.

According to him, the   project is designed to pioneer sustainable economic development through industrialisation and agro innovation, harnessing the vast economic resources in rural areas.

The model  future city, he explained,   affords various investors the platform to provide a unique service on-demand in the city. Services range from power, warehousing and logistics, banking services, security, I.T, housing and offices complex, water, shopping, food and agro-processing, farming, agriculture, etc.

He said the project is valued at $300million and will be generating $700million in revenue together with 5,000 jobs.

According to him, the agricity project is all about applied technology where people become part of a shared local eco-system.

Adeniji said his goal is to help farmers undertake agriculture as a business, by helping them increase  efficiency   of   farming   and   income   generation   opportunities   available   to smallholders. He said he will be working with producers to develop their vegetable  farms.