The Nation Newspaper

Tag: agribusiness

  • Transcorp’s Teragro scales up investment in agribusiness

    Teragro Commodities Limited, the agribusiness subsidiary of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc,  has acquired and installed extraction cup technology, which enables the company to deliver superior quality juice concentrate that meet international quality standards.

    Chief executive officer, Teragro Commodities Limited, Dupe Olusola, said the extraction cup revolutionizes the company’s production process and ensures that concentrates it produces will pass even the most stringent international standards.

    “This investment elevates us to the top of local concentrate producers and ensures that Teragro is able to compete with any international concentrate producer from Spain, Brazil, the United States and more,” Olusola said.

    She outlined that Teragro processes orange and pineapple concentrates, mango purées and orange-peel oil for industrial markets in a 26,500mn TPA capacity plant called Teragro Benfruit  Plant in Benue State. In addition to helping Teragro products meet international quality standards through tests conducted in International labs in Brussels and France, the new technology increases the capacity of Ben fruit Plant.

    Chief Executive Officer, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc, Emmanuel Nnorom, pointed out that the extraction cup investment has further strengthened customers’ loyalty for the agribusiness noting that it has received positive commendation from its biggest customers.

     

     

  • African agribusiness entrepreneurs visit APPG

    African agribusiness entrepreneurs visit APPG

    African business entrepreneurs have called for  support to improve the  capacities of small farmers.

    The entrepreneurs, which consisted of the Managing Director, Doreo Partners, Nigeria, Kola Masha; Managing Director, Sylva Food Solutions, Zambia, among others, spoke at a meeting with  members of the An All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the United Kingdom (UK) parliament that is made up of politicians from all political parties.It  was an exciting meet for the APPG on Agriculture and Food for Development.

    Their visit to Parliament coincided with the second roundtable in Smallholder Agribusiness Development inquiry.

    In his presentation, Masha decried the increasing rate of unemployment with the number of   unemployed youth reaching 60 per cent.

    According to Masha, 20 million people have entered the workforce in the past 20 years. He expressed fears that increasing unemployment has led youths to insurgencies. He said agriculture is the only way of  addressing  it.

    He said agriculture accounts for 40 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

    To reposition the sector, Masha called for  a functional franchise model that would increase incomes by improving productivity and competitiveness of all producers, including small ones.

    He canvassed a more holistic approach that supports franchising grassroots farmer organisations/co-operatives, adding that they  are crucial to transforming agriculture in developing states.

    According to him, small-scale farmers need to operate under a system where they  can access markets, receive important information to improve cultivation techniques or benefit from new sources of financing.

  • AfDB moves to boost agribusiness in Africa

    Increasing agribusiness in Africa was the focus of a panel discussion moderated by African Development Bank (AfDB) Group President Donald Kaberuka at “Believe in Africa Day,” at a  forum to herald the United States/African Leader’s Summit this week in Washington, DC.

    “How do we work together to increase agribusiness investments now that the policies are in place? That is the question,” Kaberuka said. As part of the panel on realising a new vision for Africa’s development, African agricultural leaders from Cameroon, Madagascar and Guinea, along with industry executives, fielded pointed questions from Kaberuka on food security, the use of subsidies to fuel growth and the need for regional integration when it comes to agricultural expansion on the continent.

    Kaberuka questioned Guinea’s Minister of Agriculture, Jacqueline Sultan, about why her country is not a more successful model for agribusiness growth given its rich resources including land and people. She replied that “the willingness is there,” but land and water coordination has proved to be a stumbling block. “Other than the water,” Sultan said, “infrastructure and roads are expensive to build” and that, along with “a lack of financing, prevents agricultural growth.”

    When asked about how harmful or helpful subsidies to farmers in Africa have been over the years, International Finance Corporation Vice-President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Jean Philippe Prosper, told Kaberuka that there have been some missteps in administering them.

     

  • Agribusiness financing requires $6.5b

    Investments of $6.5billion per year are needed to take agribusiness to the desired growth level, it has been gathered.

    This is at variance with the yearly fund supply of about $1.5 billion, data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has shown.

    To secure more funding for agribusiness, the apex bank and banks are, therefore, implementing fresh measures aimed at empowering farmers financially and providing favourable fiscal policies for their operations.

    For instance, the apex bank has granted zero tariffs for the importation of agricultural machinery and equipment. The bank said it took the action, to create a robust agricultural sector and provide enabling environment for investment.

    CBN Director, Development Finance Department, Paul Eluhaiwe said banks are also working with Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and other key stakeholders to develop an innovative financing mechanism, tagged Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).

    The apex bank director said the scheme is expected to provide farmers with affordable financial products, while reducing the risk of loans to farmers under other financing programme offered by the financial institutions.

    The initiative will build capacities of banks to expand lending to agriculture, deploy risk sharing instruments to lower risks of lending and develop a bank rating scheme to assess banks based on their lending to the agricultural sector. It is expected that the initiative will help unlock access to bank finance, critical for stimulating agric lending and increasing food and crop production in the country.

    Besides, the N200billion Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) was established in March 2009 by the CBN in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to fast-track the development of commercial agriculture in the country.

    The applicable interest rate under the scheme has been retained at nine per cent even as the fund has continued to be disbursed to eligible applicants through the deposit money banks.

    The banking watchdog admitted that the future of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa is clouded with various uncertainties that include increasing resource scarcity, heightened risks from climate change, higher energy prices, demand for bio-fuels and doubts about the speed of technical progress.

  • Adesina seeks Nigeria-China partnership on agribusiness

    The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, is seeking for agricultural business cooperation between the People’s Republic of China and the federal government.

    Adesina said the partnership would give Nigeria an opportunity to access technological experience from China, establish business ventures between the two countries and promote food supply to China.

    The minister spoke at the High Level Forum on achievements of South-South Cooperation (SCC) organised by the Ministry, Chinese government and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) at the weekend in Abuja.

    Adesina said: “Nigeria sees China as a strategic partner in agriculture. We should establish a Nigeria-China agribusiness partnership to enable our two countries to go beyond demonstration of technologies.

    “South-South agribusiness partnerships will help to scale up access to Chinese technologies and establish joint ventures to help transform our agriculture sector and secure food supplies to China.”

    SCC is a global programme implemented under the Tripartite Project Agreement (TPA) signed between the federal government, China and FAO to support the National Programme for Food Security (NPFS).

    The project, which is being funded by the federal government, covers the 36 states and the FCT.

    Adesina identified needs to mainstream activities of the project with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the current administration.

    He also said that the country has dropped from being the world highest importer of rice to China.

    While emphasising the cooperation between the countries, the minister urged developing partners to modify the SSC because of the new agribusiness approach, to South-South Agricultural Investment Cooperation (SSAIC).

    He reminded the Chinese Vice-Minister for Agriculture, Chen Xiaohua of the anticipated rice milling technologies and cassava processing plants from China.

    Xiaohua said food security is fundamental to human survival and development.

    He stated that China attaches much significance to agricultural development and food security, which had enabled the country to remain self sufficient through local production.

    According to him: “Agriculture is the foundation of a nation, and food is the heaven to its people.

    “China has fed 21% of the world population with less than 9 percent of world cultivated land, which embodies our commitment to the people, and also constitutes a major contribution to world security.”

    He noted that since inception of the project in the country in 2003, the SSC had received 574 Chinese experts and technicians and it has been the most productive in the country.