The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Agric

  • ‘Investment in agric ‘ll boost govt revenue’

    ‘Investment in agric ‘ll boost govt revenue’

    The Chairman, ODS Global Investment Farms and Company , Alhaji Olaniyi Salami has advised Nigerians to invest in agriculture as crude oil and gas can no longer be sustainable as major revenue earner for the country.

    Salami gave this advice during the facility tour of the 50-acre farm land acquired by his company at Onigambari, Ibadan/Ijebu Ode road in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State.

    The investor who decried a situation whereby the country continues to spend huge sums to import food despite the availability of vast arable land and enough manpower necessary for self-sufficiency, lamented that importation of food was one of the factors that depleted the country’s foreign reserves.

    “My company decided to embark on large scale farming to assist the government in its effort at attaining self-sufficiency in food production and industrial raw materials. The farm, when fully operational, would embark on food processing and also create employment for many people,” he said

    Salami who emphasised the need to harness agriculture to boost food production and become less-dependent on food importation, also enjoined government at all levels to give priority to that agriculture sector and appoint competent and practising farmers with relevant experience to man the agriculture ministries.

  • NABG urges CBN, DMBs to invest more in agric sector

    The Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) to pay more attention to investment in the agriculture sector and help government diversity the economy away from oil.

    This was the position of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG Associates Unlimited), the brainchild of a 23 member Executive Leadership Group headed by major players in the Agro allied sector.

    NABG Chairman, Sani Dangote explained that with the current low prices in oil, agriculture is inevitably the way forward for development adding that with the formation of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, the group now has a platform to address challenges and find solutions to issues pertaining to the agric industry.

    He spoke at the group’s maiden Annual General Meeting held in Lagos, with theme: “Setting Policy direction, Strengthening Agriculture and Agribusiness Associations, Engaging Strategic Partners and Donors.

    He said the group was created as an organized private sector platform to lead in all matters affecting agricultural stakeholders in Nigeria through setting of policy directions, engaging policy and decision makers in government at all levels and forging strategic partnerships with public and private sector groups across Africa and the world.

    NABG Co-ordinator, Emmanuel Ijewere praised every partner who contributed to the formation of the association. “We appreciate the support of every partner which has led to the formation of the Nigeria Agribusiness Group and look forward to engagements with relevant stakeholders as it concerns the industry” he said.

  • Obasanjo challenges varsity on agric enterprise

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged the Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, to teach agricultural enterprise to its students to help end poverty and unemployment.

    He spoke when he visited the university in company of its founder, Bishop David Oyedepo.

    The University, inauguration on March 21, 2011, has a mandate to drive a agrarian revolution through its undergraduate programmes in the Colleges of Agricultural Sciences, Engineering, Sciences, Business and Social Sciences.

    The former president said product development, innovative use of equipment, and food production are some aspects of agricultural enterprise the university can focus on.

    In a statement by the university, Obasanjo was quoted as saying that the challenge of unemployment can be addressed through agribusiness.

    After a tour of the university, Obasanjo was quoted as saying: “I am most impressed with the overall commitment of the proprietor to agric-business and the enthusiasm of the farm director and staff. In totality, it is exemplary and worthy of emulation.

    “The University has the basic requirement to turn out engineers. I think our emphasis should be on Science, Technology or Science, Engineering but I will always add innovation because it is not every time we can invent, but we can improve on what already exists and that is where innovation comes in. The University is really doing well.”

    The university has 23 agriculture-related programmes such as Agric Extension and Rural Development, Agricultural Economics, Animal Science, Soil Science, Crop Science, Agric and Biosystems Engineering, among other engineering courses.

    The Living Faith Commission Worldwide is said to have made available accessible loans to the tune of N1billion to graduates who have interest in embarking on agriculture entrepreneurship.

  • Agric Group assists farmers with N360b

    Agric Group assists farmers with N360b

    The Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NAGB) has committed N360b to assist smallholder farmers, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sonny Echono, has said.

    He said the funds would be used to boost agriculture in 22 states.

    Echono, who spoke at the First Annual General Meeting of the group in Lagos, said the group has helped to foster economic growth in Nigeria through the provision of take-off grants for smallholder farmers.

    He said the investments will create jobs for youths, women, and uplift millions of farmers out of poverty.

    He said: “Your recognition that smallholder farmers are the largest private sector group in Nigeria has helped to foster economic growth in rural Nigeria “as you provide guaranteed off-take markets for millions of smallholder farmers across the country.

    “Sixteen of you have committed to invest in agriculture and agribusiness across 22 states of Nigeria a total $1.8 billion (NGN 360 billion). Turning these commitment into real investments will undoubtedly help to create jobs for our teeming youth population and women and help to lift millions of farmers out of poverty.

    “On this ground, we are together inaugurating the Agribusiness Investment Inter-Ministerial (AIM) Working Group today (yesterday) as a show of our commitment in delivery on our promise to facilitate your investments from early stage and throughout the investment lifecycle.

    “The AIM Working Group, our Project Delivery Team, will help to facilitate your investments and help to turn your commitments into real investments.”

    Nigeria’s agriculture, he said, will be better positioned for inclusive growth together with the NABG.

    He said working with NABG, will ensure that there will be no lack of information dissemination going forward.

    “We are better positioned for inclusive growth where small, medium and large farmer groups will co-exist to generate wealth for millions of Nigeria and the unemployed youths and women.

    “We have ended the dominance of government and I am optimistic that the private sector will lead Nigeria in restoring its past glory in agriculture.

    “I am confident that the NABG will continue to play an important role in the new administration of H.E. President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR.

    “I am confident that the group will continue to attract viable local and foreign direct investments into agriculture and agribusiness together with our Development Partners and other MDAs,” he said.

  • ‘Vote 10% of budget for agric’

    The Federal Government will need to set aside 10 per cent of its budget on agriculture to ensure food security, an expert, Dr Ademola Adeyemo has said.

    Adeyemo, who is the Deputy Director, Directorate of General Administration, Agricultural and Rural Management Institute (ARMTI), said agriculture is one of the  key sectors that have propelled economic growth.

    He said adequate funding was needed to help the government follow a roadmap for the development of the sector.

    According to him, a post-budget analysis revealed that that the allocation is not adequate for the boosting of the sector and fall below the international benchmarks.

    He said key agricultural areas are still underfunded falling short of the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) target of allocating 10 per cent of the total budget to the agricultural sector.

    According to him, the budget allocation still falls short of CAADP targets of allocating 10 per cent of the total funds to the agriculture sector, stressing the need to allocate more resources to other key areas such as research and development, and provision of extension services and infrastructure.

    He recognised that various positive measures and pronouncements have been presented in the budget to support agricultural development but urged the government to ensure that the ideas are backed by implementation.

    According to him, sufficient budgetary provisions will translate into a vibrant agricultural sector, raking in revenue into the government coffers and providing jobs for Nigerians to contribute effectively towards economic growth.

    He urged the government to employ prudent fiscal discipline as this will be a key to ensuring financial sustainability and quality service delivery.

    He said setting aside 10 per cent would help the sector to develop stimulating high production levels in crop and livestock segments.

    This, he said, was vital in making Nigeria a food basket. Adeyemo also asked for efforts to promote conservation agriculture, use of improved seed varieties and diversify on-farm activities.

    These measures, he added, should be supplemented by enhanced extension services.

    He said increasing the budget would ensure national food and nutritional security, mitigating poverty levels and creating jobs.

    He called on the government to enhance the use of science and technology in pursuit of its policy objective of achieving a competitive, diversified and sustainable agricultural sector.

     

  • Ogun to restore agric’s lost glory

    The Ogun State government’s goal is to re-engineer the agricultural sector to boost its industrial base and restore its lost glory as the main source of the nation’s revenue base.

    Governor Ibikunle Amosun stated this at the kick off and distribution of agro-input to the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF)-supported beneficiaries of the cassava project at the Ijebu North and Ijebu North East Local government areas of the state.

    Amosun represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry  of Agriculture Lanre Bisiriyu, said it was in realisation of this that his administration was providing adequate facilities, appropriate input, extension services and incentives which will greatly improve the level of agricultural production, productivity and well being of its citizens.

    He praised the Foundation for supporting cassava a value chain which is one of the six priority crops of his administration with others been rice, cotton, cocoa, kola nut and oil-palm.

    Earlier, the General Manager of the Foundation, Miss Abimbola Okoya, said the choice of the four beneficiaries – Ijebu Igbo, Ago Iwoye, Imewuro and Idode in the two local government – was as a result of extensive deliberations with their partner, the Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme.

    She added that the aim was to strengthen the capacity of farmers, cooperatives and agro-enterprise associations to participate in innovative economic activities, adopt renewable and energy-efficient technology, and implement practices of soil health.

    The farmers would also be supported with farmland preparation, provision of modern agricultural extension services, timely supply of improved agricultural input, provision of storage facilities and facilitation of access to open institutional markets.

  • Stakeholders to Buhari: Be committed to agric

    Stakeholders have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to avoid policy somersault on the agricultural sector.

    They spoke in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital during a town hall meeting on agriculture.

    They urged the government to ensure more commitment to agricultural development, noting that policy inconsistency by successive governments had affected reduced foreign direct investments.

    Kwara State Chairman, Agriculture and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria (AAEUN), Mr. David Ehindero, said the government must not pay lip service to agriculture.

    He noted that agriculture is a strategic sector that can transform the  economy and create massive jobs, urging for greater commitment from the government to agricultural development.

    He said farmers are not well- funded, adding that past funding intervention of the government did not really reach farmers who are the target for the funding.

    “The government should not make agriculture a political jamboree. Government should focus in areas that Nigeria has comparative advantage which is agriculture.

    Ehindero added that “the government should ensure that the good policies of the past administration should be continued. Agricultural personnel should be well taken care of in terms of tax relief, loans and incentives.”

    The Chief Executive Officer, AgroNigeria, Mr. Richard-Mark Mbaram appealed to Buhari to appoint as a matter of urgency a minister for agriculture.

    His words: “There should be no policy somersault. We have the Agricultural Transformation Agenda which is a well-thought out strategy for reforms in agriculture.

    “It has worked for the past four years and it is the basis for which we feel that the new government should build its agriculture. Implementation of it should be strictly in accordance with what is captured.

    “We do need an agriculture minister like yesterday. Agriculture is a different ministry from others.  You could afford not have other ministers but you cannot function effectively with a permanent secretary as the leader for the agric ministry.

    “The need for government to apportion sufficient resources to the agricultural sector in terms of budgetary funding cannot be over-emphasised.

    “We insist that minimum of 10 per cent of the entire budget of Nigeria should be allocated to the agricultural sector. We must start from the next budget. We have signed to the Maputo declaration.

    “For all we know, we have been implementing that position in the bridge.  Nigeria has at no point allocated up to five per cent of its entire budget to agriculture.  The sector is in dire need for funding.”

    He also called for adequate funding of agriculture, saying the Federal Government should make available at least 10 per cent of the national budget for the agriculture sector.

  • Experts seek inclusion of renewable energy development in agric

    The Provost, Federal College of Agriculture (FCA), Akure Dr. Samson Adeola Odedina, has  said a robust national plan to encourage renewable energy projects in the agricultural  sector will open up the rural economies and reduce the cost of doing business.

    Odedina said  sustainable energy is needed for agricultural transformation. According to him, energy is needed in all aspects of agricultural and food production, processing, service provision and livelihoods improvement.

    Sustainable energy solutions, he said,  provides the key to improving energy poverty among the rural poor. These include sustainable interventions such as biomass for cooking, drying and heating and food processing.

    To this end, he said the college  is  ready to implement projects through collaboration with partners to provide sustainable energy solutions for the agricultural industry.

    He said the college has a blue print to help accelerate the rollout of renewable energy projects, adding  that  the  school  can  help  farmers  identify areas that may be suitable for energy development.

    For instance, Odedina said the  school has developed a successful  biogas project that can help farmers to run biomass power generation system.

    He explained that the biomass energy project, championed  by the college is produced from cow and poultry wastes and that the system  requires less maintenance and fewer inputs and is cheaper and more sustainable.

    The college promotes biogas digesters for cooking and lighting. He said the college envisages a transformed agricultural industry that meets the needs of the rural and urban poor, small holder farmers and provides transition to modernising agriculture.

    The potential of land-based renewable energy to support profitable farming, while contributing to energy security, he noted, cannot be emphasised.

    Odedina stressed the need to support renewable energy projects to help farmers not connected  to the  national  grid reduce the cost of electricity production and diversify  sources of power generation. He also encouraged the youth to take farming seriously and added that it is important for the youth to take training courses as ones offered at the college  in order to get the required technical skill to excell in the farming business.

    He  said FCA  is  good   because of its provision of quality human resource for the agricultural sector, integrated community development programmes.

    He said the college  efforts is contibuting immensely to improving food security, poverty reduction and environmental conservation.

    Vice-President(Agriculture), Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria(ASBON),Mr Stephen Oladipupo said the  government  needs  to   boost the private sector and support to tap new energy sources to ease power shortages.

    He  said  tackling  power supply   issue help companies unlock their potential and create the economic opportunities that Nigerians  are eager for.

    He  said  Nigeria  has an opportunity to improve the quality and quantity of agriculture growth by  developing renewable energy.

    He  said the  government  can  harness  the enormous potential of the nation  by investing in agricultural innovation.

    According to him,  improving  renewable energy,  will  support profitable farming and underpins traditional agricultural production.

    Renewable energy,  he   added,   makes  farm businesses more resilient and better able to manage volatility in both the weather and in farm prices.

    According to him, the  nation’s   economic prospects hinge on its ability to meet fast rising demand for energy and securing access to  millions of  people who currently lack it.

    He highlighted the importance of reforms to land use and agriculture, adding that the sector faces significant risks but it also has enormous potential to become part of the solution. Innovation in the sector, Oladipupo said has the potential to change the lives of millions of people.

  • Kano set to review agric policy to boost earnings

    Kano State Commissioner for Information, Internal Affairs Youth Culture and Sports, Malam Mohammed Garba, has restated the commitment of the state government to review agric policy with a view to getting money to fund developmental projects in the state.

    Speaking to reporters in Kano, Garba said Kano was at liberty to exploit its abundant agricultural potentials, so as to ensure food security, adding that the administration is determined to exploit all viable avenues for economic survival.

    According to him, the revenue base of the government can be enhanced through the exploitation of the vast solid mineral resources, stressing that Kano has a comparative advantage in that direction.

    He however, disclosed that the state government is poised to use the 27 major dams, strategically located in some parts of the state for the purpose of irrigation farming, including production of hydro- electric power, affirming that the  government is left with no option than to exploit all the available resources at the disposal of Kano State.

    Furthermore, he revealed that for the enhancement and consolidation of the revenue base of the state, the commissioner revealed that a special committee has been established under the  chairmanship of Professor Isah Dandago, the state Commissioner of Finance  to work out a blueprint on how to generate additional revenue for Kano.

    Also, Garba, who briefed reporters on the outcome of the first meeting of the Kano State Executive Council meeting, said that the state government has approved the sum of N2 billion for the procurement of 50,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser and would be distributed to farmers for the 2015 rainy season through gross enhancement support scheme (GES).

  • Employ youths in agric

    The Project Director of Youth for Agriculture Nigeria (YFA), Obinna Ibiam has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that his administration keys into a programme involving youth in agriculture.

    He also said that state governors and minister for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will equally do the same.

    Yet, that is not all. Even federal legislators and their state counterparts are not left out in the appeal to see that youths do not idle away but be engaged in tilling the ground in the various ways.

    The result is manifold, according to the YFA leader. One, it will ensure food security apart from keeping youths out of vice.

    Ibiam said that there is need for the Federal Government, state governors and legislators to ensure that they promote agricultural programmes in their various areas for youth empowerment.

    Speaking with The Nation in Umuahia, Ibiam said that the presidency, state governors and legislators should key into the programme through YFA for effective operation.

    Ibiam said that the lawmakers at various levels should ensure that they enact laws that will enhance youth employment in agricultural programmes if the issue of food for all is to be realised.

    He maintained that if the youths of the country are empowered to have exportable agricultural produce in all the agricultural commodity value chain, “The value of our currency will increase, there will be food and employment”.

    The project director YFA said that if the youth employment in agriculture programme is allowed to succeed, “It will help to reduce youth restiveness, hunger, unemployment and poverty”.

    Ibiam said that the YFA programme is the only alternative avenue to crude oil revenue problem the world is facing now, stressing that the only way for Nigeria to survive is to go back to agriculture.

    He said that the YFA has a nine year strategic plan with the federal government to catalyze youth employment in agriculture programme to the grass root to create 37 million jobs in all the 774 council areas of the country.