The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Agricultural

  • Niger Govt to re-organize agricultural informal sector

    Niger Govt to re-organize agricultural informal sector

    In a bid to boost economic activities in Niger state, the State Government has expressed determination to re-organize the informal sector of  agricultural value-chain.

    According to the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, government will  develop products like mango fruit and other perishable farm produces.

    The Governor stated this when he paid an unscheduled visit to Kwakuti and Paiko Mango fruits markets along  Minna-Abuja road of Niger state.

    He said, “It is important to organize informal sector of agricultural value-chain. This will boost economic activities in the state. It will also create employment opportunities and increase  Internally Generated Revenue(IGR).”

    Bello assured farmers, various stakeholders and investors in agriculture of his determination to develop the value-chain in the sector.

    Expressing delight with the activities at mango fruit markets in Kwakuti and Paiko, he noted that for the state government to have full benefit of the cluster, there has to be some investments in infrastructure which the government will provide.

    “I am very pleased with what I have seen in Kwakuti and Paiko Mango markets. A large number of people benefit from business transaction that go on between mango owners and buyers who come from far and near to buy mangoes in Niger state.

    “It is important that we intervene in providing infrastructure such as accommodation, mosque, fence, water and where necessary storage facilities.

    Bello then emphasized that development of small and medium enterprises would boost agricultural sector of  the state with the provision of  storage facilities to assist entreprenuers engaged in seasonal fruit trading.

    While briefing the Governor on their activities, some of the traders revealed that some of the packaged mangoes are taken to far places like Mali and other neighboring countries.

    “We are very happy with Governor Abubakar Sani Bello visit. We have been doing this business and transporting  mango fruit to Mali and other neighboring countries for the past 35 years from Niger state. No Governor has ever visited us. We commend him for the interest shown in our business. And his willingness to support us. We will cooperate with him.”

  • Agricultural revolutionaries

    this is the first time in the history of Nigeria that two states are collaborating to develop their agricultural potential,” Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode declared at the March 23 signing of a Memorandumý of Understanding between Lagos and Kebbi states toward a much-needed agricultural revolution in the country. This magical moment in Lagos may well represent a revolutionary activation of the country’s agricultural progress.

    The record-setting deal is a powerful example that should influence the powerful people that are well placed to make things happen agriculturally across the country. Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu correctly captured the significance of the occasion and the vision of the collaboration: “What we are doing is that we are pioneering a collaboration that will bring other states on board later and we believe that our potential is enormous and we must have pacesetters to start that process of joint collaboration for our collective good.”

    This partnership of pacesetters reflects forward-looking gubernatorial thinking, and Bagudu significantly noted that it mirrors President Muhammadu Buhari’s aspiration to de-emphasise the country’s oil dependence.

    The logic of this agricultural partnership and how it will enable national food sufficiency and food security, apart from its employment-generation possibilities, is not only compelling but also commendable.

    Ambode painted a picture that impressively showed how the collaboration would create commodity value chains and boost food processing, production, and distribution. He said: “Lagos State is the largest consumer of food commodities in Nigeria by virtue of our state population. We have the market, with the required purchasing power also. Lagos State has an estimated consumption of over 798,000 metric tonnes of milled rice per year which is equivalent to 15.96 million of 50kg bags, with a value of N135 billion per annum.” He also stated that the state currently consumed 6,000 cattle daily, which may increase to 8,000 in the next five years.

    Ambode continued: “Lagos State is one of the largest producers of poultry and thus has a large demand for maize for livestock feed production. The state also houses most of the industrial users of wheat and sorghum; mostly flour mills, bakeries, breweries, and food manufacturersý. Kebbi State, on the other hand, is blessed with a vast arable land characterised by very large flood plains, lowland swamps and gentle slopes. In the 2014/2015 wet season, over 600,000 hectares of land was deployed for rice cultivation in the three senatorial areas of the state.”

    The beauty of this joint venture is its formalisation to the extent that it  will be implemented using a Special Purpose Vehicle called LASKEB Agricultural Production and Marketing Company (LAPMCO), which will focus on rice, wheat, groundnut, onions, maize, sorghum, and beef.

    The concentration on rice is particularly noteworthy, considering its status as a staple food in the country. Nigeria reportedly ranks among the world’s top 12 rice-consuming countries, but its rice-consumption level is dependent on rice importation. It is a testimony to Nigerians’ taste for rice that the country is reportedly “the second largest importer of rice in the world and the largest net importer in Africa”.  A recent report said: “Nigeria spends an estimated N356 billion on importation of rice annually, the bulk of which comes from Thailand.”

    It is striking that Ambode made an ambitious assertion in respect of rice importation. He said: “The era of imported rice is gone…We have the economic prowess to produce rice locally. The reality is for all of us to embrace the consumption of local foodstuff and commodities.” He added: “Our traders can become key employers of labour as distributors of ‘Ibile Rice’. We can also brand and package rice in the names of our distributors and traders. As a state, we shall adopt our local rice as a state dish in all ramifications.”

    According to Ambode, “The people of Kebbi are traditionally rice farmers with average land holding of about 10 hectares. Presently, Kebbi has over 50,000 metric tonnes of paddy in store produced from the last two planting seasons.” Interestingly, Bagudu projected that the partnership would provide 60 to 70 percent of the country’s rice demand.

    It is obvious that local rice production is still a far cry from the demand of local rice consumption. As long as a colossal gap exists between production and consumption, so long will a colossal problem exist. However, it is observable that the problem may not be about production per se. More problematic is the production standard as well as the standard of the product. Concerning acceptability and acceptance, there is no question that the production and the product will need to meet certain consumer standards. In other words, marketing local rice to local consumers must start with getting the rice right in production terms. Then it will be easier to get consumers to listen to promotional talk about locally produced rice.

    One big event recently highlighted the bigness of the country’s agricultural challenge. It may be considered a reflection of big agricultural thinking in the country’s power circle that the 8th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium focused on Agriculture. Appropriately, the catchwords of the March 29 event in Abuja were: Action; Work; Revolution. It is significant that the Federal Government took advantage of the platform to further clarify its agricultural vision.  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh, who was the keynote speaker, said at the forum through Minister of State Heineken Lokpobiri: “We intend to achieve self-sufficiency in tomato paste by the end of this year and in rice, maize and soya beans by the end of 2018 as well as wheat by 2019.”

    There is no question that targets and target-setting are useful, but the question is whether the targets would be pursued with performance-mentality and result-mentality. It is easy to pay lip service to agricultural development without developing agriculture.

    Food is a hierarch in the hierarchy of needs. It is so primary and so pivotal that human survival and human society depend on it. This is so self-evident that it requires no emphasis. It is high time the country’s structures of power structured its agricultural growth.

    Lagos and Kebbi states, through Ambode and Bagudu, have demonstrated action and are set to work for the desired agricultural revolution. The revolution requires revolutionary thinking and more revolutionaries are needed.

  • Agricultural revolutionaries

    This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that two states are collaborating to develop their agricultural potential,” Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode declared at the March 23 signing of a Memorandumý of Understanding between Lagos and Kebbi states toward a much-needed agricultural revolution in the country. This magical moment in Lagos may well represent a revolutionary activation of the country’s agricultural progress.

    The record-setting deal is a powerful example that should influence the powerful people that are well placed to make things happen agriculturally across the country. Kebbi State Governor Atiku Bagudu correctly captured the significance of the occasion and the vision of the collaboration: “What we are doing is that we are pioneering a collaboration that will bring other states on board later and we believe that our potential is enormous and we must have pacesetters to start that process of joint collaboration for our collective good.”

    This partnership of pacesetters reflects forward-looking gubernatorial thinking, and Bagudu significantly noted that it mirrors President Muhammadu Buhari’s aspiration to de-emphasise the country’s oil dependence.

    The logic of this agricultural partnership and how it will enable national food sufficiency and food security, apart from its employment-generation possibilities, is not only compelling but also commendable.

    Ambode painted a picture that impressively showed how the collaboration would create commodity value chains and boost food processing, production, and distribution. He said: “Lagos State is the largest consumer of food commodities in Nigeria by virtue of our state population. We have the market, with the required purchasing power also. Lagos State has an estimated consumption of over 798,000 metric tonnes of milled rice per year which is equivalent to 15.96 million of 50kg bags, with a value of N135 billion per annum.” He also stated that the state currently consumed 6,000 cattle daily, which may increase to 8,000 in the next five years.

    Ambode continued: “Lagos State is one of the largest producers of poultry and thus has a large demand for maize for livestock feed production. The state also houses most of the industrial users of wheat and sorghum; mostly flour mills, bakeries, breweries, and food manufacturersý. Kebbi State, on the other hand, is blessed with a vast arable land characterised by very large flood plains, lowland swamps and gentle slopes. In the 2014/2015 wet season, over 600,000 hectares of land was deployed for rice cultivation in the three senatorial areas of the state.”

    The beauty of this joint venture is its formalisation to the extent that it  will be implemented using a Special Purpose Vehicle called LASKEB Agricultural Production and Marketing Company (LAPMCO), which will focus on rice, wheat, groundnut, onions, maize, sorghum, and beef.

    The concentration on rice is particularly noteworthy, considering its status as a staple food in the country. Nigeria reportedly ranks among the world’s top 12 rice-consuming countries, but its rice-consumption level is dependent on rice importation. It is a testimony to Nigerians’ taste for rice that the country is reportedly “the second largest importer of rice in the world and the largest net importer in Africa”.  A recent report said: “Nigeria spends an estimated N356 billion on importation of rice annually, the bulk of which comes from Thailand.”

    It is striking that Ambode made an ambitious assertion in respect of rice importation. He said: “The era of imported rice is gone…We have the economic prowess to produce rice locally. The reality is for all of us to embrace the consumption of local foodstuff and commodities.” He added: “Our traders can become key employers of labour as distributors of ‘Ibile Rice’. We can also brand and package rice in the names of our distributors and traders. As a state, we shall adopt our local rice as a state dish in all ramifications.”

    According to Ambode, “The people of Kebbi are traditionally rice farmers with average land holding of about 10 hectares. Presently, Kebbi has over 50,000 metric tonnes of paddy in store produced from the last two planting seasons.” Interestingly, Bagudu projected that the partnership would provide 60 to 70 percent of the country’s rice demand.

    It is obvious that local rice production is still a far cry from the demand of local rice consumption. As long as a colossal gap exists between production and consumption, so long will a colossal problem exist. However, it is observable that the problem may not be about production per se. More problematic is the production standard as well as the standard of the product. Concerning acceptability and acceptance, there is no question that the production and the product will need to meet certain consumer standards. In other words, marketing local rice to local consumers must start with getting the rice right in production terms. Then it will be easier to get consumers to listen to promotional talk about locally produced rice.

    One big event recently highlighted the bigness of the country’s agricultural challenge. It may be considered a reflection of big agricultural thinking in the country’s power circle that the 8th Annual Bola Tinubu Colloquium focused on Agriculture. Appropriately, the catchwords of the March 29 event in Abuja were: Action; Work; Revolution. It is significant that the Federal Government took advantage of the platform to further clarify its agricultural vision.  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Audu Ogbeh, who was the keynote speaker, said at the forum through Minister of State Heineken Lokpobiri: “We intend to achieve self-sufficiency in tomato paste by the end of this year and in rice, maize and soya beans by the end of 2018 as well as wheat by 2019.”

    There is no question that targets and target-setting are useful, but the question is whether the targets would be pursued with performance-mentality and result-mentality. It is easy to pay lip service to agricultural development without developing agriculture.

    Food is a hierarch in the hierarchy of needs. It is so primary and so pivotal that human survival and human society depend on it. This is so self-evident that it requires no emphasis. It is high time the country’s structures of power structured its agricultural growth.

    Lagos and Kebbi states, through Ambode and Bagudu, have demonstrated action and are set to work for the desired agricultural revolution. The revolution requires revolutionary thinking and more revolutionaries are needed.

  • ‘Nigerians pay lip-service to agricultural research’

    ‘Nigerians pay lip-service to agricultural research’

    Dr. Isaac Ozumba a researcher is Deputy Director, National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, NCAM, Ilorin. In this interview with Asst. Editor Sina Fadare, he speaks on challenges besetting the agricultural institutes. 

    To what extent is the Institute able to achieve its mission and goals?

    Our primary mission and vision is to accelerate agricultural mechanisation in the country through development and application of homegrown simple mehanisation technology. When I refer to homegrown is the fact that a technology may be simple but not applicable to home use. The technology we develop here are applicable to homegrown technology that will suit our soil and climatic condition.

    Our vision is to be the centre of excellence for agricultural mechanisation in Nigeria. From what you have seen on the ground, you will attest to the fact that we have been able to fulfill our mission and vision. We have gone a long way with the little we were able to get from the federal government.

    Let me be specific. For example, on cassava, we have been able to develop all the technology that is required for production and process of cassava into various products. We have cassava planter, harvester, peeler, grater, the press and the mechanical garri fryer. We also have milling machine that can turn cassava to flour, likewise cabinet dryer that can be used for cassava chips.

    As regards rice, we have been able to develop rice milling machine, per boiler and distoner. Because of the handling process of rice, stone find its way inside it therefore it has to be removed. We also have various version of maize sheller likewise for other grains.

    Research in agricultural institutes in the country attracts poor funding, what account for this? 

    Nigerians pay lip-service to research development, whereas research is the pillar to agricultural revolution in any county. Take Nigeria for example, we have agricultural research institutes and good human capital therein. Take for instance, in the area of agricultural mechanisation, we have developed some notable researches within the limit of fund available.

    Most of these technologies end up on the shelves. I showed you some of our technology waiting to be commercialised. The federal government empowered us to produce some of these machines by paying 60 per cent and the state to pay 40 percent. It is expected that the state will pick them up and give to their farmers in their respective states to use. As I’m talking to you today, only six states have collected theirs.

    This is not an encouragement. There is no linkage between the farmers and agricultural researchers. In advance countries like Israel, Japan and China, all their researches are need-based. You will see a research institute developing a technology based on the need of a farmer. We need to get to that level where our research is need-based before we can have a breakthrough, not abstract research.

    Let me give you an example, we had a collaborative research with Cocoa Research Institute, CRIN, Ibadan, they have a problem with polishing and de hauling of coffee, that is the problem the farmers are encountering. As a mechanised centre, they came to us and explained that this is the particular problem they have on the field. We jumped at it immediately, swung into action, today we are able to produce a functional coffee polisher and de hauler which the coffee farmers are using and that problem had been solved. It is time we look into agricultural research that will solve the farmer’s problem, by so doing we would go places and a lot of problem would be solved on our farms.

    I was in Israel, they discovered that they have problem of washing their fruits, they realised that the washing machines that are imported are doing damage to the fruits, they challenged their researchers and the researchers went to the drawing board to produce a washing machine they are using now all over Israel. Today we have machines for cassava peepers, harvesters yet we are importing these machines, how are we encouraging our researchers?

    A researcher is fulfilled when seeing his product being used on the field. Agricultural researchers need a lot of encouragement if we are going to make a mark in agricultural revolution. I stand to be corrected Nigeria did not have a policy on agricultural mechanisation. Nigeria has a policy on agriculture and under it there is a sub head with agricultural mechanisation.

    If we really want to transform agriculture, we need to have a policy on agricultural mechanisation. Although there is a National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation, NCAM, whose primary mandate is to test and sanctify tractor as a policy statement, but there is no enabling law that is backing it up. Therefore you cannot enforce if there is any junk machines imported into the country. This is a serious problem, there should be policy backed up by law before offenders could be sanctioned.

    Let me give you a practical example, the present minister for agriculture and rural development, Dr Adewumi Adesina has done so much in the utilisation of cassava. As I am talking to you today, there is a policy that you should include 10 per cent of cassava flour on every wheat you use in the production of bread. The minister said they can even go to 20 per cent. But there is no enabling law that is backing it up, therefore you cannot enforce it.

    It can only be enforced when the National Assembly passed a law concerning it like saying all confectionaries that are made in the country should include 10 per cent of cassava flour, by so doing you can now enforce the law by compelling all the stakeholders to comply. It cannot be forced to be use because there is no law backing it up.

    Therefore for agriculture and cassava to be fully transformed it has to be backed up by law if all these are not backed by law we are going backward.

    What is your take on budgeting to research Institute?               

    The issue of budgeting to research institute is a pity. I can tell you that in the last four years the institute has enjoined a bit of favour. There was a year they approved N1.3 billion, but about 670milion was finally released. As I am talking to you the fund given to us for capital project was N45 million. My question is will N45 million be enough to carry our research? We have five technical departments that are purely engineering. Can N45 million be enough to complete some of the project that we have started since last year? This is a real problem. Research is very expensive all over the world.

  • ‘Agricultural Development Programme going into extinction’

    The National Association of Nigerian Traders ( NANTS) has decried the dwindling service of the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) in the country, saying the service is being neglected by government.

    NANTS  President,   Ken Ukuoha, who stated this at a stakeholders consultative meeting  on the state of Agricultural extension service in Nigeria, said the ADP remains the most enduring public system of Agricultural extension in the country with direct linkage to the grassroots and small holder farmers.

    He said, “In recent times, the extension service delivery has almost gone into extinction, as the spark which the ADP was known for appears dwindling,  To some observers the ADP was abandoned as soon as the funding  meant for it from the world Bank dried up.

    “The regretable result is that today,  the current ratio is one extension agent to two thousand farm families,  and this is an impossible task to create impact. Interestingly,  policy wise,  agricultural extension service occupies a major plank in the Agriculture Transformation Agenda  of  Nigeria.”

    He said the ADP  is  a key component of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development (CADDP) which the  Agric Transformation Agenda  domestically seeks to represent, adding that the regional level,  Nigeria is a major country upon which ECOWAS relies for the implementation of its agricultural policy, called ECOWAP, especially for the economic development and food security of her over 300 million population.

    He said it should be noted that ECOWAS accorded extension service sub-sector a significant role in the implementation of the region’s agricultural policy.

    Ukuoha explained that in  the spirit of the existing partnership with the Federal Public Administration Reforms of the Department for International Development, the Department  For International Development, (DFID), NANTS seeks to beam the policy searchlight on the status of extension service delivery in Nigeria.

    He said the goal is to monitor and engage this agricultural policy of government with a view to ensuring positive impact on the small holder farmers.