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Tag: agriculture

  • ‘How agriculture can unlock Nigeria’s economy’

    ‘How agriculture can unlock Nigeria’s economy’

    Mr. Babatunde Sadiku is the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Agriculture. In this interview with Sina Fadare, he shares his views on how agricultural resources, if fully harnessed, can serve as a sustainable revenue earner for the country to cushion the effect of dwindling oil fortunes. Excerpts: 

    With the dwindling oil fortunes, do you see any attention serious attention being focused on agriculture?

    Agriculture has always been the core of Nigerian economy in the past and people have been practicing agriculture as far as you can remember the history of the country. People are involved consciously or unconsciously, it has been created by nature. Food plays a vital role in the live of man and this has come to be through agricultural activities. Agriculture is a renewable assets but oil is not, if it is harnessed, it can used for the benefit of the people, it can create job opportunity and economy sustainability. It can also provide raw materials for our industries. Aside this we can even export some of these foods if we get it right in agricultural revolution.

    After satisfying the local demand, the excess can also serve as economic generation when it is exported. We have about 170 million people to feed; therefore it is a sector we cannot joke with. Agriculture involved finding from production level to processing, packaging and the final product. This is where the Bank of Agriculture comes in, we are ready to do this, and we have been doing it and can do better if the resources are available. Agriculture can improve lives especially if we ban poverty and conquer hunger.

    In fact, agriculture is the pivot that any nation can rest upon for her industrial revolution in which Nigeria cannot shy away from. This is a sure way to banish hunger in the society.

    From here we can now be thinking about some younger generation who want to take agric as a commercial business. It is expedient that the country should take agriculture as a serious business, not something we return to when other areas failed us.

    A consistent agricultural programme with deliberate funding will provide a lot of opportunities for all our young graduates who are trooping out of the university in droves.

    Take for instance, we can have a system that will provide a small cottage industry in all the places whereas our fruits are rotten away at every season, talk about mangoes, cashew, oranges, guava, tomatoes and a host of others. If we have processing factories all over the country at only one per local government at these places where the fruits are available, the multiplier effect will not only produced food security, but also discourages all these different kind of can and bottled juicy fruit imported into the country.

    To get there we only need a key word, sincerity on the part of the government, the civil servant and the populace who will see it as their project and not the usual national cake that need to be squandered or abused.

    How far has your bank gone in promoting this agricultural value chain?

    We have been able to participate fully well in the production and those who are into processing. We are into financing oil palm processes in the South-East area of the country and those who are involved in animal husbandry. We equally finance those in fishing farming, fabrications and agro allied productions. We handled those who want to go into mechanisation and we served as an intermediary to some state government who want to disburse agricultural loans to their farmers. Some of them moved from the usual tiling the ground with hoes to big mechanised farming which we are directly involved.

    Most of the farmers are complaining about poor infrastructural amenities which hinders their operations, are you looking into that direction?

    Presently there is a bank purposely set up to solve that specific problem, it is called Bank for Infrastructure, and initially it was called Development Bank. They are to provide finance for infrastructure. They arrange for syndicated loans. Along the line all these financial institutions have their mandate and vision, but there is usually a collaborative effort. Our functions are complimen-tary and there are some areas which we inter relate. Take for instance, the Bank of Industry (BoI) deals with industrial processing while the BOA equally deals with agriculture processors and agro-allied processors.

    We are all linked together. But on our own we want to grow community and make them self-sufficient by banishing hunger and encourage rural community agriculture. By so doing, we are equally financing non-agricultural businesses like micro credit facilities. This is going to improve their wellbeing. Therefore, you have to do a lot of collaboration with the Infrastructural bank and Bank of Industry.

    Your bank was involved in the now famous cassava-bread project, how many farmers benefited and to the tune of how much?

    The government gave us N2.16 billion, categorised into loans and grants. Up to date, we have disbursed N2.3 billion to over 7,780 farmers across the country. In addition to that, in our normal lending, we have provided over N1 billion to cassava farmers too under cassava value chain through our own lending process.

    How were you able to curb the excess of those lending from you who may see it as another national cake?

    We have our lending process which everybody getting loan from us must follow. Before they collect any fund, they have to pay some amount as a commitment that they are ready to do business with us. We have to do a lot of project evaluation, vetting of project proposal and thorough inspection to be ascertain that the collector of the loans are actually farmers.

    Before disbursement you have to do project appraisal, visit and approval. Again, there is the security of the loans, in terms of collaterals. If you fail to refund the loan, there are consequences. We sometime cajole them to pay, take court action against them, employ debt collector or you sell off the security.

    Is it true that politicians instead of rural famers hijacked this fund?

    In reality we do as much as possible to get to the farmers at the grassroots to benefit from the loans. We have 136 locations throughout the country. In some local government areas, BOA is the only financial institution you can find, that will tell you how rural we are.

    As much as we can, we minimise our loans to those who are not politically exposed. But you cannot rule it out. There is no law that says if you are a politician you cannot as well become a farmer and vice versa. Therefore as long as they are Nigerians, they are also qualified. But in the context that you are thinking about, no way, no politician, no matter how connected he may be, can use that opportunity to access our loans and grants because there are lots of procedures and serious scrutiny of projects before any loan or grant could be approve to any lender.

    Are politicians not Nigerians?

    But the reality is that by the time we visit the farm, quantify it and juxtapose to the loan or the grants the farmer is requesting for, you can easily decode whether he is just a mere farmer by the word of mouth or a politician disguising as a farmer. So it is neither here nor there. The system we put in place like the opening of an account with our bank where any monetary transaction will go directly to the beneficiary through e-payment, it has enabled us to differentiate those rural farmers who are in dire need of the grants from those who do not need it but want to get it for getting sake.

    We are doing a network where any of our clients can access his or fund anywhere in the country even if there is no banking facility in such community, it is called Green Cash, it was modeled after the existing facility like ATM. This facility will go a long way to make accessibility of our grants and loans get to the rural community where we want to make life better.

    What are the challenges you are facing on the task at hand?

    The first challenges we are facing is that of funding. In as much as we have a lot of people we intend to reach and provide our services, inadequate funding did not give us the opportunity. The operating model we are using in the past is giving way to a new one. There are few challenges on this. Then there is also the cost of overhead and the struggling to recoup all the backlog of nonperforming loans, we are still struggling to collect. Then the long time it takes to sort out court cases is also affecting us. Some 14 years and even more than that and yet we are yet to settle it.

    The farmers also were unable to secure the C of O of the land they are using to farm, this has created a bottleneck because such land cannot be used as a security in case of any eventuality, this has taken a long time and money for them to perfect and before you know it, the season has passed.

    Occasionally natural disaster always hinders what could have been our success story for our farmers. Take for instance, the issues of bird flu, a lot of our poultry farmers are affected. The drought disaster of 2012 affected some farmers in Kogi, part of North Central and Delta areas.

    If the farmers suffered all these, it impair their ability to sustain themselves and still keep in tune on the business, talk less of repaying back their loans. Though insurance is there, but it cannot compensate you fully.

    Cashew farmers are complaining that they cannot access any of your funds. How can they benefit?

    If they come to us either as a group or as an individual with a good proposal we are going to extend our service to them. There will be a memorandum of understanding and from there we are going to let out our terms of operation. Even Sugar Development Council gave us N1billion to manage for them. We are going to lend farmers who are involved in sugar cane production; they use part of the money as a back up or collateral

    Do you think BOA can guarantee Nigerians food sufficiency in the next few years?

    If we have the funding, we can. Among all the banks in the country, we have more agriculture experts. Our mission is to finance agriculture across the value chain and we have the right experts to deliver this at a short duration if the funds are available. We equally have the outlets that can accommodate this. At least we have about two to three branches in every state of the federation. With the level of human resources at our disposal we can deliver the needed food sufficiency to Nigerians if we have the required funding.

  • ‘Buhari should invest more in agriculture’

    A newspaper proprietor, Mr. Godwin Ezeemo, has urged the incoming administration of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari to invest more on agricultural development and diversification of the oil to create more jobs, encourage food security and boost the nation’s economy.

    He made the call during an interview with journalists shortly after visiting the management of Umuebe Farms at Ezamgbo in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

    According to him, over dependence on oil encourages mono-economy and this places the economy in jeopardy and needs to be redressed by the incoming administration.

    “I want to embark on full scale agriculture now that the world is facing serious recession due to the oil glut; that is why I decided to visit Sam Egwu’s farm to widen my experience.

    “First hand information of the workings and management of the farm would go a long way in assisting me to go into big time agriculture in order to contribute to the war against hunger.

    “I operate a farm in my country home,  Umuchu, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State and currently farms crops such as corn, okoro, mazie, various vegetables, poultry, piggery, among others.”

    Ezeemo, who is the publisher of Anambra State based newspaper, Orient Dailies, state leader of PPA and its governorship candidate in the Nov.16, 2013 governorship election in Anambra, however regretted that lots of farm produce were lying waste or poorly handled or utilized.

  • LCCI urges Buhari to focus on agriculture

    LCCI urges Buhari to focus on agriculture

    The Agric Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has  urged the incoming Federal Government to focus on the review and implementation of agricultural policies to boost local food production and enhance food security.

    The group noted that lack of implementation had been the bane of “good agricultural policies”formulated by successive governments.

    The Chairman, Agric Group, LCCI, Mr. Wale Oyekoya, said at a briefing in Lagos: “Our fact-finding shows that our government has made serious efforts at making good agricultural policies through schemes, programmes and institutions, but has not been able to implement or backed them up with adequate budgetary allocation and financing, coupled with corruption in the execution of the formidable policies.”

    Oyekoya, who is also Managing Director, Bama Farms Limited, listed policies, such as the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, Nigerian Incentive-based Risk-sharing in Agriculture,Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund Act, Agricultural Development Trust Fund Credit, Guarantee Fund Credit, Agricultural Produce Finance and Multi-Channels Agricultural Financing Scheme, among others, as some of the good policies.

    “But the same government has failed woefully in implementing all these laudable policies. Propaganda and corruption have taken the stage of our policies, and farmers suffered the consequence,” Oyekoya said.

    He added that a lot of funds, including loans and grants, such as the N200billion CACS scheme in 2007, $3billion by USAID in January 2013, World Bank’s $300,000, should have made the country self-sufficient in food production rather than depending on importation, claiming that a big chunk of the money was embezzled.

    Oyekoya said: “Our commercial banks need to be restructured and mandated to fund real farmers and not political farmers. No farmers can survive on the current commercial interest rate of 26 per cent. The agriculture sector accounted for less than one per cent of the portfolio of banks.

    “Nigeria still spends about N1bn daily to import rice into the country and depleting our foreign reserves. Yearly, we import foods worth over N450billion; foods that can be produced in Nigeria by local farmers if the business environment is conducive. All these food items can be abundantly produced in Nigeria, but corruption, selfish interest of our leaders and propaganda have crippled the sector.”

    According to him, farmers are closing up their farms because of inconsistent government policies, policy somersault, lack of funds, high cost of feed materials and poor infrastructure.

    He said foreign investors would automatically come into the country if the environment was conducive.

    “The government has over the years formulated good agricultural and financial policies meant to encourage food production but such policies have been found inefficient and ineffective since the intended results were not realised,” Oyekoya said.

    The LCCI group recommended that at least 10 per cent of the country’s annual budget should be devoted to agriculture and the review of subsisting schemes and reforms to make them more supportive of farm output.

    Others include to encourage family farming and capacity-building; encourage local production; ban the importation of foods that can be produced locally; tighten the nation’s porous borders; tackle corruption; facilitate access to funds with single-digit interest rate and less cumbersome requirements; access to farm lands; provision of modern farm equipment to farmers to boost production, processing and value chains; and consistent local content policy.

  • How to transform agriculture

    How to transform agriculture

    Despite major policy and institutional reforms, substantial and sustained technical and investment support by development partners, there are concerns that agric sector performance is not meeting expectations. This has necessitated an  international conference by  the  International  Institute  of  Tropical  Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan  to  make scientists adopt researches that  will boost  small scale farming. DANIEL ESSIET writes that a blueprint is in the offing.

    Agricultural growth in Nigeria and the rest of Africa is generally achieved by cultivating more land and  mobilising a larger labour force. While  in  most cases  this  has  yielded  average  results,  farmers  have  recorded very little improvement in yields  with  outdated  production techniques.

    This is despite major policy and institutional reforms, substantial and sustained technical and  investment support by a large number of development partners.

    To observers, what this reflects is lack of sector coherence and confusion around different research approaches to agricultural development, implementation of  research findings and how they are linked with each other.

    To address this, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Oyo State gathered  agricultural scientists and researchers from over 30 countries for an  international conference on Integrated Systems for Sustainable Intensification in Small holder Agriculture. The idea was to stimulate an intellectual forum where strategies would be put in place to ensure improvement in the sector.

    As expected, speakers presented strategies and results which  they  believe will  not  only  meet  Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) outlined by the United Nations (UN), but  have a remarkable impact on the lives and livelihoods of small producers.

    They included developing appropriate and new technologies, ensuring stable supplies of nutritionally adequate food and natural resource management and environmental protection.

    The general  suggestion was that  combining strong commercial policy with effective development policy will significantly advance food security objectives.

    Director-General, Biodiversity International, Ann Tutwiler, who spoke during the event, acknowledged that advances in agricultural science and technology (S&T) have contributed to remarkable increases in food production.

    Tutwiler, however, explained  that the sector  faced a serious challenge  in the attempt  to increase  production, especially of nutrient-rich foods,  which caused environmental degradation .

    She advocated for a greater implementation of farming systems, which will simultaneously address multiple problems including food security, nutrition security and improving ecosystems.

    She challenged participants to focus on synergies rather than trade-offs when taking a systems approach to meet multiple goals. “It requires, importantly, bringing together different disciplines … and it requires different units at the farm level, at the system level, communities and nations to work together. In short it requires us to … pat our heads, rub our stomachs, walk and chew gum at the same time,” she said.

    Tutwiler then gave some examples of various ways that Biodiversity International research is showing results, working at different levels.

    She highlighted that work in Ecuador at the field level, where using mixtures of variety of beans, has reduced pest and disease incidences and increased farmers’ yields up to 32 per cent .

    She also talked about research in Costa Rica, where a reduction in the incidence of coffee borer beetle by using diversified landscapes round the coffee plots was achieved.

    Director, Research Programme on Integrated Systems for the Humid Tropics (Humidtropics) under the aegis of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), Dr. Kwesi Atta-Krah,  said considerable progress has been made towards increasing  food  production through researches, but much is yet to be done. To reverse this, a conference  was organised to  offer a platform for sharing of experiences and research results to assist  farmers and  local  researchers. It was also meant to  address  challenges facing agriculture and food systems, and profer  solutions to tackle poverty, hunger and environmental degradation.

    Food security,Atta-Krah  stressed,  needs a tailored approach and  that the  development of technology is more suitable for Africa, and  uniting  the  research systems  will be a path worth exploring.

    Atta-Krah acknowledged  that the suitability of agricultural production systems is ultimately a function of agro-ecological and socio-economic conditions, which together determine profitability.

    He, therefore, called on the government to embrace the use of science in order to transform its agricultural sector.

    Executive Director, Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, Dr  Yemi Akinbamijo, said the continent was  facing hurdles in transforming research output into greater agricultural productivity, adding that system research has to be improved and implemented in a way  that  it will  impact on  the livelihoods of rural farmers.

    Akinbamijo urged  African leaders to  prioritise and provide the political framework to reverse a historical food and nutrition challenge  associated with the continent.

    Underlining the importance of agriculture as enormous and promising, given its diverse endowment with suitable climatic conditions that favours production of various crops, Akinbamijo maintained that  the  continent  was not  harnessing and exploring sustainable production technologies to produce more foods and fibers to feed the ever growing population.

    He  noted that  while African governments  are  using  economic diversification to drive  growth, much of it is  achieved  through  agriculture production and agribusiness  which  generate much  of the gross domestic product (GDP) in Sub-Saharan Africa.

    Akinbamijo contented that the development case for investing in agriculture as means of livelihood is clear, adding that  growth in the agriculture sector is effective at reducing poverty.

    One of the best ways for Nigeria to promote food security and tap into the economic potential, he  said, is  to expand agriculture investment, food production and remove obstacles from every aspect of farming business, enable farmers to sell more and support livelihoods.

    Chief Executive Officer (CEO) CGIAR Consortium, Dr. Frank Rijsberman, said: “The conference focused on one of the trickiest problems in reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It’s not just about coming up with single technologies, but how they can come together to provide opportunities for farmers, give them access to markets, and maintain  the ecosystems and the soils that provide the basis for them. A key element of this is a research to address yield gaps that exist in several major commodities produced within farming systems.”

    He continued: “We cannot simply tread familiar paths in response to these statistics. Over the next few years we will be joined by our partners to redouble our focus on the needs of women and young people, extend our efforts to improve dietary quality among the poor and vulnerable, and intensify our work on climate-smart agriculture – all recent additions to our research agenda.”

    Rijsberman, also noted that  he was impressed by the dynamic presentations and self-confidence of the young graduates in IITA’s Youth Agripreneur programme.

    His words: “With unemployment of young Nigerian graduates as high as 60-70 per cent, this programme aims to show that there is a future for young Africans in agriculture, that there is viable employment and an attractive career in catfish aquaculture, in soymilk production, yam sucker farms and cassava bread production.”

    IITA Director -General (DG), Dr Nteranya Sanginga,  similarly emphasised the importance of systems research.

    He called  for continued efforts, declaring: “We must develop and promote improved and nutritious crop varieties of Africa’s major staples, as well as innovative practices on natural resources management, and innovations on integrated farming systems towards sustainable intensification of agriculture.”

    Sanginga, said  the creation of business opportunities for unemployed youth in the agricultural sector is a major  initiative of IITA.

    According  to him,  the  programme  is  capable  of  addressing  youth unemployment and the opportunities of an agrarian economy.

    The IITA Youth Agripreneurs, he said, is a landmark programme that provides youth from diverse disciplines training and opportunities to engage in agricultural business or entrepreneurship.

    Sanginga emphasised that the annual return on investment in the fish ponds managed by the IITA Youth Agripreneurs was about $400,000.

    Sanginga said  youth will play a major role in furthering the growth of agriculture.

    According to him, IITA  is determined  to  give  young  farmers more recognition and support them by giving them access to market information and  training in modern  farming  practice  to enable them  improve their livelihoods.

    “All over Africa, many young people are migrating to cities in search of business opportunities, leaving behind an increasingly ageing population.

    “The challenge is to create business opportunities for productive activity in agriculture and non-farming enterprises for increased food security, and for combating youth unemployment,” Sanginga said.

    While participating in the Humid tropics conference on systems research, CGIAR top managers Frank Rijsberman and Ann Tutwiler visited IITA’s Business Incubation Platform (BIP). They were accompanied by IITA Board member, Roel Merckx and IWMI’s Africa Director Timothy Williams.

    The agripreneurs promote agriculture among other young people in the region through peer education, training, and demonstration on agricultural bestpractices and business skills in value chain developments.

    CGIAR CEO Rijsberman congratulated the IITA for “pioneering the agripreneur approach” and underlined that a precise investment model on integrating the challenge of youth unemployment into research on food security had not yet been established in the consortium.

    Bioversity DG, Tutwiler, was particularly pleased that the Agripreneurs were working on nutritional cash crops, vegetables, soy milk, and investing in fish farming. “When we decided in CGIAR on our main crops, we might have forgotten the nutritional values that vegetables and fish can bring to a diet – not only to improve food deficiencies, but also as a measure against obesity,” she said.

  • Nigerians urged to invest in agriculture

    Ogun State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun has called for the sustenance of agriculture in order to eliminate the wide spread poverty in the country.

    Speaking at the Gateway Business Award, Abeokuta said the Federal Government should be the arrow head in returning the country to the path of economic development.

    The commissioner was represented by Director of Planning, Research and Statistics, Mr. Gbele Olugbebi.

    She said: “‘Much of what was done in the west was done with the revenue generated from agriculture. Many of the buildings and roads constructed in the west were funded by the booming agricultural sector.

    “Ogun State is endowed agriculturally as it enjoys a very good life for planting which yields abundant food and cash crops for the state and also the country. Ogun state can feed the whole of Nigeria because of all the efforts dedicated to the sector by the Ogun state government.”

    Sokefun noted agriculture was being gradually relegated with very little encourage coming from the Federal Government. She said incentives and facilities that would enable those interested in farming should be provided by the authorities.

    She decried the situation where attention has almost been completely shifted away from agriculture which was the main stain of the economy

  • Replacing oil with agriculture

    Revival of agriculture in Nigeria has not only been described as the new money-making sector, but has been tipped to replace the oil and gas sector.

    Over the years, petroleum has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy with agriculture relegated to the background.

    While the administration aims to diversify the economy through its many agricultural programmes and the establishment of commercial farmers and agribusiness leaders known as Nagropreneurs, the government is certain that the effort will take Nigeria to lift the country to higher heights.

    In the new effort, Nigeria also plans to collect all the hoes, cutlasses and obsolete equipment in every part of the country and place them in a museum. The tools would be immediately replaced with tractors and other modern agricultural equipment.

    Seven young farmers were on parade during the Official Launch of the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) and Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN) at the Banquet Hall of the State House, Abuja last Tuesday to give their testimonies on how their businesses have been boosted in the last three years.

    At the occasion, President Goodluck Jonathan was not only described as the ‘Koko Master’ by Nigerian top musician, D’Banj, but he was also given award and referred to as Nigeria’s number one farmer.

    Recalling the past three years in the sector, Jonathan said that the implementation of the agricultural transformation agenda has created many jobs and led to the production of 21 million metric tons of food in the period, above its earlier target to add 20 million metric tons of food by 2015.

    Looking ahead, he said: “The Youth Employment in Agriculture Program (YEAP), which I am flagging off today, will further change the face of Nigeria’s agriculture. YEAP has been designed to create a new generation of 750,000 young commercial farmers and agribusiness leaders (Nagropreneurs) that will make Nigeria’s agriculture more efficient, profitable and competitive.”

    “They will become the CEOs of their own farms and agribusinesses, create jobs in the rural areas and reverse the trend of high rural to urban migration. They will help to change the mindset of the younger generation on agriculture.”

    “These Nagropreneurs will become models and champions for our newly launched National Agriculture Schools Initiative, as they project to younger school children, the image of agriculture as an attractive and wealth creating sector.” he said

    The Minister of State for Finance, Isa Yuguda, at the occasion, maintained that all statistics reeled out in the sector are verifiable and showed that the transformation agenda is working.

    But the only evidence the masses on the street want to see is for the increasing food production in the country to force down the prices of foodstuffs in the country in line with the forces of supply and demand.

     

    Paying last respect to Ashiru

    Members of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) might not have dressed in black or white cloths last Wedesday to mourn the former Minister of Foreign Affiairs, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, but it was a gloomy session when tributes was paid to him.

    Many good things were said about the deceased with no one in the Chamber recalling any negative thing or encounter with Ashiru who died in South Africa on the 29th of last month from brain tumor complications.

    Ashiru, who was said to have impacted positively on the Nigeria foreign policy during his tenure was relieved of the appointment on the 11th September, 2013 along with other 8 ministers.

    The former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku had told journalists then that the changes in the cabinet were due to the President Goodluck Jonathan’s commitment to delivering dividends of democracy to Nigerians by bringing in new hands and ideas and that it had nothing to do with the crisis in the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) then.

    While 15 cabinet members inluding President Jonathan paid tributes to Ashiru during the sesson last week, only the Minister of Agriculture, Adesina Akinwunmi, who hails from the same state with the deceased, Ogun State, could not hold back his tears.

    Adesina, who referred to the deceased as his ‘Egbon’ (senior brother), was given the role to second the moton for one-minute silent in honour of the deceased.

    Struggling to hold back the tears, Adesina said: “His passing is a huge loss to the nation, Nigeria has lost an outstanding diplomat, one of its very finest, the one I amiably called the ambassador of ambassadors. As minister of foreign affairs, he represented Nigeria extremely well on the global stage, he is a giant in diplomacy, under him Nigeria got so many of international recognitions.

    “He was a senior brother, we shared the same name, Ayodeji. He was therefore my mentor, a friend, a wiseman I went to always for counsel. His doors were always open, his heart always open, warm at all times. I always enjoyed his presence in readiness always to help others. I called him Egbon (senior brother), he will in turn to my surprise call me Honourable minister. And the world of diplomacy is empty today because of his death. Sun re o, Egbon, sun re o! May your gentle soul rest in perfect peace.

    President Jonathan said; “So he worked very hard. He assisted me in terms of the foreign policies and so on and streamlined most of our relationship to most countries within and outside Africa. In terms of international values, I will say he worked very hard if you listen to others who have made comments. The UN is a typical example, Nigeria was voted back as a member of the Security Council within four years, it is a feat most countries has never attained.”

    “We would have had some problems with the World when the President of Sudan Omar Albashir came visiting during our centenary celebrations. He came in and the world was alerted, and they were looking at Nigeria. Although he left, still we had issues with the world but he had to move immediately with the Attorney General of the Federation and was able to calm the situation because of the personal relationship he had with the global players. We thank him for that.”

    “Today we have lost ambassador Ashiru God knows best why he took him at this time that his services are still needed by this great nation,” he said.

     

  • ‘How studying agriculture inspired my startup’

    ‘How studying agriculture inspired my startup’

    Utibe Akpabio Edobong, a graduate of Agriculture Economics from Babcock University, is the Executive Director of Green Animalia, an agric-based startup. In this interview with Yetunde Oladeinde, he talks about the initial challenges of establishing a startup, opportunities and potential. Excerpts: 

    How did you conceive the idea of the integrated agriculture project which you named Green Animalia?

    I just wanted to be scientific about it and my mum was wondering how I was going to do it. So, why don’t you change the plant to green? and that was how the name stuck.

    Why did you decide to go into agriculture?

    Initially, it wasn’t just a plan to study agriculture, but at that point I just wanted to do something that would make me independent. I thought to myself that I wanted to be on my own and not be under any body. I looked at all the courses that I was good at in secondary school and I realised that I was good in agriculture. That was how it started.

    When you started, what were some of the challenges that you encountered as a young person?

    Well, I would say that the challenges started right from secondary school because people weren’t as keen about agriculture as a course. When you tell anyone that you want to be a farmer, what comes to mind is planting cassava on two hectares of land and nothing more. So, I started thinking of ways to make agriculture more attractive. If you go to schools, you would find that the percentage of those going to agriculture was very marginal. In my school in a set of about 200 students, you had only 11 studying agriculture in my class and it was really bad. So I began to look at things that I could do and be different and not just be like any other person.

    You went to Babcock University. What was the training like?

    The school also was a challenge and had its problems and I would say that they didn’t really support agriculture like a course like law or a course like medicine. You found out that we were restricted to the classroom. It was only during the industrial training that gave one the opportunity to see things in a practical way.

    So, at what point did you get a real practical experience apart from your internship?

    I wanted to come up with a concept on the integrated aspect of farming, a system that would stand the test of time. I started asking myself certain questions like why can’t we recycle our agriculture waste and all that. I read a lot about integrated farming and also read a lot about waste recycling. In the process of reading, the first interesting thing that I came up with was biogas. It was interesting and I am still working on how to explore this area.

    I didn’t go outside Lagos until recently when I went to Songhai. This was the first time that I saw this being practiced and it opened my eyes once more to the opportunities available. In farming, especially fish farming, there are a number of waste generated and I thought that instead of throwing it out and using it to disturb the neighbourhood, why don’t you make use of it elsewhere? First, I thought of how to sell it to others and package it nicely with a solution that won’t make it smell. Even if you use it in your house, it won’t smell. So when people eventually buy it, because it doesn’t smell, you have added value to it and it would sell at a higher price.

    This was one of the things that I was working on before I stumbled on biogas. Here, you have several tanks and a whole lot of underground piping and you need to have your own land and other things for this.

    How did you come about the new concept that you have here?

    Well, first I started with the fish and catfish was the idea from the start. I did it for about two years and I must say that at the beginning I did not know what I was getting myself into. I had only done poultry before this time, in school. I could not do fish because my school was the Adventist School and we were restricted on what we could do.

    So, I picked catfish from what I had read about the fact that it was easier to manage unlike tilapia. Next, I began to think of how to manage the waste and that was how we started planting tomatoes and discharged the waste from the catfish to the tomatoes. There were times when we had lots of the waste and had to discharge it. We then built some blocks on top of the ponds and we put some sand and planted.

    At that point, I used to carry the water up but it was stressful. We then connected a pipe from outside and used the pumping machine to tap and it watered the plants and made the process easier. It was quite exciting and the ideas started coming and we kept evolving. At a point, we had leakages which posed a problem but again we found ways to block the holes. The good part of it all is that if I had to redesign it for another person, it would be quite different from what we have now. So far, so good.

    How did the opportunity to go to Songhai come?

    My mother’s friend is into travels and tours. She takes people to places like Jerusalem for tours. So she organised a trip to Songhai and Songhai has one of the biggest farms in Africa. And what they practiced there is strictly integrated farming and so I got interested and applied to go. The four-day trip was a study tour and it was amazing. Even if you are not interested in agriculture and you go there you would be inspired.

  • Body hails UNN on agriculture

    The monitoring and evaluation office of the West African Agriculture Productivity Programme (WAAP) has scored the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) high in Agriculture. Hassan Isah, an official from WAAPP head office in Abuja, rated the institution high shortly after he inspected WAAP-sponsored fish ponds and cassava stems multiplication centres in Obimo, Imelike-ulo, Okpuje, and THE UNN.

    Isah said the institution had increased its output and performance compared to what was recorded last August when the WAAP officials inspected the facilities last. He said 60 per cent of the investment in the UNN’s Faculty of Agriculture had been put into use.

    He said: “There is an improvement in the agricultural project, going by what I saw in Imilike-Ulo fish pond and the ones in Obimo, Okupuje and UNN fingerling and cassava stem multiplication centers. At least 60 per cent of N20 million given to UNN by WAAPP has been put to use. Though there still room for improvement so as to achieve overall aim of the project.”

    The monitoring officer said that the objective of WAAP was to develop technologies and best aquaculture practice to be adopted in West African countries to increase productivity and ensure food security.

    In his remark, Prof Simon Ugwu, the coordinator of the project in UNN and former Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, said fingerlings in UNN multiplication centre would hit 250,000 by the end of the month, expressing appreciation to the body collaborating with the institution.

    He said: “We have 15 hectares of cassava stems in cassava multiplication farm and by the end of November, the fingerlings in our multiplication ponds will hit 250,000. It is from this multiplication centre we distribute improved fingerlings and cassava stems to the communities that need them.

    In an interview, Mr Clement Attah, Chairman, of Okpuje Fish Pond Cooperative Society expressed appreciation to the body for providing the farmers with funds and empowering them.

  • ‘I prefer broadcasting to agriculture’

    ‘I prefer broadcasting to agriculture’

    Oche Otene is studying Agricultural Economics at the Federal University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Benue State. The 400-Level student is passionate about broadcasting and he is a radio presenter with Food Basket station and Radio Benue FM in Makurdi. He tells BENJAMIN IDOKO (Physics Education) why he chooses to be an on-air presenter.

    How did you discover your skill in broadcasting?

    I have always had passion for broadcasting and when I saw the opportunity I grabbed it. It was a friend, who gave me the information that a radio station was holding auditioning to recruit broadcasters. I went there and praise God, I was chosen. Since then, I have been into radio presenting and making a living out of it.

    What programmes do you anchor in the station?

    I anchor religious programmes, such as Sunday Sound Waves and Songs of Faith.

    After graduation, do you plan to be a presenter or look for job in the farm?

    I have great passion for radio presenting. I am only studying Agricultural Economics to get my first degree, but after graduation, I am going back to broadcasting.

    What interests you as a presenter?

    The most interesting part of my job as a radio presenter is the fact that I keep people informed and entertain them in my programmes. Also, I get to meet people every day, who some level of confidence to make dealings with me. The trust is always there. This is the beauty of being a professional.

    How do you combine your studies with broadcasting?

    It is not easy. Well, I try to maintain balance in both areas. Most of my programmes are fixed at night. I dedicate my day time to my studies and also study extra hours. In all, God has been helping me utilise my time efficiently.

    What is your advice to the youth?

    There is a notion that it is not possible for the youth and undergraduates to be working while schooling. This idea is making many youths to remain in one place, even after graduation. In developed countries, we see youths engaging in part-time job while they are in school. As youths, we must try to develop skills apart from our academic pursuits. There is always a gain at the end. We may not all end up doing white-collar job. But whatever we know how to do best would sustain us.

  • French firms set to industrialise agriculture in Nigeria

    French firms set to industrialise agriculture in Nigeria

    French companies engaged in the agribusiness sector have expressed commitment to rapidly industrialise agriculture to boost food production in Nigeria.

    The move is in furtherance   of a trade treaty signed by the  federal government and the French government last year to expand its trade volume from N1 trillion to N2 trillion in the next four years and as  well as boost  agricultural  production.

    The   companies  on a four-day Business Development Trade Mission under the auspices of Association pour le Developpement des Echnages Internationationaux de Produits et Techniques Agroalimentaires (ADEPTA). During  the forum,  the  French Trade Mission,consisting  experts in the areas of equipment development and manufacturing, supply of inputs, engineering and design expertise in the met with over 60 local  agro industries, farm owners and manufacturers  in the   agric-sector.

    They include Anadariya Industries Limited; L&G Integrated Diaries, Fruits & Veggies Global Ltd; Dantata Foods; Nasrun Nigeria Ltd and Kebram Agritrade.  Others are Dansa Foods; Promasidor; Crown Flour Mill; BUA Group; SBA Group; Pig Farmers Association, Oyo State. Potato Farmers Association of Nigeria, Best Food Group, Free Range Farms, Abeokuta, Cocoa Revolution Project, Ondo Stat), Ondo State Wealth Creation Agency; Fed Agro Nigeria Ltd, Osun and All Farmers Association, Osun State.

    A consultant to the group, Foluke Michael said the group held a number of talks that focus on promoting, encouraging and fostering   relationship with local agric businesses.

    One of the trade mission companies, she noted shown its readiness to work with potato out-growers and smallholders’ farmers to increase productivity and efficiency.