In Nigeria, as in most parts of Africa, rural areas are essentially home to smallholder farmers who produce the bulk of the food consumed locally thereby contributing in no small measure in ensuring food security for the nation, alleviating poverty, and helping government to actualise development goals.
According to experts, smallholder farmers constitute over 70 per cent of the labour force in the agricultural sector. Unfortunately, their productivity has often been impeded by various factors some of which include inadequate credit facilities, poor policy implementation, poor access to market, lack of infrastructure, dearth of information on agriculture best/latest practices and shortage of improved technology along the value chain. Other inhibiting factors are inadequate cottage level processing facilities, preference for imported food ingredients to their local varieties, poor access to climate smart varieties and breeds, and conflicts between farmers and pastoralists.
Regrettably, government’s effort at tackling the problem and mitigating the constraints faced by this category of farmers has not made far-reaching and lasting impact due to lack of funds and dwindling revenue from oil. Sometimes when the right policy framework exists and the needed infrastructure and initiatives are put in place, these well thought-out policies are usually not properly implemented or abandoned shortly after takeoff.
For instance, the Cassava Bread initiative, which mandates 10 to 20 per cent inclusion of cassava flour, was part of measures intended to make Nigeria self-reliant in the production of some staple food crops thereby saving foreign exchange spent on flour importation.
In spite of the pomp that greeted its inauguration by the previous administration and the publicity and media attention it received, the initiative is yet to get any traction.
Reports indicate that Nigeria will save N300 billion annually from substituting wheat with cassava. This deliberate attempt at encouraging local production of staple foods, in the view of economists, is capable of expediting the resuscitation of the nation’s economy. Also, the initiative, apart from achieving import substitution and boosting export potentials and earnings, can help create more jobs and enhance the growth of agro-allied companies.
Unfortunately, in recent years, import substitution strategy for development through agriculture has been repeatedly sabotaged by some agriculture produce importers under different guises, with the local farmers usually at the receiving end. The recent abuse of waivers on the importation of rice into the country readily comes to mind here.
Determined to ensure that government policies and stimulus packages are inclusive of smallholder farmers, the British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) recently organised a dialogue session on smallholder farmers and sustainable agriculture, which held in Lagos State. The session, themed ‘Agricultural Policies and the Nigerian Smallholder Farmers,’ was the climax of the activities of an executive working group set up by BATNF in January 2015 to undertake a careful multi-stakeholder review of the ATA and related agriculture policies and programmes.
The group was also saddled with the responsibility of establishing the extent to which these policies support poor farmers and small and medium agribusinesses in wealth creation and increased productivity.
In his opening address at the event, Director of Legal and External Affairs, British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), Mr Freddy Messanvi, described the Dialogue Session as “part of the BATNF’s advocacy platform aimed at facilitating access to policy-making decisions about smallholder farmers” who produce the bulk of the food Nigerians consume.
The session provided an opportunity for agriculture experts and resource persons to dissect ATA, other extant agricultural schemes and matters related to agriculture business in Nigeria. It was noted that some of the critical areas that ATA has succeeded in affecting the lives and livelihood of smallholder farmers is in organising them into cooperative groups. There was also a consensus that government and the organised private sector should give impetus to the effort of smallholder farmers by providing for them the right incentives and financial support systems, as well as strengthening existing infrastructure to assist farmers in eradicating hunger and poverty.
Prof Ben Ahmed of the Institute of Agricultural Research (IAR) and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), while speaking on the impact of the ATA, noted that the contributions of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)-assisted Rural Finance in Nigeria (RUFIN), which was integrated into ATA, helped in the formation of farmer groups that were linked to micro-finance banks (MFBs).
ATA’s potential in diversifying the Nigerian economy and attracting foreign direct investment was also underscored by other speakers.
Components of ATA and other agricultural policies reviewed by BATNF Executive Working Groups (EWGs) include the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) and Climate Change, as well as the various Crops Enterprise Value Chain developments.
Most of the presentations made by the various working groups looked at the current situation of ATA, the achievements made so far, the major challenges and shortcomings, and how they can be tackled. In their recommendations, they urged government to work with enduring policies that are well thought out.
A notable concern raised by stakeholders about agriculture business in Nigeria is the ignorance of smallholder farmers of ATA as well as their exclusion from financial incentives offered by NIRSAL. It was observed that this barrier is due to the notion generally held by commercial banks that majority of smallholder farmers cannot meet their requirements and thus are not bankable.
However, few banks, such as Stanbic IBTC, FCMB and UBA, were commended for being supportive to smallholder farmers. As a remedy, it was suggested that the traditional financial system, ‘Esusu,’ (thrift institution), which most of them have successfully practised for years, should be understudied and incorporated into the NIRSAL scheme so as to help meet the needs of the framework that is achievable for them.
The Stakeholders Dialogue Session was necessitated by the need to provide a robust and expansive policy framework for the nation’s agricultural sector in line with the current administration’s resolve to enhance practices and output of the sector.
It is the expectation of stakeholders in the agricultural sector that the findings made by the working groups and recommendations put forward to government on how to revamp the economy through small-scale agriculture would be critically examined by the incoming minister of agriculture so that it will not amount to another exercise in futility.
