The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Farmers

  • N300b loans for farmers

    N300b loans for farmers

    FARMERS are in for good times – courtesy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and commercial banks which have agreed to grant N300 billion loans to the agricultural sector next year.

    CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele, who is also the Bankers’ Committee chair, broke the news at the  weekend. He said the committee’s  plan was to get banks to use some of their liquidity to grant new loans to the agricultural sector and its value-chains. It was at the closing of the committee’s seventh retreat in Lagos.

    The CBN boss said although there were other intervention funds in the agricultural sectors, which have been substantially disbursed, the N300 billion is a new lending plan. It involves getting the banks to use some of their liquidity to fund agriculture.

    “That is why we are talking about removing risk elements along the value-chain, so that banks can lend more to the agric sector. This is a new initiative, and we believe that based on the need to de-risk the value-chain, the loans will be repaid, and jobs will be created for the people,” he said.

    Emefiele said the Bankers’ Committee also felt that monetary and fiscal authorities must work together in collaborative manner to achieve the objective of improving local production of specific agricultural products, such as rice, tomatoes, fish and sugar among others.

    Such practice, he said, would create reduction in demand for foreign exchange that will help conserve foreign reserves and, by extension, strengthen the local currency.

    “We agreed to increase lending to the agricultural sector. Banks know that there is need to improve the level of infrastructure in various sectors, for instance, build more FADAMA roads, provide more power in the various sectors of agriculture, build more silos and warehouses to receive final produce so that products don’t get destroyed right at the farms,” he said.

    The FADAMA roads, the CBN chief said, will make it easier for goods to be transported from the local communities to areas where they can be sold for the benefit of the farmers.

    “Banks, therefore, set a target to boost agricultural lending, not only to Small and Medium Enterprises, but also to large scale farming and companies by up to about N300 billion in 2016. The banks realised that there is a need to have a paradigm shift, in the feeling that SMEs are a danger sector to lend money,” he said.

    Emefiele said lenders had recognised that the Bank Verification Number (BVN) will assist in creating a pool of SMEs loans in the country, and have agreed on the need to empower SMEs through capacity building skills, such as record keeping, understanding how to run their businesses to make them more bankable.

    “Banks agreed to support all efforts of government to boost employment for young graduates. The banks also identified power, transportation and other infrastructure as strong enablers and drivers of growth in the economy that the banks will try as much as possible to play their parts to support financing of power and transportation projects,” he said.

    Emefiele said that all hands must be on deck, not just on the part of monetary authorities, but from the fiscal authorities to boost power, transportation for the banks to achieve the goals of improving the economy.

    “The Bankers’ Committee is geared to support the efforts of government to create employment and support government’s efforts to diversify away from oil, support the efforts of the ministers of agriculture, power and transportation as well as solid minerals and finance to achieve the objectives of government in 2016,” he said.

  • How BATNF is driving economic growth of smallholder farmers

    How BATNF is driving economic growth of smallholder farmers

    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.

  • How BATNF is driving economic growth of smallholder farmers

    How BATNF is driving economic growth of smallholder farmers

    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.

  • Farmers seek new credit policy for agriculture

    Lagos State Federated FADAMA Community Association president, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan, has urged the Federal Government to evolve a new credit policy that will contribute to agricultural restructuring and boost food production.

    Oyenekan asked that farmers access to finance be improved to enable them buy agricultural machinery to increase their productivity and incomes.

    According to him, many smallholder farmers do not have access to modern agricultural machinery that can help increase their productivity and improve both food security and incomes.

    This is because they can’t afford new tractors. Without access to credit, he said they often have no choice but to continue farming without the benefit of modern equipment. He noted, however, that credit for agriculture is still facing difficulties, such as high interest rates and strict loan approaches.

    Right now, he explained that loans given by banks are not single digits and tend to be too expensive for rural smallholders to take advantage of financing, and they can rarely meet the rigid collateral requirements or pay back the loan within the typical short-term lending periods.

    Oyenekan said credit  for agriculture still faces difficulties, such as high interest rates and strict loan approaches. According  to him, restructuring the credit policy will lead to banks developing loans for agriculture, which include production and processing of agricultural products and processing and consumption, production of seeds in crop, livestock, fisheries, forests and supplying of products and services and lending for trade development in rural areas.

    Besides, he said there should be support for partnership and application of high technology in agricultural production; increasing competitiveness to contribute to sustainable development of the agricultural sector and enhancing the living conditions of rural residents and contributing to implementation of the national target programme of new rural areas.

    He said there are funding windows provided for farmers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the World Bank to boost government’s efforts to expand agriculture sector while providing food security and improved nutrition to the rural poor.

    For the agric sector to develop rapidly, he said the economy must support it’s demand for credit and expand business operation towards modernisation.

  • Teaching farmers profit making tricks

    Teaching farmers profit making tricks

    Teaching farmers how to farm is not enough; experts say they must also be taught to start, run and grow a profitable business to make a living, reports DANIEL ESSIET.

    Olatunde  Aroye (not real name), got a piece of land in Oyo State to do farming to support his low monthly income. Every sowing season, he puts his faith in the latest variety of seeds, hoping for bountiful yields.

    So far, he has not been able to make a huge success of it. He is among the growing number of employed and unemployed graduates, defeated by the challenges of eking out a livelihood from the land.

    For him, farming is precarious: little infrastructure, limited electricity and people did not understand it is possible to farm and make a living from it.

    Though he has established a business growing maize, he does not see himself as a farmer, because there is still so much to learn. Having faced some challenges, he knows that success depends on good training and technical expertise to overcome the challenges of farming.

    With so many cases of failures, the Provost, Federal College of Agriculture, Akure, Ondo State, Dr Samson Odedina said there is  need to teach farmers not only to farm but also how to start, run and grow a farm into a profitable business.

    He has been involved in extensive training programme in crop production backed by research and extension support. This training enabled farmers and would- be -entrepreneurs to learn the importance of soil quality, pest control and water conservation. In the process, the farmers   identified the best cropping rotations for general adoption, using pilot plots and extension farms to demonstrate and experiment with new techniques.

    For a small fee, the  school’s experts take samples of soil and water, analyse them, and advise farmers on what to farm in given conditions and how. Besides, efforts are made to assist the farmers growing crops with linkages to markets.  The farmers are trained in marketing skills, building enterprises, best farming practices, food technology and simple processing techniques that can add value to a product.

    Farmers, according to him, have to learn the importance of meeting quality control standards; for long-term contracts depend on this.

    Alongside its focus on improving livelihoods, he said the school’s programmes have created   jobs for young people and women and this contributed in turn to social, economic and political stability in the area. This is because workers come from across the different communities to work on the farms and this opened many opportunities for people. Through this, people who didn’t have work found a way to farm and now business is booming.

    So far, he said the school has done a lot to promote rural wealth through market enhancement by linking smallholders to buyers and processors.

    Even farmers with small plots of land, he noted, can hope to increase their access to remunerative local markets.

    Access to these markets, he noted, would help to accelerate sales and returns and therefore, the spread of new intensive cropping and diversification techniques. There are increasing activities to boost food production and farmers’ production.

    Spurred by the need to produce more rice, Lagos State said it is collaborating with Kebbi State o develop the rice value chain.

    The State Governor, Mr Akinwumi Ambode disclosed this at the occasion of the 2015 World Food Day celebration in Lagos. In his address which was read by Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Yakub Basorun, the governor said Lagos consumes over 50 per cent of national rice  demand which is put at over two metric  tonnes valued at N365 billion.

    He said: “While Kebbi State is one of the highest producers of paddy rice in Nigeria; Lagos is undoubtedly the highest consumer of milled rice with ultra-modern rice processing facilities in agro industrial estates located at Imota in Ikorodu Division.

    To boost processing, he said the state plan to establish more rice processing facilities in collaboration with the private sector. This, he expressed, also, will help to create more job opportunities for the people. He said also that the government is working towards providing facilities so as to boost agricultural productivity.

    He said the state plans to give incentives to farmers as part of a long term strategy to improve the  food supply chain. One of the strategies is to provide incentives and inputs to enterprising residents, including the farm estates in Ikorodu, Epe and Badagry.

    In furtherance of the policy of making arable land available for farming, he said the state has acquired land in Ogun, Osun and the Federal Capital Territory with a view to allocating plots of land to interested farmers who will sign Off-Take Agreements with the state government. Increased   food production, he believes, could help the nation reduce its dependence on imported foods.

    The Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Lagos State Chapter, Otunba Femi Oke, said his group is working with producers to help transform the commodities value chain, making it inclusive and efficient.

    In collaboration with the Lagos State government and exporters, Oke, said the association is providing farmers with continuous feedback on the quality and grade of their produce. This has enabled small scale producers to improve processes along the entire value chain, including picking, washing and drying of commodities. In this way, they improve the quality and value of the commodities that they harvest. The value chain, according to him, is more efficient as small farmers have easy access to grading, storage and transport services provided by members of the association and exporters.

    Along the line, commodities are analysed to make sure that there are no traces of mould, disease or parasites. If they are intended for the export market, it is important that the commodities meet international consumer health and safety standards.

    At the national level, the campaign is to stimulate nationwide food production and increase farmers’ incomes.

    Addressing a forum on family farming organised by gourmet guide234.com at the University of Lagos, Lagos, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina said agricultural transformation and food security will continue to feature prominently in the nation’s development agenda.

    According to him, there is a renewed vision for agricultural transformation, which placed emphasis on the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

    With declining oil revenue, he said the agricultural sector has the greatest potential to produce a substantial share of the nation’s revenue as well as boost food production.

    The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, he said sees agriculture as a great a major player in efforts to overcome hunger and poverty.

    With the appropriate management methods, training and innovative technologies, he said the nation has the opportunity to build sustainable agribusinesses that will generate high yield, quality food and long-lasting economic betterment.

    For Nigeria to feed herself, he said there was a need to increase the productivity and profitability of the nation’s family farmers. Adesina challenged media practitioners to partner in government’s quest to transform agriculture.

    He said the agenda of a green revolution could succeed if journalists report agriculture well by encouraging the government to adopt good agricultural policies as well as the farmers to take up good practices to transform the sector.

    He said the media has a role to play to help the government in its bid to transform the nation’s agriculture into a highly productive and sustainable system and enable Nigeria to be food sufficient and food secured.

    He called for the adoption of modern methods.

    Dr Kayode Oyeleye, Special Assistant (Media) to former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, who spoke at the event, said farmers needed to use sustainable strategies to achieve results and mentioned irrigation and the cultivation of improved seeds as some of the new things they could learn.

    Alongside its focus on improving livelihoods, Oyeleye urged the government to invest considerably in providing services and creating better conditions for farmers.

    The farm settlements, he said should have markets, roads, housing and consistent electrical supply.

    This, according to him will enable smallholders to become viable suppliers to big buyers and  be successfully linked with market intermediaries, processors and exporters.

    He said farmers need to participate in programmes that assist them on their farms to improve yields, reduce use of fertilizer and pesticides, and increase profitability. While many innovative technologies exist, he said they often are not integrated into the tools that farmers use every day.

    Oyeleye said though technology, tools and know-how to assure better farming future exist, the reforms have not being widely adopted, even when they provide positive financial returns. According to him, the nation’s agriculture system cannot afford to wait for piecemeal adoption of better practices and solutions.

    He said tools and solutions are emerging to help farmers see these opportunities. In order to unlock the potential value for farmers, Oyeleye said research institutes need to work together and coordinate their actions to make agriculture more sustainable.

    According to him, a high proportion of smallholder farmers need to move out of poverty stressing that for this to happen, they must have access to improved staple crop varieties, inputs and services.

    He stressed the need for capacity building to continue to be mission critical for research and development, including the adoption revolution.

  • Farmers seek new credit policy for agriculture

    LAGOS State Federated FADAMA Community Association president, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan, has urged the Federal Government to evolve a new credit policy that will contribute to agricultural restructuring and boost food production.

    Oyenekan asked that farmers access to finance be improved to enable them buy agricultural machinery to increase their productivity and incomes.

    According to him, many smallholder farmers do not have access to modern agricultural machinery that can help increase their productivity and improve both food security and incomes.

    This is because they can’t afford new tractors. Without access to credit, he said they often have no choice but to continue farming without the benefit of modern equipment. He noted, however, that credit for agriculture is still facing difficulties, such as high interest rates and strict loan approaches.

    Right now, he explained that loans given by banks are not single digits and tend to be too expensive for rural smallholders to take advantage of financing, and they can rarely meet the rigid collateral requirements or pay back the loan within the typical short-term lending periods.

    Oyenekan said credit  for agriculture still faces difficulties, such as high interest rates and strict loan approaches. According  to him, restructuring the credit policy will lead to banks developing loans for agriculture, which include production and processing of agricultural products and processing and consumption, production of seeds in crop, livestock, fisheries, forests and supplying of products and services and lending for trade development in rural areas.

    Besides, he said there should be support for partnership and application of high technology in agricultural production; increasing competitiveness to contribute to sustainable development of the agricultural sector and enhancing the living conditions of rural residents and contributing to implementation of the national target programme of new rural areas.

    He said there are funding windows provided for farmers by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the World Bank to boost government’s efforts to expand agriculture sector while providing food security and improved nutrition to the rural poor.

    For the agric sector to develop rapidly, he said the economy must support it’s demand for credit and expand business operation towards modernisation.

  • Poultry farmers compensation under threat

    The Federal Government may suspend the payment of compensation to poultry farmers whose farms were infected by Avian Influenza (AI) pending when substantial progress on bio-security and other containment measures are put in place  by the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) and state veterinary services.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono who spoke at a meeting held with stakeholders in the poultry industry at the Ministry’s Headquarters in Abuja, said about N380million had already been paid to about 138 farmers, while N643million has been totally committed as compensation to 246 poultry farmers. He said the sum of N476million is still required for the payment of compensation to the remaining 250 poultry farmers.

    A statement endorsed by the Director  of Information, Tony Ohaeri expalined that the Federal Government has noted with concern the unencounraging disposition of the PAN in the states in assisting the state officials in all the efforts aimed at curtailing the spread of the disease. He said such co-operation was needed in the creation of adequate sensitisation and awareness among the poultry farmers.

    Echono strongly emphasised the need for sensitisation on the control of AI in birds, proper adherence to on farm bio-security, registration of farms with State Directorate of Veterinary Services, non-transportation of birds indiscriminately without the authorisation of the state veterinary services. He insited that poultry farmers must adhere to government policy of non-vaccination against the disease and enforcing the restocking policy on affected farms.

    The Permanent Secretary said the ministry in collaboration with USAID and Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) had conducted series of trainings and capacity building workshops on AI for federal, state and local government officials, state extension workers, private veterinarians, surveillance agents as well as poultry farmers and PAN officials.

    Echono solicited the support of stakeholders in the renewed efforts aimed at controlling the spread of the AI virus, saying the role played by each stakeholders in the industry in controlling the disease becomes very critical to the overall success in the containment effort. He therefore called for an effective and efficient state veterinary service and enforcement of mandatory regulatory functions to contain Bird Flu outbreak and other zoonotic diseases in the country.

    Echono attributed the new outbreaks of between July and September in Lagos, Oyo, Ogun, Enugu, Abia, Rivers and FCT to non-compliance to bio-security measures in farms, disregard to public policy on the citing of poultry farms and other enforcement protocols which he said were expected to be implemented by the state veterinary services.

    He said the ministry plans  to come up with modalities that will ensure that the burden of payment is borne by both the federal, state and local government areas and the farmers.

    He advised poultry farmers to safeguard their investment through the adoption of insurance policy as a way forward since Federal Government now sees agriculture as a business.

  • Young women-farmers making impact

    Young women-farmers making impact

    A new generation of young women farmers are springing up. They are educated, dynamic and doing well in the market. The new breed women-farmers are not looking at agric in the conventional hoe and cutlass subsistence way, they are bringing innovation and entrepreneurship into it, Daniel Essiet reports.

    While many young people in Nigeria dream of getting well-paid jobs, Chief Executive, Honeysuckles Cynthia Mosunmola Umoru, a zoology graduate, an alumnus of the Pan African University under the Enterprise Development Center (CEM), headed for the farm.  She grew up seeing farmers raise crops, and livestock, living wretched lives. But  she  wasn’t  convinced  they  were doing  farming  the right way. She had big dreams.

    She had bought a large piece of land and started a large-scale farming, approaching farming as a business.

    Today, she  is  seen  as a model as was   elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2011. Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who have innovative solutions to social problems and the potential to change patterns across society. They work in over 70 countries around the globe in every area of human need. Umoru belongs to this club of the exalted.

    It was in the university that Cynthia gave her interest in agriculture more attention. She took courses in fisheries, and multi-level marketing, and ran a successful cake and cookie business. Cynthia also realised how useful mini-livestock farming could be for peaking young peoples’ interest in the profession of agriculture. Not able to completely divorce herself from the big industries that often appeal to bright youth, however, Cynthia also participated in an internship at ExxonMobil while at university. After graduation,she  launched Honeysuckles PTL Ventures with the primary aim of selling processed food produce. Soon after launching, Cynthia got the opportunity to supply dressed chicken and catfish to one of the fastest growing food retail chains in the country, when the quick service restaurant industry was emerging in Nigeria. However, scarcity and inconsistent quality led Umoru to begin researching production with the intention of a backward integration in preparation for adequate positioning on the food supply chain. She launched a farm to meet the need.

    At ten years in 2014, Honeysuckles currently focuses on high-quality food products using modern packaging and fast delivery, and has its own farms and ponds. The success earned Umoru, the Business Owner of the Year award, a category of the Future Awards; highly esteemed in Nigeria for recognising talent in the younger generation.

    For her, the   journey has been quite difficult. It took her five years to gain relevance. As a young entrepreneur, in her very early days, she lost a lot of the seed capital she got from financial mentors to poor and bad business decisions she  made because there was no one to talk to. She learnt   the lesson a hard. Today, the story is different. She is very successful. As a result, she is determined to show young people that farming can be glamorous and good fortune for them  to trade places with the business executive in the large conglomerate and also the bank’s middle management cadre, which is the initial attraction for most young graduates .

    She is  now focusing on ways to get a new generation of young people interested in and successful at modern agriculture. She makes the rounds of schools in and around Lagos, speaking before hundreds of high school and university students.

    In fact, in a year-long apprenticeship with her Honeysuckles PTL Ventures, those that choose may rotate through all aspects of the value chain, from production to processing to dealing with the final corporate client. Those with their own agribusinesses learn modern skills and ideas to incorporate into their endeavor, while the high school and university students begin to realise that farming does not have to look like their antiquated ideas.

    Tosin Awoyinka is a graduate of Federal University of Technology Minna, and  Federal University of Technology Akure, .She read  agric engineering. Awoyinka started agro business  with a bold dream – transform her life and  others. Through creativity and persistence, she is gradually building  an agro enterprise of her dream.She into crop production,aquaculture, poultry and processing and grow crops under greenhouses. As a woman who founded and built her  own business from scratch, she know how difficult it can be to turn a dream into a lucrative business.

    She had challenges but with faith, patience, gratitude and keeping her eye on the purpose, accepting variations of ideals,she has been able to make it.An agric engineer, Awoyinka, is collaborating with other agro entrepreneurs to and raise awareness on opportunities for young farmers in agriculture. She part of a business coaching program where she  has the opportunity to connect with dozens upon dozens of like-minded entrepreneurs who are also eager to give back to others.

    An entrepreneur to watch is Betty Afolabi. A young fisheries graduate, University of Ado-Ekiti. Ekiti State,she comes from a long line of entrepreneurs.

    A member, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Cross River State and Secretary, Cross River State women in aquaculture, Miss  Afolabi,  is  co operator of Bangadonase Nigeria limited,based in Calabar,Cross River State.

    She always knew she will go into business.  — Once the right idea presented itself of course. In her’ case, the right idea came in the form of fish farming. “I started fully in 2010 by hatching fish at the back of my house and also rearing 20 chicks.” She has started a fish business with a partner in Calabar, Mrs. Glory Ado Awe ,also a fisheries  graduate, where  they cultivate and sell grown fish to the  market. In her’ mind the importance of local food cannot be overstated both in regards to the goals of her business and the future of agriculture as a whole.

    Afolabi and her partner are happy that are able to produce good fish.

    Like any other agricultural operation, she faced typical challenges, particularly, getting accepted as a female farmer. But she had to prove her worth in the field. Right now, her   challenges are lack of finance for small scale farmer. The other is unfavourable agricultural policy. This makes exporting her product difficult. In Cross River State, she and other women involved in agriculture have formed a union called Women in Aquaculture. It comprises of over 100 women doing fish business, processing to production. The  other ones are reducing the chance of mortality failure and balancing an increase in production with the ability to sell everything they grow. That being said, she is optimistic about the future of her business. Right now, she is into fingerlings production and also processing of catfish for sale. She is also into shrimps and also consultancy.

    Along the line, she found successful women entrepreneurs are also everyday entrepreneurs.

    Also that people who run businesses are making huge contributions but may not be necessarily brand names.

    She sees the successes of those ventures and realise that there’s a real possibility that their startup can do well. So the female agro entrepreneurs ’re taking a different approach.

    Across the country, executive women   are ramping up agro entrepreneurship opportunities, as they pursue their dreams of lucrative innovation, and startup glory.

    Some of the women involved in agriculture and food production, hold  international  MBAs that   are part of a striking trend among business school students toward entrepreneurship. Increasingly, they are rushing to apply their business skills to their own enterprises. For them, agro entrepreneurship is entering the mainstream in the economy and therefore it’s starting to enter the mainstream in the business schools.

    For instance, Lagos Business School has started something on agribusiness management and this has served as the primary impetus toward entrepreneurship.

    As tech-driven agro business companies are spreading, highly ranked business schools are right on their heels.

    Chief Executive Officer, Melinda-D Global Farms, George Omololu Akinbi said entry of young female graduate into agriculture  portend a greatfuture for the nation.

    According to him, young women pursue agriculture with great vigour. He believes  agriculture is expanding the horizons of  young ladies who want  to become farmers. He look forward to seeing these young women flourish.

    Meanwhile, West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme (WAAPP) has urged youths to harness the vast business opportunities in the agricultural sector rather than seek paid employment. Assistant Project Accountant of WAAPP, Mr Godffery Onuegbu,  made at a training workshop for 50 selected youths and women on cassava and fruit juice processing technology, in Awka.

    “We have enough agricultural raw materials available in the southeast that could change the fortunes of our youths and women roaming the streets for employment.

    “A lot of fruits, including oranges, pineapples, pawpaw, mangoes, among others are rotting away in the region which can be harnessed into fruit juice.

    “The by-product from fruit processing can also be converted to animal feed.

    “Nigeria is a ready market for all these produce but the issue is that our youths do not show interest in the business.

    “I encourage the youths to look inwards in the area of agriculture instead of applying for jobs all over the place,” Onuegbu said.

    Technical Assistant to the National Project Coordinator of WAAPP, Mrs Grace Samuel,  said interested youths could be linked to funding institutions.

    Samuel explained that WAAPP was collaborating with the Rural Finance Institution Building Programme to provide grants, not exceeding five million naira, for cassava and fruit juice processing.

    She urged the state governments in the zone to develop an agricultural framework that would encourage the training of the youth in fruit and cassava processing.

  • Protect farmers, govt told

    As farmers grapple with safety, President, Federated FADAMA Community Association, Lagos State, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan, has urged the government to protect farmers under occupational health and safety regulations.

    He said farmers are prone to injuries, as workers are exposed to pesticides and other chemicals, intense physical strain, and use of dangerous machinery. Notwithstanding the heightened risk of injuries or even permanent impairment on the job, farmworkers are  ineligible for workers’compensation.

    He said farmers could face health challenge because of risks, such as water quality and animal contact.

    He said agri-workers should be protected as they are more likely to be injured be at risk on the farm.

    According to him, farm workers are the backbone of the agricultural industry. They harvest crops and tend livestock and carry out operations that are grueling work and dangerous.

    The Nation learnt that farmers pay is low with some taking below minimum wage, with no overtime pay.

    Most farmers are not entitled to a day of rest weekly, nor are they eligible for workers’compensation when injured on the job. Farm workers are excluded from the labour laws.

    At least 300,000 farmworkers labour on farms nationwide. They  are denied their basic rights – the right to fair pay, a humane work schedule and safe-working conditions.

    Many farmworkers are paid “piece rate,” based upon the units of produce picked or handled. This arrangement creates an incentive for farm workers to push themselves beyond their physical limits, for pay that is paltry considering the risk to their health.

    He called on the government to  protect the environment while ensuring the long-term health and economic strength of the agriculture industry. This would help reduce the risk of spreading diseases between farms, he added.

    Fertiliser firms dominate talks on climate change and agriculture, a report said.

    Fertiliser companies are among the world’s top climate villains, a new report from GRAIN asserts. Their products could be responsible for up to 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, not to mention the damage wreaked on waterways, soils and the ozone layer. But policies to transition agriculture out of its current dependence on chemical fertilisers are being undermined by the fertiliser industry’s lobby efforts.

    GRAIN’s report: “The Exxons of agriculture”, shows how fertiliser companies have infiltrated the main policy processes on agriculture and climate to position chemical fertilisers as a solution to climate change and to weaken support for non-chemical farming. Under the banner of “climate smart agriculture”, fertiliser companies work in alliance with other food and agribusiness corporations to lobby for voluntary, company-led programmes that promote the use of fertilisers, such as Wal-Mart’s climate smart agriculture programme or the World Economic Forum’s New Vision for Agriculture.

    Fertiliser companies even hold sway within the only intergovernmental initiative to so far have emerged on climate change and agriculture. The founding membership and steering committee of the Global Alliance for Climate Smart Agriculture, launched last year at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change, are stacked with fertiliser companies, their front groups and organisations that partner with them. GRAIN is a small international non-profit organisation that works to support small farmers and social movements in their struggles for community-controlled and biodiversity-based food systems

  • Rights Commission to resolve herdsmen, farmers dispute

    Rights Commission to resolve herdsmen, farmers dispute

    The Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Prof. Bem Angwe, has inaugurated a working committee to resolve the perennial clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

    According to him,  for the past decade, the incidence of clashes between pastoralists and farmers have become a recurring issue.

    He said: “The central issue is the increasing scarcity of economic resources. Desertification and massive devastation of vegetation and soil, particularly in the arid zones in the far north, as well as lack of access to adequate water supply have necessitated the southward movement of pastoralists with their cattle all the year round.

    “Presently, some states are worse hit. These include Kaduna, Nasarawa, Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa. The conflict is also taking a more dangerous dimension as it is dividing the affected people along ethnic and religious lines even though the primary issue is economic.

    “More recently, cattle rustling is fast becoming an organised crime in the affected areas while small arms proliferation has also become the order of the day with its attendant toll on the capacity of the state to provide its primary constitutional responsibilities of protecting life and property.

    “The historical relationship among the different peoples of northern Nigeria especially, has served to aggravate the matter as the political class, rather than providing lasting solution to this problem by engaging in massive environmental regeneration and development, continued to exploit this situation to serve their narrow political interest which in many instances reinforces the dividing lines among the affected people and communities.”

    Prof. Bem Angwe said: “A number of enquiries and studies have been commissioned by governments – federal and states – at different times, but the nation is yet to develop a multi-perspective, pragmatic work plan aimed at achieving a holistic and integrated approach to solve the problem.

    “The Commission, therefore, owes a statutory duty to address this issue because it substantially affects protection of right to life, property, environment, health as well as freedom from fear and murder, amongst others.

    He mentioned the Committee’s terms of reference to include: “To undertake a desk review of all the existing reports on this matter and draw up a list of issues and stakeholders mapping to guide the current exercise;  visit to some of the affected areas (including visits to relevant government officials and agencies); to interact with affected people in order to get their perspective on this matter; organisation of town hall meetings/community dialogue in the affected states – particularly, Kaduna, Nasawara, Benue, Plateau, Taraba and Adamawa. It also include holding a national conference in Abuja to bring together all the key stakeholders and representatives of the affected communities.

    “The conference proceedings and other feedbacks generated from all the above engagements would be brought together to make a policy recommendation to the federal and relevant state governments.

    The cnference will equally submit Draft Conference Report to the Executive Secretary on or before  October 31, 2016. “It is my hope you will justify the confidence reposed in you by ensuring a diligent discharge of this important national assignment,” Prof Angwe said.