The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Food

  • Govt urged to improve food safety standards

    A call has been made to the government to work with operators in the livestock meat processing sector to improve food safety standards.

    Deputy Director, Directorate of General Management, Agricultural and Rural Management Institute (ARMTI), Dr. Ademola Adeyemo, said there was need for private enterprises in the meat sub-sector to to improve food safety.

    He urged the government to strengthen regulations to ensure the private sector changes its working practices to ensure food safety and that the meat industry take more responsibility to  ensure  public  safety.

    According to him, operators were focusing on profit, adding that it is time food safety takes a more prominent place.

    He  said there should be    programme to make food business and their employees  aware that the products  meant for consumers’ plates should  be  free  from  elements  which  nurture  the  spread of diseases and ensure safety of the products.

    He said quality   assurance schemes should help not only to raise awareness of safety, they hygiene but also food fraud.

    Adeyemo called for incentives for businesses to encourage cooperation on food safety and for the industry to correct a business that takes irresponsible risks.

    He urged health authorities to pay more attention to tackling food fraud, urging the  strengthening   of meat and livestock inspection and supervision.

  • I cook my husband’s food, says president’s wife

    I cook my husband’s food, says president’s wife

    Wife of the President, Mrs. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday revealed that she still personally cooks her husband’s food.

    Speaking during the Sallah party she organized for Nigerian children at the old Banquet hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, she sought the children’s permission to leave the party after staying for about two hours in order to go home to cook for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    She said: “I’m going to leave you soon. I want to go back home to cook for my husband. Because my children are here playing with you, so nobody is at home, only my husband. So I want to go back home to be with him and also cook dinner for him.”

    She urged the children to continue to pray for other Nigerian children who are presently at Internally Displaced Persons (IDP)’ camps due to the insurgency.

    Stressing that the administration of her husband attaches importance to Nigerian children’s welfare, protection and development, she urged them to be good ambassadors to their parents.

    She said: “The future of this great country lies in your hands. You are to compliment the efforts of government by working very hard in school and to be obedient to your parents.”

    “Tomorrow, you may be the President, the President’s wife, senator, honourable members, governors, medical doctors, teacher, journalist, engineer, nurse, lawyer and the rest of our honourable professions,” she added

    The Wife of the President also urged parents to encourage and monitor their children.

  • Evron Food launches ‘fastest delivery’ online food store

    Evron Food launches ‘fastest delivery’ online food store

    Set to reinvent the online food shopping experience for Nigerians, Evron Food Store has launched its online food store called www.evronfoodstore.com. The online store guarantees deliveries of goods within three hours of order placement and checkout. Customers who do not get their orders delivered to them three hours after placing an order automatically gets compensated with a 10 percent discount.

    The online food market offers a wide variety of food products and farm crops using a highly interactive and innovative platform that allows customers to shop for almost any food item they can think of in the food store. A customer can simply click on the ‘Afang Soup Bundle’ and all the ingredients for Afang soup will be selected, packaged and dispatched immediately upon checkout.

    According to the owners of the store, shopping via Evron Food Store guarantees that valuable time that could be spent bonding with family members, or simply resting after a hectic week, is duly enjoyed. No more need to endure the rigours of navigating dozens of stores at the conventional open market, or after hours of traffic.

    As part of its launch, Evron Food Store has also announced its #MyFirstOrder Campaign where customers can simply take a picture of their delivered food items, share, mention and follow@evronfoodstore on twitter, Instagram and Facebook. They can use the #My1stOrder #MarketCameHomefor a chance to win a free shopping voucher. Evron Food Store also has a physical walk-in store/office which is open to customers situated in Chevron Drive, Lekki Lagos.

    Speaking at the formal launch of the store, the Marketing Manager, Ijeoma Olujekun noted: “At Evron Food Store, we are committed to creating a vibrant, convenient way for people to buy food produce online and increasingly turn this into delightful and more satisfying for the customers. We understand the need for Nigerians to purchase food quickly, conveniently and have sought to simplify the process of buying food, making it just a click away”.

    In her address, the Managing Director, Funmi Farotimi noted that in seeking to ensure high quality standards for items sold at the store, Evron Food Store wishes to know and influence how the food seed are grown.

    Her words, “We are passionate about great tasting food in its purest state. That is why quality standards for food prohibit leafy vegetables grown with chemical fertilizers. We base our decisions not just on food chemistry, but also on ideology, philosophy, proper labelling and critical evaluation of the promise we’ve made to our customers, which is freshness, always. We take our responsibility seriously, knowing that our standards not only determine what goes on our shelves, but they also influence the way that food is grown and processed”.

    “Evron food store is making life easier for the everyday shopper without looting or exploiting them. Our intention is that our prices must never be higher than what can be obtained from any of the local market around.”

  • Food vendors:‘our ordeal during the ramadan fast’

    Food vendors:‘our ordeal during the ramadan fast’

    As Ramadan fast ends, the experiences of  food vendors over the last one  month has been bad. According to them, there haven’t been sales since  Ramadan fast began. Ramadan which is a blessed month for the Muslims to fast and get closer to their God, by abstaining from food, drinks and some other activities, happened to be of disadvantage to food vendors across the Lagos metropolis.

    For Mrs Merian Biodun who owns a restaurant at Makinde Bus stop in Ayobo area of Lagos, she doesn’t make sales whenever Muslims were fasting “I do not sell much when Ramadan is on. I prepare half of what I used to prepare on a normal day and when it was time to break their fast, some of them wouldn’t come around instead they prefered to go home to break their fast with their families “.

    Mrs Muniratu Olushola, another restaurant owner at Idera, in Ipaja said sales are always low during Ramadan. “It is not that we did not make sales at all, but if we used to have twenty people buying from us on a normal day, during fasting period,  we have less than twelve. And the painful thing is that, this would go on for a whole month. It was indeed a great loss to us. If I should prepare the amount of food I normally use to prepare more than half will waste”.

    For Madam Joy of God’s Glorious restaurant, her major patronage comes from Okada riders who are mainly Muslims and have their park in front of her restaurant.  “My main customers are Muslim okada riders and they eat a lot. But while they fast, I cook my food in small quantity so that it doesn’t waste. Some of them patronise me when they break their  fast in the evenings, but they bought little quantity of food”.

    The story is same with Mrs Fatimat Adebola. “Ramadan period is not always a profitable period for my business because most of my customers are Muslims just like i am. Sometimes I won’t bother  to open my restaurant at all for a day or two because after waking up very early in the morning to cook for my family, I would go back to bed.  Business was dull throughout the fast period and it is a major challenge we have always had  to cope with when the fasting period comes.” she said.

  • ‘My husband has stopped eating my food’

    A middle-age woman, Ruth Abah, is seeking the dissolution of her six-year-old marriage to her husband Abel, at an Agege Customary Court in Lagos.

    She said her woes began in 2011 when her husband stopped eating at home.

    “I was six months pregnant when my husband stopped eating my food. On several occasions, I asked him what I did but he never gave an answer. It went on for eight months and three weeks but my husband never gave a reason for his actions,” she said.

    The petitioner added that her husband is fond of beating her.

    She said: “He beats me over trivial issues. He also went to the extent of buying his own foodstuff to the house. At times we fight over our stove.”

    Mrs Abah said she left her matrimonial home 2011 with their baby because the torture was too much, adding that her husband traced her to the house she rented and beat her mercilessly.

    “The love between us turned cold immediately we got married. I realised he loved me while we were courting. I want dissolution and I want him to cater for our child because I have been single-handedly taking care of our son for over three months,” she said.

    Defending himself, the respondent, said his wife she left the house of her own volition.

    “I got back from work one day and I realised that my wife wasn’t at home. I didn’t know why she left because we had no issue that day. We are both responsible for our child’s school fees. I am fine with the dissolution because I have someone else,” he said.

    The court’s President, Pa Adekunle Williams, ordered the respondent to pay N15, 000 as the child’s three-month outstanding allowance. He adjourned the matter till July 23.

  • Delayed rains threaten North’s food production, say farmers

    Delayed rains threaten North’s food production, say farmers

    Farmers in some northern parts of the country have expressed worry that the delay in the rainfall experienced this year may affect food production in the country.

    Meteorologists had predicted that some northern parts of the country would experience delay in the arrival of rains this cropping season, while they were also advised not to rush to plant.

    Some of the farmers told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that most farmers are yet to begin planting due to lack of adequate rainfall.

    They said the situation posed serious threat to food production in the region this year.

    One of the farmers, Malam Baushe Talle, said: “Rain is a factor in plant growth, therefore, the greater the rainfall, the faster the seed grows and the higher the yield.”

    Another farmer, Malam Musa Abdu, stressed the need for government to provide farmers in the region with drought resistant seeds, to avert crop failure and ensure bumper harvest.

    “Farmers should also be educated on different farming techniques because of this kind of situation,” he said.

    Malam Lawan Kado, advised government to reduce the effects of potential food shortage by buying the surplus directly from farmers.

    ‘’So, if there is a shortage of food, the stored ones can be sold at cheaper prices in order to ensure that food prices remain affordable and stable,” he said.

    Malam Musa Dogara and Malam Maiwada Karaukarau, canvassed for adequate budgetary allocation to the agriculture sector to ensure easy access to facilities and farm inputs required to sustain massive production.

    According to them, such provision would ensure prompt supply of fertilisers, chemicals, improved seeds and farming implements, as well as credit facilities to farmers.

    Secretary, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Alhaji Garba Bichi, advised farmers in the northern states to plant their crops as soon as the rains start.

    “Farmers should not wait for heavy downpour before they start planting because if they plant early, crops will mature before the rain stops,’’ he said.

    Bichi urged farmers to embrace dry season farming as solution to inadequate or delayed rainfall.

    “In fact formers must embrace irrigation in order to augment the shortfall during wet season farming,” Bichi added.

    Chairman, Kaduna state Commercial Agriculture Association, Malam Nuhu Umar, said timely provision of farming inputs including seeds and fertiliser, was key to sustainable agricultural production in the country.

    “As long as farmers do not have timely access to inputs and at affordable price, they would continue to produce at a loss and this could pose serious threat to the country’s quest for food security.

    “As such, the government must on a consistent level make available seeds, fertiliser, tractors and other crucial farm inputs as well as training us in modern farming techniques.

    “This will go a long way to assist us remain in business and compete with other farmers from developed countries,” he said.

    According to him, farmers are recording consistent drop in yield due to lack of access to vital farm inputs and adequate rains.

    The chairman, however, begin the Kaduna State Government for providing 30, 215 tonnes of fertiliser to farmers at subsidised rate and 186 tractors to be sold to farmers at 60 per cent discount.

    Alhaji Nuhu Aminu, AFAN chairman in Kaduna State, stressed the need for government at all levels to encourage agricultural mechanisation to enhance food production and security.

    Aminu encouraged farmers to form cooperatives in order to access loan with which to procure tractors and other farm inputs to boost agricultural production.

    The chairman identified lack of access to credit facilities and markets for agricultural produce as major setback to agricultural growth in Nigeria.

    Aliyu observed that non availability of markets had discouraged many people from continuing with farming activities.

    An Environmentalist, Prof Ibrahim Jaro of Geography Department, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said the report which stated that over 90 million Nigerians are hungry, referred to those not getting balanced diet.

    “What the report meant is that over 90 per cent of Nigerians are lacking balance diet.

    “The fact that you eat three times a day does not mean that you are not hungry.

    “You may eat yam at breakfast, semovita during lunch and rice as dinner, but you only succeeded in taking carbohydrate, which will only supply you energy nothing else,” he said.

    According to him, for a person not to be hungry, he needs to have a food that is well balanced.

    Some peasant farmers who spoke with NAN appealed to government at all levels to stop paying lips service to agriculture and increase their budgetary allocations in order to boost food production in the country.

    The Kogi Government said it has begun the distribution of N232 million loan and grants to 145,000 farmers in rural areas of the state.

    A statement in Lokoja yesterday by the Special Adviser to the State Governor on Media, Mr Jacob Edi, said the grant would be given to farmers on the platform of Nigerian Agricultural Payment Initiative e- wallet system.

    According to the statement, the loan aspect of the package is being disbursed in phases by the state government in partnership with the Kogi Farmers Cluster Development Union.

    It said that 145,000 rural farmers selected across the 21 local government governments in the state had been listed to benefit.

    Also. the Federal Government said it distributed seeds and fertiliser worth N2.5 billion to rice farmers in Jigawa for the 2014/2015 farming season.

    The Director, Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in the state, Malam Ahmad Labaran, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse that the farm inputs were distributed to 177,425 rice farmers in Hadejia, Kafin-Hausa and Auyo.

    He added that each farmer was given two bags of fertiliser and 2.5 kg of improved rice seed, saying the items were given to the farmers at subsidised price

  • Food prices soar as Ramadan begins

    Food prices soar as Ramadan begins

    The holy month of Ramadan is here once again. Muslim faithful across the world will observe the fasting period. To prepare adequately for this holy month, they are expected to visit the market to stock their homes with staple food items. Many of them will, however, be constrained by the sharp increase in the general prices of goods and shortage of others, TONIA ‘DIYAN reports

    The last one month has seen prices of staple food items in Lagos markets go up, particularly tomatoes and pepper which have become significantly out of stock since traders finished selling their old stock. The scarcity and hike in the price of staple foods, farmers from the north says can be attributed to high cost of transportation occasioned by the lingering fuel scarcity and off season period for perishable food items.

    Visits to some major markets in Lagos where these items are sold in large quantities showed that prices of items such as tomatoes, pepper, chilli pepper and others have moved up sharply without any likelihood of coming down any time soon.

    At the popular Mile 12 and Mushin Markets, a big basket of tomatoes, which used to sell for N15, 000 now sells for N30, 000. A medium-size basket of fresh pepper (tatashe) now costs N12, 000 from N11, 000. A basket of chili pepper (rodo) now goes for N20, 000.00 against the N13, 000. The price of a jute bag of onions also increased from N7, 500 last week to N8, 000.  A 20-litre keg of vegetable oil goes for N6, 300 against N6, 200, while a measurement of garri (known as Kongo in local parlance) still remains at N300. The various brands of 50-kilogramme bag of rice range from N7, 000 to N12, 000. A 120-kilogramme bag of beans costs N26, 000 from N24, 500 it was sold before.  A tuber of yam is now N600 as against N400 it was a few weeks ago.

    At Daleko Market, a 25kg brand of Mama Gold rice goes for N5,000, 50kg-N10,00, Royal Stallion N7,800  Elephant Gold-N7,500 and Union Stallion-N7,500.

    Commenting on this development, the  leader of the tomato depot at Mile 12 Market, Mr. Muhammed Shittu, blamed the increase in prices on the rainy season and attack of insects.

    He said:  “The rain is at its peak now and its hindering the growth of tomatoes. Even when it eventually grows, it would be eaten up by insects and would not be suitable for consumption.”

    Spokesman for Mile 12 Traders Association, Mr Femi Odusanya, urged the Federal Government to invest more in the agriculture sector by establishing mechanised farms. “Government needs to invest more in mechanised farming because most of the food items in the markets are cultivated by peasant farmers. Most of these farmers have just little farm lands and lack the resources for large plantation. Mechanised farming will make farm produce to be available in large quantities, even during off-seasons while prices will not be this high.

    “Until the government does the right thing by shifting attention to agriculture, the citizens will continue to groan under the pressure of costly food items.”

    Alhaji Mohammed Tijani, a beans seller, attributed the high price of beans to ongoing planting season and increased demand for the Ramadan.

    “Price of beans keeps increasing because of its high demand beacuse of the Ramadan period. A lot of families are purchasing it for the purpose of making ‘moi-moi’ or akara’’ after breaking their fast in the evening. More so, there is reduced supply of beans to the market because farmers are not harvesting but planting now.”

  • Tackling post-harvest food losses

    Tackling post-harvest food losses

    Ending post-harvest losses has been a goal of governments, businesses, farmers and traders.  Attributed to improper handling of agro commodities from field to market, the impact has been detrimental to farmers. In the last 10 years, organisations and donors have taken steps to reduce losses in crops, such as tomato and other perishable produce which account for an alarming 86 per cent of total farm produce losses, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    Approximately, one-thirdof food grown in the farm never reaches consumers. Waste and spoilage occur across the value chain, threatening farmers’ livelihoods and people’s access to nutritious food.

    At harvest level, farmers struggle to ensure the perishables being harvested are handled properly, kept free of bruises, stored and moved fresh to the market.

    One of the crops most affected is tomato.

    Described as more lucrative than rice, maize and yam, tomato is in high demand. However, farmers face tremendous challenges in getting their products to market.

    At the height of the harvest season, farmers lose up to 40 per cent of their produce due to a lack of processing facilities. This results in severe price fluctuations for tomatoes.

    In most of the areas where it is cultivated in the North, there are no storage facilities to preserve their produce. As a result, tomato rots on the road to market.

    To watchers, what the sector needs is small-scale and low-tech interventions in the areas of storage and transport.

    Speaking with The Nation, President, Federated FADAMA Community Association, Lagos State, Alhaji Abiodun Oyenekan said such much is required to implement tomato value chain improvements and post harvest quality systems that enable farmers produce crop that will meet standards such as reliable freshness, minimal damage and professional packaging.

    According to him, post harvest losses is a major issue that require interventions.

    To this end, he said Lagos State is taking steps through initiatives to minimise losses, preserve quality, maintain nutritional content, and to ensure year-round availability while empowering equitable income distribution along the value chain.

    The approaches include storage devices, good agricultural practices for harvesting and sorting crops, plastic crates for transporting produce, and others.

    Against this backdrop also, Growth and Employment in the States (GEMS), a joint programme of the Department for International Development (DFID) and World Bank (WB)   is exploring techniques to ensure that small   farmers have greater income and economic opportunities, improved resilience, and increased food and nutritional security through reduced post-harvest loss in the food crop value chain.

    Working with business associations, service providers, producers, retailers, wholesalers and other actors involved in the market, its GEMS 4 programme is seeking significant reductions in food loss by improving farmers’ use of good agricultural practices, such as for proper handling of crops.

    Consequently, 60 members of the Fresh Fruits and Vegetable Dealers Association of Nigeria have been trained as master trainers on good handling practices for fresh perishable produce (and further courses are on-going).

    The master trainers will then train other handlers of perishable produce in collection centres and markets across the country.

    The programme target is increased growth, income and employment, especially for poor men and women, in wholesale and retail markets in selected states and 10,000 full-time equivalent jobs and improved incomes for 500,000 people.

    The project assists farmers to maintain Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) standards and comply with standards that most small farmers do not possess.

    To further enable farmers’ success, GEMS4 provides value chain actors with tomato colour charts that depict the different quality levels of tomatoes and their associated prices. The quality improvements benefit value chain actors further downstream as well, as they capture more value as a result of trading and selling higher quality goods.

    To help the programme, GEMS4 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between it and the Tomato Sellers Association in Mile 12, Ketu, Lagos State.

    Senior Intervention Manager, Mr Arafat Hossain said under the arrangement, high-end markets such as hotels, restaurants, supermarket chains and catering service providers would access quality tomatoes delivered in crates.

    The fresh produce are well sorted, graded and hygienically handled by trained handlers under Good Handling Practices (GHP).

    Already, the association has 10 of its members primed to receive and deliver orders up to one metric tonne each as pioneers of the new mode of doing the tomato business.

    GEMS4, using tomatoes as an entry point into the entry produce market, analysed operations from farm to the traditional markets, thereby identifying the challenges in the supply chain that lead to produce damage and cash losses.

    After the trial deliveries from farms around Zaria to Mile 12 market in Lagos, it developed a business plan, which would include a cold chain.

    The result showed only five per cent loss using plastic crates as against 45 per cent the traditional raffia baskets.

    As it stands now, bankers are willing to fund the use of plastic crates in this largely lucrative business that has big chains like Shoprite showing interest in the arrangement, while the State government has supported the Mile 12 market sellers with 2,600 crates of the 4.000 crates released state-wide for a start.

    The Association led by Alhaji Yahuza Alasan, represented by its secretary, Alhaji Shehu Usman, showcased that cleaned sorted, graded and packaged in plastic crates are now available for purchase in Mile 12 market.

    This is being made available through a pilot providing access to Returnable Plastic Crates (RPCs) for farmers, traders and dealers of perishable produce.

    GEMS4 is providing an install-ment repayment plan that will enable traders purchase the plastic crates.

    This had been a challenge for traders in Mile 12 market, who have been struggling to meet market demands of Higher Value Markets and quality conscious buyers.

    The stakeholders involved in this pilot are the Tomato Sellers Association (TSA) arm of the Fresh Fruits Vegetable Community Dealers Association of Nigeria (FFVDCAN) with a national membership spread of over 300,000 across Nigeria.

    There are about 28 other perishable produce groups under this apex association and it is planned that after this pilot, the model will be extended to them as a scale up to enable RPCs become a part of the supply chain operations of the sector.

    GEMS4 Intervention Manager, Richard Ogundele said tomato is big business. The market for it is large, including buyers who run grocery stores, restaurants and hotels. But they need high-quality produce.

  • Firm introduces Hyfiba food

    Spectra Industries Limited, a food company, has launched Hyfiba food in Lagos.

    Its Managing Director, Duro Kuteyi, said the product is good for mental growth and protection against cholesterol.

    He said it would boost growth and development in children, adding that it is also  an high-quality product for diabetic and hypertensive patients.

    It is also good for those who are slimming. He advised them to take it for breakfast.

    Hyfiba, he said, is made of various vitamins and minerals.

    Kuteyi said hyfiba can also help to optimise the release of sustained energy from food.

    The product, he said, has high lecithin content.

    Hyfiba is a three-in-one food that can be served as cereal. He said it is ideal for all ages as it is smooth to swallow and does not need to be sieved before preparation.

    Kuteyi noted that local foods are rich in vitamins and minerals, stressing the need to build mechanical processing so that they would serve the people’s need and be more convenient to prepare.

    He said: “Nothing is wrong with our local food; only that non-professionals have spoilt the market, so it it’s time for the professionals to actually come out do what they know best.”

    On the safety of the food, the company boss said hyfiba is a natural food product that has no added chemical or preservatives.

    “As food professionals, we do not believe in adding chemicals. When you we know the implication of chemicals then we should not add it to this type of food that the whole family will eat”, he expressed.

    “With time this chemical will start to accumulate and then give complications. We are preaching against food that can cause cancer, why should we now start adding chemicals in our food, we don’t do it. We don’t even add colour to any of our products,” he assured.

    The product, which was approved by the National Agency of Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), he said, would last for about two years

    Kuteyi said Hyfiba Food has spread to about 13 states, including Kano, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti, adding that efforts were ongoing to make the product available in the East.

    General Manager of the company, Olusoga Awonuga, stressed the importance of creating awareness for people to understand what they eat.

    According to him, people these days consume what they don’t know. “They just consume something for the sake of it,” he said, adding: “ hence the introduction of the functionality of hyfiba food product to the public.”

    He said the company is committed to making the product available to  Nigerians and at affordable price.

    He assured that the product would be improved upon.

     

  • How to boost food production, by experts

    How to boost food production, by experts

    To increase food production, experts say Buhari’s administration should make agriculture a top priority to meet the needs of a growing population. This, however, will require building on the foundation of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) and navigating current resource limits, DANIEL ESSIET reports.

    The agricultural sector is facing an exciting future. The sector is reviving, helped by positive policy actions that have improved confidence in agriculture. To continue on this trend, experts said there was the need to accelerate structural reforms as the sector is the bright spot in the economic landscape.

    While there are many challenges ahead, the good news, however, is that enormous opportunities exist to turn the situation around, create profitable farms that produce an abundance of healthy food while improving the soil, enhancing biodiversity, and protecting habitats. To this end, they urged the President, Muhammadu Buhari to find  ways to increase food production.

    Speaking with The Nation, Prof  Daniel Gwary, of the Crop Protection Department, University of Maidugari, Borno State, said bolstering agriculture sector health would support growth going forward. He believes farmers and agribusinesses could create a food secure economy if they can access more fund, electricity, better technology and irrigated land to grow high-value crops.

    Gwary said the agriculture sector  has capacity to boost growth rates, create more jobs, significantly reduce poverty, and grow enough cheap, nutritious food to feed its families.

    He urged the government to  carry out the reform of the food  production system to make it  more efficient, effective and to be more relevant to the mandates.

    The agric development blue print, he noted, should aim at restoration of high economic growth.

    Nigeria, he noted, has great potential for expanding  food production but that the sector is facing  a lot of challenges including slowing yield growth of major food crops,  land degradation and water scarcity issues, and a changing climate.

    His concerns is shared by other  experts with the report that post-harvest losses run 45 per cent for perishable products due to poor storage and other farm infrastructure.

    His position is that the government could support farmers to boost food production without punishing the environment. This will require experimenting with less harmful farming practices.

    According to him, rural underdevelopment has been the main drag on the potential and prospects for growth in agricultural production and productivity, adding that  inadequate infrastructure such as electricity, roads, and potable water, account for the lag in agricultural development.

    To him, poor and inadequate infrastructure, among other problems, increase operational expenditure in agriculture and wants  the administration to address  it. In addition to inadequate infrastructure provision, he   noted  that  there is scarcity of a myriad of required direct farming inputs and needs for productive and profitable agricultural business.

    Inspite of the identified problems that inhibit growth and productivity in agricultural production and food security, Gwary expressed  optimism regarding current scale and enthusiasm of foreign direct investors in the sector following  the efforts made by the outgone Minister of Agriculture, Dr Adesina. This has prompted the global momentum in the support for agriculture in Nigeria from outside.

    The Dean,  Faculty  of Agriculture, University of Uyo, Prof Ini Akpabio, urged President Buhari  to  put agriculture and agribusiness at the top of the development and business agenda.

    He pointed out that productivity in agriculture in Nigeria remains relatively lower, suggesting the need for incentives for farmers to produce more food. He argued for support of the government in the sector for expanded growth in production and a greater coordination of public ministries, departments and agencies that have linkages to the agriculture sector.

    According to him, Nigeria needs a standard policy towards agriculture improvement. In this regard, he identified with the move to  support the production of viable agricultural commodities to facilitate economic and industrial growth. These measures, he noted, would help the nation utilise its potential and the comparative advantages in agricultural production.

    To address the economic growth objective, World Bank  Consultant, Prof Abel Ogunwale, called for the strengthening of the macroeconomic framework, a more responsible fiscal stance, increasing the role of private sector in economic development and improvement in physical infrastructure.

    To reduce poverty, he urged the government to focus on expanding  productive capacity in agriculture, development of rural areas, and upgrading the living conditions for urban dwellers that had suffered from poor urban infrastructure and social services arising principally from high urbanisation rates.

    Ogunwale called for clear plans for agricultural development.

    Farmers, he noted, need support   to enable them to acquire critical inputs such as fertilisers, insecticides, pesticides, storage facilities, tractors and other modern farming tools, hybrid seeds, to increase productivity.

    He urged Buhari’s administration to construct dams and irrigation projects to enhance agriculture development with many rivers flowing through the country.

    This, he said, could lead to self-sufficiency in the production of some critical food crops and the national food security programme, which must necessarily be a component of the national security programme. He said that one way of addressing its food security problem is to move from the present over-dependence on the weather for food production, and also promote agro-processing and good storage facilities to reduce the current high levels of food losses.

    This aside, he said the sector requires good transportation network to facilitate agricultural activities and a vigorous transportation programme to build more highways, railways and improve water transport to enhance agriculture development.

    Ogunwale said there is also the need to provide basic infrastructure and facilities such as roads, hospitals, water, electricity and other basic facilities in the rural areas.

    This would prevent the exodus of youths from the farms in rural areas to the cities and the industrial centres in search of jobs.

    Ogunwale said the sector needs more investments, especially in water, agri-R&D, farm mechanisation. For  him,  the industry should  improve in terms of gross capital formation. But much of this, he   said, should come from the government and also from the private    sector.

    According to him, considering   a stable mandate for the government, backed by strong political will, the government should be able to turn around the economy, through the agricultural sector.

    For him, the government may walk the extra mile to boost growth through infrastructure development.

    According to him, the government needs to increase capital expenditure on agricultural infrastructure to make it an important contributor to GDP growth and job creator.

    He  urged the government to  accelerate policy reforms and invest in transport and storage infrastructure to encourage more participation in agribusiness.

    Experts stated that agribusiness has potential to lift Nigerians  from poverty. They urged the government to empower farmers through training, exposure to new markets and provision of subsidised inputs  such as  seeds and fertiliser.

    They challenged the government to invest in training for farmers and partner with banks to extend to them affordable credit.

    To experts, however, the importance of the agric industry to the  economy has been recognised  by  the  outgone Federal  Government in its economic Strategy 2011 to 2015.

    Demonstrating this, the government through the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina   developed a strategic action plan for the industry through the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). The plan recognised the need to target those areas which have the greatest potential for growth.

    To some experts, his initiatives have empowered more than six million farmers across the country to embrace agriculture as a business as he has been relentless in unlocking opportunities for farmers and changing Africa’s narrative on agriculture to wealth creation, away from poverty reduction.

    His Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) ended four decades of corruption in the fertiliser sector, eliminating the middlemen and scaling up food production by nine million metric tonnes in the first year -almost half of the 2015 production target. To further enhance this process, he introduced an Electronic Wallet System which allows smallholder farmers to receive electronic vouchers for subsidised seeds and fertilisers directly on their mobile phones and enable them to pay for farm inputs from private sector agricultural input dealers. The system has reached over six million farmers and enhanced food security for 30 million persons in rural farm households.

    With the success of the electronic wallet system, Nigeria has become the first country in Africa to reach farmers with subsidised farm inputs through their mobile phones. The impact is already being noticed beyond Nigeria with several African countries, Brazil, India and China now expressing interest in adopting the electronic wallet system in their agriculture sector.

    The World Bank, African Development Bank and other global development finance institutions have put up over $2 billion in support of his bold initiatives.