The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Food

  • ‘Food insecurity may persist in the North’

    AN industrialist Dr  Hyke Ochia has warned that increased terrorism is capable of threatening food security.

    Speaking with The Nation, the  former President, Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the prevailing insecurity could lead to collapse in the region’s  food production.

    He said the insurgency has placed farmers where they struggle to be productive.

    Unless the government succeeds in checkmating the insurgency, Ochia said the prospects of addressing the situation are dim.

    He urged the government to  avoid  severe risks and increased damage that threaten human health, reduce labour productivity and strain electricity grids.

    As high price of food-grains continues to bother the common man, he urged  the government  to  accord topmost priority to contain food inflation through tough measures quickly.

    This will require making an adequate contingency plan to save the farm sector in deficient rainfall situation in the North as it affect the  supply side of food-grains.

    The  industrialist urged  the  government  to improve the supply side of various agro and agro-based products.

    He said  focus  should be on long pending irrigation projects ensuring optimal use of  water resources to prevent the recurrence of floods and drought.

    Ochia  implored  the  government to raise the level of their rice stocks to help stabilise prices and improve food security.

    According to him, one way to lower risks is to increase reserves. He explained that building larger reserves would help the region to use the stockpiles to cushion price shocks.

    He said residents need to have   access to adequate food from the market is not  expensive.

    Ochia called for the implementation of some innovative ideas which may not only increase farm production through use of technology but also by reclaiming ‘non-cultivable land’ in scientific manner under a national policy.

    This along with other measures will   increase investment in agri-infrastructure — like setting up specialised agri-rail networks for perishable farm products.

    According to him, massive irrigation projects at village level at the  North  will  help  agricultural  production.

    On the whole,  he  urged  the  government to  see implementation of some innovative ideas which may not only increase farm production through use of  technology but also by reclaiming ‘non-cultivable land’ in scientific manner under a national policy.

    Right now, there are reports of continued conflicts over land ownership in some areas, inadequate irrigation support, poor pricing, transport problems and climate change, he said.

    The consequences  is   grave  given the fact that farmers have so far struggled to make ends meet. To survive as well as be productive under the trying economic conditions, farmers are experimenting with various options.

  • Experts push for improved seeds to tackle food prices

    Improved seeds produced commercially to attain higher yields hold the key to resolving an imminent  food crisis, the Programme Coordinator,Farmers Development Union (FADU) Mr Victor Olowe  has said.

    He said government efforts  through the research institutes to bolster the development of improved  seeds  would  ease pressure on rising food  prices.

    Olowe said farmers need to be supported with adapted positive technologies that will improve the productivity, help crops to grow faster and produce higher yields.

    He said the government must take necessary steps to ensure that food quality and safety considerations form an integral part of food security systems.

    He said the use of these technologies could help manage issues of food security, food safety and environment.

    According him, post-harvest technology, storage, drying, food processing, can help food security and safety.

    The Director-General,Kaduna Business School Dr  Dahiru Sani  said  the  government has  retooled its policies to focus on agribusiness as a critical driver of future development.

    He said the foremost requirements is a substantive recovery and growth of the agricultural sector.  Such a development, according  to him  is essential for a meaningful recovery of the economy and a prerequisite to national wellbeing.

    After years of neglect, he  said  agriculture  has   seized  the attention of government and that  current efforts could have  a major impact on food security, at both household and country levels.

    The Agricultural Transformation Agenda,according to him, is an  incentive to produce more for the market, making more food available while also improving access to it, as poor farmers’ incomes increase.

  • Nigeria has no GMO food, says minister

    Nigeria has no GMO food, says minister

    The  Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, yesterday debunked the presence of Genetically Modified Organism, GMO, food in Nigeria.

    Adesina said this in Abuja when a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency,IAEA, led by the Deputy Director-General, Dr. Kwaku Anings, paid him a visit in his office.

    The minister said Nigeria was ready to partner the IAEA to boost food production.

    He allayed the fears of positive effects of using atomic energy to ensure food security and availability in the country.

    Adesina said: “We must never be afraid of atomic technology in food production. We want to raise productivity, good health and environmental sustainability. We must not listen to those who want to create fear in the minds of people on things they should not be scared about with half-baked knowledge.

    “We must not be afraid of science. We can use science to make our food safe and for the issue of food security. We must be aware that technology is the only way we can open up opportunities and we have to understand the risks and put good regulations in place to reduce those risks.

    “The fact remains that we have nothing in this country called GMO. People confuse modern day science to GMOs. People say hybrid maize is from GMO, but it is from conventional maize.

    “Our rice, wheat, cassava varieties are not GMOs. It is important we don’t confuse issues because we don’t have GMOs in NIgeria, but we use modern technology and will continue to use modern technology. “

    The minister said the IAEA should assist in training staff of the ministry for capacity building and also assured the delegate of the ministry’s commitment to the earlier signed agreement on technical cooperation which was from 2012-2017.

    Head of the IAEA’s delegation, Dr. Kwaku Aning, said the agency was not into GMO food production, but to fast track the yield of crops as it had done in countries like Tanzania, Vietnam and Kenya.

    “We do the same thing with those into GMO food. We speed up evolution and we don’t change the method. We speed up the evolution of the crop, maybe, which would have taken 50 years. We produce other species of the crop that will be drought and pest resistant.

    “We have developed species that are cold water resistant. In Vietnam and Bangladesh, they are using rice that is developed in our laboratory and is thriving in salt water. The potential of this technology is very large,” Aning said.

  • Boulos joins food and beverages market

    With two new products Frootzy (fruit juice) and Frootz (Fruit Nectar), the Boulos Group, a household name with diverse interests in automotive and paper conversion announced its entry into the food and beverage industry.

    Speaking at the launching of the two products which came with unique features and inviting colours, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Boulos Foods and Beverages, Mr. Boulos Boulos, said the company has always wanted to go into food production because of the huge business opportunities and the growing potential of the sector.

    He said the products are packaged in a fresh and distinct packaging that will differentiate them from others in the same category.

    According to him, while Frootzy has a modern hourglass shape, a built-in straw and a beautiful background picturing a Toucan grapping fruit flying over a green land, Frootz packaged in re-sealable cap sachets is a modern design with the objective to appeal to children while the hourglass-shape helps them to grip the package.

    He said the company intends to introduce a wide range of innovative and refreshing products into the market before the end of the year. Amongst them are; milk drinks, flavoured milk, evaporated milk, yoghurt drinks and malt drinks.

    Elaborating further on the products, the Senior Sales Manager, Boulos Foods and Beverages Limited, Mr, Vasilis Katsikakis, said the re-sealable sachet is to preserve the remaining content once the package has been opened. The packaging also enables the product to be positioned for display on any shelf at home, supermarkets and shops. “The sachet quality is extremely strong and durable and cannot be easily torn. Edges of the sachet are blunt and therefore cannot inflict injury on users or children. And the cork is a firm plastic and cannot be easily broken.  The sachet colour equally stands out and should be easily identified anywhere,” he said.

    Katsikakis said the two fruit drinks newly launched are products of innovations and are designed to be affordable adding that the company intends to back it up with consistency which is one of the values it is known for.

    “Having defined the targeted customers, knowing what they like, even their age bracket and income bracket and knowing exactly what they want, we were able to fashion production and production quality toward these targets and offer precisely what they require, giving people value for money.”

    The company (Group Boulos Nigeria) has been a major player in a variety of industries since 1936. With a vision of having a business that is unique, independent and vibrant in all ramifications, it comprises of four main companies with interests in automotive assembly through BEL Enterprises Ltd (Suzuki) motorcycles, Piaggio tricycles, Haojue motorcycles, waste paper recycling through BEL Papyrus Ltd; paper conversion through BEL Impex Ltd. Rose tissue paper, towel, napkins tyres and batteries distribution through GISS; Falken tyres and Varta batteries while the newest subsidiary is Boulos Foods and Beverages.

    The company’s values are based on leadership, integrity, dedication and quality service. One of their major strategies that guarantees brand loyalty is good quality products offerings which according to them, helps them stand above competition in their offerings to customers and with this, they have been able to build a strong distribution network.

  • ‘Erosion threatening food production’

    Safeguarding the soil is critical to food production to increase in Nigeria, the Soil Science Society of Nigeria has said.

    The group warned that more topsoil from farms and forests are being washed away by wind and rain yearly, jeopardising efforts to increase food production.

    Arising from its 38th Annual Conference in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, the society said soil erosion is reducing the quantity of food grown and increasing the risk of flooding. With the loss of soil, approximately 24 billion tones of food is lost yearly by wind and water erosion. The society said appropriate legislation is required for the regulation of land use and planning, proper land utilisation and soil management and exploitation. The society said the adverse effect of wind and water erosion is being felt in all agro-ecologies of the country.

    In a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, the society said farmlands are being lost at an accelerating rate, adding that agricultural land has become less fertile. If these problems are addressed, the society noted that food production would be boosted. The society therefore, called on government to pay more attention to the soil and learn from how soil restoration measures have helped to increase crop yields.

    The society maintained that soil and land resources are vital to the achievement of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, food security and job creation initiatives, but lamented the non-involvement of soil scientists in erosion control programmes, as well as poor use of soil information among farmers in the farms visited.

    The society urged the government to address the absence of a land use policy to guide utilisation and management of lands/soils as well as enact appropriate legislation to regulate land use planning, utilisation and soil management and their exploitation.

    The society urged the National Assembly to consider the approval of the Nigerian Soil Science Institute Bill to address the soil resources management problems of the country, advance the education, science, technology and art of soil science to promote soil quality management, enhance agricultural production and environmental integrity.

     

  • FOOD, KEY TO NATIONAL SECURITY

    FOOD, KEY TO NATIONAL SECURITY

    One of the greatest challenges to our country’s general wellbeing, as shown by the recent ill-fated Nigerian Immigration Service’s employment fiasco, is youth unemployment. Many have appropriately described it as a time bomb. Clearly, the greatest tragic consequence of unemployment is hunger. And as the cliché goes, a hungry man is an angry man. In local parlance, we say, man must wak. So, unless something is urgently done about unemployment, especially at the youth level, our country is staring at its own Armageddon. Discussing this national emergency with a friend, who has invested in chicken farming, he lectured me on the immense potentials and challenges of that sector.

    According to him, if only the Ministry for Agriculture, the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture and other key interest groups could put their thinking cap, that sector is enough to dwarf the touted 1.5 million employments that the present federal government claims to have generated. My friend gave a clinical comparison of the chicken value chain in a country like Brazil and compared it with his practical experience in Nigeria. From his analysis, while there is standardization in the production chain of chicken in developed countries, the reverse is the case in Nigeria. He gave a practical example, that while the drum-stick eaten in restaurants across cities of Europe and America are substantially similar, you find different sizes, and of course lower quality, in the ones eaten in Nigeria. He said that the landing cost of an imported chicken parts, is about half of the cost of the locally produced, despite the added cost of transport. He ticked off the extra costs that make local production uncompetitive, and proffered solutions to those challenges.

    No doubt, I was impressed with his analysis of the challenges and potentials of an improved chicken value chain, and I told him so. In fact, I told my friend that he has a patriotic responsibility to our country seething in angst of youth unemployment and the nihilistic insurgency, to share his ideas with the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, and possibly other key drivers of the agricultural sector. Well, that is if the Honourable Minister is not already satiated with his well advertised, but truly impressive award as Forbes African Person of the Year? But why should he, considering that President Jonathan’s administration is faced with perhaps the greatest security challenge in the history of our country, since our last unfortunate civil war.

    As a matter of fact, there is little doubt that the greatest inducement to the armed challenge that our country is facing in the North Eastern states and increasingly now in the Middle Belt states is poverty. The poverty index in the affected states is abysmally higher than the equally high poverty index in other parts of the country. This critical state of affairs is daily made worse by the exponential youth unemployment, from where the armed bearing militants are easily recruited. And according to the Honourable Minister who has shown impressive excitement in the discharge of his duties, despite criticism from the press, agriculture is the key to the unemployment challenges facing our country, and I add, the Boko Haram insurgency in the North East and the menace of the Fulani herdsmen in the North Central

    The United Nations, World Bank and other multinational development agencies have confirmed inexorably the connection between poverty and insurgency. In a recent interview with this paper, the Bornu state Governor, Kashima Shetima was sport on this connection, when he said: “there is a lot of correlation between the poverty that has engulfed the North Eastern region of Nigeria and the Boko Haram insurgency. Because the World Bank described the Northeast portion of Nigeria, the Republic of Chad, the Republic of Niger, and the Darfur region of Sudan as one of the poorest places on Earth. Hence the emergence of militant organizations like the Janjaweed militia and the Boko Haram in the Northeastern region. And I believe once we engage the youths, once we create jobs, this madness, this nihilism will evaporate”.

    Those who try to play down this connection are merely playing the ostrich. And unless we act very urgently, the entire country may soon be engulfed in an insurrection by the youths, whose patrimony has been criminally wasted by decades of irresponsible leadership. Of course, the quickest and the only realistic way to go, is agriculture. Otherwise we will continue to suffer our country’s peculiar contradictions of national economic growth, without corresponding impact on the populace. Indeed, according to Goldman Sachs, Nigeria ranks amongst the next 11 emerging markets group, even when it also acknowledges that about 100 million of its population is living on less that $1.25 a day. Also, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, 60.9 percent of Nigerians in 2010 were living in absolute poverty, up from 54.7 percent in 2004. This staggering increase in the poor, regrettably amidst ‘plenty’, may explain the unlimited supply of canon fodders to the Boko Haram madness.

    Speaking to a Financial Times Publications Limited publication, Dr. Adesina put his enthusiasm in historic perspective thus: “We were not looking at Agriculture through the right lens. We were looking at Agriculture as a development activity, like a social sector, in which you manage poor people in rural areas. But Agriculture is not a social sector. Agriculture is business. Seed is business, fertilizer is business, storage, value added, logistics and transport – it is all about business.” He added that “Agriculture is the future of Nigeria”. After listening to my friend, speak on the potentials of the chicken business and how and why the stakeholders must come together to improve the value chain, I have become an enthusiast.

     

  • UN gets report on broken food systems

    The United Nations Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur, Olivier De Schutter has warned that food systems are efficient only from the point of view of maximising agribusiness profits and must be radically and democratically redesigned.

    He spoke at the presentation of his final report to the UN after a six-year term.

    He said: “At the local, national and international levels, the policy environment must urgently accommodate alternative, democratically-mandated visions.

    “Objectives such as supplying diverse, culturally-acceptable foods to communities, supporting smallholders, sustaining soil and water resources, and raising food security within particularly vulnerable areas, must not be crowded out by the one-dimensional quest to produce more food,” De Schutter said.

    “Of course, significant progress has been achieved in boosting agricultural production. But this has hardly reduced the number of hungry people,” he said.

    The report highlights the importance of demand-side issues. It suggests mitigating the negative impacts of industrial production by discouraging the increase in demand for meat, encouraging methods such as rethinking taxes and subsidies to “discourage the most polluting modes of production and to encourage the shift from ruminants to poutry for a more efficient conversion of cereals into meat protein” or improving land and manure management.

    It also stresses the need to improve the efficiency of food systems by reducing waste and loss, which has been estimated at about one third of the total produced for human consumption.

     

     

     

    “In low income countries, losses occur primarily as a result of inadequate storage and packaging and processing facilities, and a poor connection of farmers to markets, resulting in economic losses for food producers. In contrast, the levels of per capita food waste are much higher in rich countries than in developing countries: while a consumer in subSaharan Africa or South and South-East Asia wastes from 6 to 11 kg per year, this amount is between 95 and 115 kg per year in Europe and North America. These inefficiencies result in food production exerting a much higher pressure on natural resources than would otherwise occur.”

    To combat this issue, measures such as improved storage facilities, assistance to farmers to help them organize in a way that avoids overproduction, avoiding reliance of foods that meet a certain quality of appearance, and developing direct farmer-to-consumer marketing.

    With regards to seeds, the report states, “”Guaranteeing food security in the future requires that we support crop genetic diversity, including agrobiodiversity (…) States should : Not allow patents on plants and establish research exemptions in legislation protecting plant breeders’ rights; ensure that their seed regulations (seed certification schemes) do not lead to an exclusion of farmers’ varieties; and support and scale up local seed exchange systems such as community seed banks and seed fairs, and community registers of peasant varieties.”

    The expert argued that food democracy should “start from the bottom-up, at the level of villages, regions, cities, and municipalities” and that a system that secures smallholder farmers ability to thrive is required for food security. “Respect for their access to productive resources is key in this regard.”

    Mr. De Schutter emphasized the need for reforms tailored to local and regional needs. “By 2050 more than 6 billion people – more than two in three – will live in cities. It is vital that these cities identify logistical challenges and pressure points in their food supply chains, and develop a variety of channels to procure their food, in line with the wishes, needs and ideas of their inhabitants.”

    He argued that for developing countries to successfully improve their food security, parallel reforms would be needed in the ‘global north’, where the farming sector has become heavily dependent on subsidies; wealthier countries must shift from agricultural policies focused on exports to allow small-scale farmers in developing countries to supply their local markets. “They must also restrain their expanding claims on global farmland by reining in the demand for animal feed and agrofuels, and by reducing food waste.” The expansion of trade, he agrued, has resulted in “luxury tastes of the richest parts of the world being allowed to compete against the satisfaction of the basic needs of the poor.”

     

  • Foundation’s free medicare, food for community

    Foundation’s free medicare, food for community

    A non-governmental organisation (NGO), Joseph Amuta Adeyi Foundation (JAAF),has provided free healthcare services to the residents of Jahi community populated by Gbagi and Gwari people. The

    community is one of the many slums within the heart of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It has over 400,000 people.

    However, in spite of being close to the seat of power, the community is an irony of what Abuja should be known for in terms of provision of basic amenities. The features of the settlement are such that give first-time visitors the impression of a people long abandoned to their fate.

    The community, which is sandwiched between highbrow Ministers’ Hill in Maitama and Gwarinpa can only be accessed through  a narrow and dusty road. To a first-time visitor to the community, the picture of Jahi is that of desolation. The forlorn atmosphere witnessed on getting to the community gradually transforms into a beehive of activities as one gets to the community. Within the community, people burble as they go about their business activities. Wares displayed in most of the shops are mostly food items, clothes, shoes, handbags, electronics and firewood.

    The settlement, like other slums in the FCT, is characterised by the multiple shanties and glowing waste water which is ever running even in the dry season.

    Cars are parked haphazardly. People, cars motorcycles and hand drawn water carts mingle freely. Ironically, the community is already being fenced-in by beautiful high-rise edifices owned by top government functionaries, politicians, businessmen and big time contractors who have secured land allocations in the area.

    A cursory look around the settlement reveals that only two blocks of classrooms, with one malfunctional borehole, are the only mark that signals government’s presence  in the community of over 400,000 inhabitants.

    However, given the numerous beautiful houses which have formed a shield for the slum, it becomes a paradox of existence that such life of squalor, complicated by long period of utter government neglect, goes on silently within the area without the FCT authorities siting any basic amenities.

    It was further learnt that a lot of pregnant women die in the process of delivery because the only health centre in the town lacks equipment and personnel to handle emergencies resulting from complications during labour. It was also revealed that maternal mortality is on the increase due to unprofessional and local methods employed by local midwives during labour.

    Investigations by Abuja Review also revealed that a lot of women have lost their lives while being conveyed to the hospital during emergency cases arising from prolonged labour.

    In addition, it was discovered that a good number of women prefer hiring the services of of the native midwives, to going to hospitals in the town due to the distance that they would trek before they get vehicles that would convey them to the town.

    The Chief  of Jahi community,  Salihu Adamu, told Abuja Review that lack of  motorable road and good means of transportation in the community contribute to the death of several women during childbirth. Adamu also blamed the several deaths on poverty, saying that most of the locals prefer to patronise local midwives because they cannot afford high medical fees which both private and government hospitals located in the city centre charge.

    Chief Adamu, who spoke when a medical mission organised by the Joseph Amuta Adeyi Foundation (JAAF), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), provided free healthcare services to the people of the community.

    He urged the FCT Administration to come to the people’s aid.

    “Health is life, that is the most important thing,” Adamu said, adding, “our women die because we don’t have  a health centre here in the community. This community has over 400,000 people. If government can provide one health centre, it will help us.”

    He called on the government to help sink functional boreholes in the community since the river which is their primary source of water is not only unhygienic but dries up during the dry season.

    The Chief  praised JAAF for the drugs and health services which it freely donated and provided  for the members of the community.

    One of the women in the community, who identified herself as Salmatu Halisu, recounted how she lost her baby during delivery, saying the hospitals are far from the community.

    On why women in the community do not patronise the hospitals in the town for them to be delivered of their babies, she said when a pregnant woman is in labour at night, there is little she could do than to call in the local midwives.

    Even though she argued that the native midwives are experts who have been assisting expectant mothers in the community for many years, she admitted that several lives, including those of babies and their mothers, have been lost in the process.

    The founder of JAAF, Albert Adeyi, told Abuja Review that the foundation decided to assist the community in their little way because of their pathetic condition.

    Adeyi, an engineer, said the medical mission was in the community to conduct medical examinations, treatments to those in need and to provide free drugs.

    He said the NGO also distributed free drugs and food items worth millions of Naira to the people. He said the gesture was meant to alleviate the health challenges confronting the people of Jahi.

    He stated that about 100 adults, including men and women,  were examined for high blood pressure and provided them with medications while over 500 children were de-wormed.

    He said a sub-group in the foundation, whose duty it is to go round Abuja and identify communities with such challenges, located Jahi community, hence they stepped in to lend a helping hand.

    Adeyi  expressed shock that the community, despite being so close to the seat of the Federal Government, has no single healthcare facility.

    He urged good-pirited Nigerians to locate such communities in their areas and extend health and other essential  services to them.

    He further explained that the mission of the foundation was to assist the less-privileged in areas of education, skill acquisition and health services.

    Adeyi stated that the gesture was part of the foundation’s contributions to the development of the society and humanity and not for any material or political consideration, adding “as an engineer, I am called to be a pastor and not a politician.”

    He said JAAF was established as a result of his desire to give back to the society, in fulfilment of a promise and commitment he made to God. He also said he was able to achieve the mission by setting aside a percentage of his income monthly.

  • Petrol, food imports cut external reserves to $43b

    The foreign reserves fell to $43.5 billion as at January 2, as petroleum and food imports soared. The reserves, which stood at $45.4 billion last September 30, have maintained a steady fall in recent months.

    The level of Nigeria’s external reserves fell to a low of $43.63 billion last December 30. This is the lowest level since November, 2012 and a decline of 10.7 per cent from 2013’s Year to Date peak of $48.86 billion.

    The continuous use of the external buffers to support the value of the naira, declining oil receipts are among the contributing factors to the depletion. However, this level of reserves is sufficient to fund an import bill of approximately seven months.

    With over 50 per cent of foreign exchange utilised for the importation of fuel and food, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said policy should focus on a comprehensive backward integration production strategy, while fast-tracking the repair of the existing refineries.

    As at October 10, the reserves were at $45.3 billion, as against $46 billion on September 19, and $47 billion on August 19, data from the CBN website showed.

    Further findings showed that the reserves were at $47.7 billion on July 1, and dropped to $47 billion on July 15. They also entered August 1 at $47 billion. The foreign currency reserves had five year ago, in August 2008, peaked at $68 billion before the global financial crises impacted negatively on it.

    Chief Operating Officer, Citi Bank Nigeria, Akin Dawodu said the reserves are assets held by the CBN and monetary authorities, mostly in dollar to back their liabilities, such as the naira.

    He explained that manipulating reserves levels can enable CBN intervene against volatile fluctuations in currency by affecting the exchange rate and increasing the demand for the naira. “Reserves act as shock absorber against factors that can negatively affect a country’s exchange rates and, therefore the CBN uses the reserves to maintain a steady rate,” he explained during training for financial journalists in Lagos.

    Analysis of foreign exchange utilised by sectors revealed that $7.83 billion was expended on the importation of visible goods into the country in the second quarter as against $6.63 billion and $7.74 billion in first quarter and second quarter of 2012.

    Also, large part of the reserves were utilised in the importation of oil, industrial, food and manufactured products in the ratio of 30.3, 28.0, 20.4 and 13.3 per cent of the total.

    Further analysis revealed that a total of $8.70 billion or 52.6 per cent of total foreign exchange was used for services as against $3.78 billion in first quarter. Of this amount, financial services (banking and other financial services, asset management and money transmission) constituted the bulk, $7.78 billion or 89.3 per cent of total, while the balance was accounted for by transportation, communications, business and other services.

     

  • Awka North as food basket

    Awka North as food basket

    During the 46th annual meeting of National Committee of Heads of Colleges of Agriculture and Related Disciplines (NACHCARD), which was held in the Anambra State College of Agriculture, Mgbakwu in Awka North Local Government Area, the participants, among other things, reviewed the success and challenges of the nation’s agricultural industry.

    However, the forum, which observed the importance of agriculture and its immense benefits to the nation’s economy, took a note that the country’s food industry has not fared better in recent times.

    Dr Balarabe Magaji Jahun, Provost of College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, Kaduna State, who was part of the meeting, regretted that despite the enormous resources in the country, Nigeria is still importing agricultural produce, a development affecting the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) negatively.

    He was quoted as saying: “We import about N2 billion worth of rice every day in this country. Our agricultural imports are worth about $11 billion yearly. God has given us everything we need to stop importation of agricultural produce and products in this country. We have the requirements to stop importation. And half of the importations of agricultural products stand at about 40 per cent of our GDP.

    Should we continue like this?”

    Another participant, Dr Paul Nwadukwe, regretted that Nigeria had not faired any better, noting that our agricultural sector had declined rapidly. He stressed that if urgent attention was not taken to arrest the situation, the country could experience massive starvation.

    Certainly, one does not need to be told that the forum was not happy with the lukewarm attitude of the Federal Government towards the very important sector of the economy. A critical study of agricultural development in Nigeria’s geopolitical zones shows that each zone has something peculiar about it.

    For instance, the North still maintains its groundnuts, beans and cattle production. The East can boast of having palm fruits, rice and others while the West specialises in cocoa farming. At the lower level, there is no place in the country that subsistence agriculture is not practiced. And this is where the state governments, with the support of the Federal Government, should give adequate attention, at least, if not for any other thing to reduce hunger which is currently ravaging greater population of Nigeria.

    There are numerous ways to achieve this. Looking at the local councils, it would be discovered that there are some of them faring better in agriculture. Their influence in the state economy would be glaringly indispensable. Certainly, when the agricultural potentials of these areas are harnessed, it would not only reduce hunger in and around the locality, but it would also reflect in the country’s economy. Employment opportunity would equally be opened for the energetic and enterprising youths, thereby reducing crime in the process.

    One of such areas endowed in agricultural potentials is Awka-North Local Government Area. In terms of land mass, the council has got a chunk of fertile land with adequate manpower for every productive task. Stories about the council need not be told much as the area has carved a niche for itself. There is no household in Anambra State (and possibly beyond) that food crops produced in Awka-North do not reach.

    Yes! They are farmers and one should be proud to belong to the set of people who feed the nation. In the United States, a few farmers that produce food for Americans have a special place in their heart because without them, the country may lose grip of the position its occupies in the world.

    Aside the food crops, some of the communities have natural ponds that produce about 33 per cent of fresh water fish being eaten in the state. Amanuke community alone has about 3,021 large ponds. The neighbouring community of Ugbene which has Ezu River, while Ebenebe, Amansea, Awba-Ofemmili, Ugbenu all have ponds including large rivers.

    There are too may benefits which can be gotten from Awka North. Little wonder the state government moved its College of Agriculture to the area, perhaps, for it to help train agricultural extension workers that would assist the zone in that regard. The government has been working to ensure that the school is equipped to serve not only the need of the zone but the state.

    In the words of Dr. Foluke Oluwatoyinbo, the chairperson of NACHCARD, who visibly was amazed at what Governor Peter Obi is doing in the school, said: “We are highly impressed by what the Anambra State Government is investing in this place. And we want them to know that it is an investment that is worth it because it’s going to yield fruits.”

    Certainly, it would yield fruits if the management of the school wants it to. It is equally laudable that the governor has brought the Songhai farms at Urum community. Aside the benevolence of the governor, more could be done to harness in its totality the agricultural potentials of Awka-North. The Federal Government can also utilise the opportunities offered by this council.

    Small scale agro-allied companies can be built. Fertilisers should be made available to the farmers while low-interest loan should be made available to the interested farmers. Agricultural extension workers should be sent to educate the farmers, while quality seedlings should be made available to them. International Agencies which are interested in agriculture should find their ways to this zone. If these and more are done, the agricultural potentials of Awka-North Local Government area can be harnessed for the good of all.

     

    •Mmduka is a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka