LCCI, AFAN to Partner Foreign Investors On Agriculture

Lagos State Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) are to collaborate with foreign investors in capacity building and agriculture finance in Nigeria. 

 

 The Chairman of AFAN, Lagos State chapter, Otunba Femi Oke made the statement in Lagos during the meeting of farmers and group of foreign investors in Lagos.  Oke who commended the experts from Kiwi International INC. expressed optimism that the relationship would translate into the development of agriculture in Nigeria.

 “I met with the group during a meeting in Accra Ghana and they agreed to come to Nigeria and see things for themselves with the possibility of collaborating with farmers for better results,” he said.  

In his opening remark, Chairman LCCI agric section, Mr. Adeola Elliot, solicited the support of the group in capacity building and finance.

 Elliot told the group that the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has promised to give priority to the development of agriculture in the country and solicited their support. 

“It is true that agriculture has been neglected by past administrations in the country, but I believe with the new man in the saddle, things would turn for better,” he said.  

The team led by Michael Corkrum, Director of Operations, Kiwi International visited some fish farms in Epe and Ikorodu local government areas before leaving for US.

Ogbeh Hails Adesina, Make Case For Youths In Agriculture

Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has thanked the immediate past Minister of Agriculture, now President of the African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, for laying a very solid foundation in the agricultural sector.
The Minister disclosed this when he received a delegation of the African Development Bank (AfDB) led by the institution’s Vice President in charge of Agriculture and Water, Mr. Aly Abou-Saba, on Friday also promised to deepen and widen the sector, saying the level of poverty in the rural villages is unacceptable.

Ogbeh said the government will take steps to avoid any bleak future through better nutrition for the children saying 27% of Nigerian children are malnourished. He emphasized the need to mechanise agriculture so as to be attractive to the youths and to improve seed quality.

He, however, solicited the support of the bank in its expansion programme and equally urged them to bring in interventions in critical sectors of Agriculture. He said Nigeria needs AFDB support to curb desertification and increase grazing pasture to reduce clashes between farmers and cattle rearers, as well improve wheat and milk production.
Also, the minister has restated the need to bring in younger crop of people into agriculture to make the sector viable.

He made this known when he received the Australian High Commissioner in Nigeria, H.E Jonathan Richardson, in the ministry .

Speaking on his desire to make agriculture more attractive to the youths, Ogbeh said, “A large population of the youth in agriculture is an asset to production”.

The Minister, who recognized Australia as one of the biggest players in livestock and animal production, sought for more areas of co-operation between Nigeria and the country. He identified the training of young people in agriculture, the need to engage students in more practical agriculture and involvement of agricultural institutes in more research and production as a better way of repositioning the agricultural sector in Nigeria.
 
Ogbeh, expressed the need to improve cattle breeding and milk production in Nigeria, so as to improve the mental health of Nigerian children. He said Nigeria would improve wheat production capacity to reduce importation and assured the High Commissioner of Nigeria’s readiness to co-operate with Australia.

The Australian High Commissioner, H.E Jonathan Richardson, said Australia had offered post-graduate scholarships in the past to Nigerian students in specialized areas of agriculture like Post-Harvest management, saying over 44 persons had benefitted.

Richardson said Australia had the technical expertise in wheat production and was in the ministry to discuss the new areas of co-operation.

Nigerian Women Farmers Seek Domestication Of 2005 Maputo Declaration

Women Farmers in Nigeria under the auspices of Women in Agriculture (Kogi), have called on Federal Government and states to implement the 2005 Maputo Declaration.

According to them, the declaration recommends that 10 per cent of annual budgets of the governments should go to agriculture sector.

In a communiqué issued at the end of their 2015 Annual Women Farmers Forum on Saturday in Lokoja, the women urged governments to muster enough political will to implement agricultural policies and programmes.

The programme was organised by ActionAid Nigeria in collaboration with Kogi-based Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development and Small Scale Women Farmers Organisation of Nigeria.

The communiqué, signed by Mrs Ketim Ocheja, noted that many policies and programmes that would have positively impacted on agricultural production were ignored due to lack of political will.

“Ten years after signing the Maputo Declaration Commitment on Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, Nigeria and Kogi have continued to fall short of committing the minimum 10 per cent of their budgets to agriculture.

“There are many policies and programmes for agricultural development but the political will needed for their implementation is low,’’ they said in the communiqué.

They, therefore, urged the government to develop policy priorities that would put women farmers at the forefront of agricultural policies and programmes.

They called for the review of existing land policy with emphasis on women ownership of land and to also regulate private sector involvement in agriculture.

They also called for continued government support for small scale farmers’ development programmes and capacity building.

Agriculture is now to be treated as a business -Ganduje

Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje

Speaking during the flag-off of the 2015 dry season wheat and rice farming in Kura, Kano State, on Tuesday 24^th, 2015, the Executive Governor of Kano State, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje said that agriculture should now be treated as a business, and not just a means for managing poverty.

“We urgently need an approach to improve agricultural production, with sound agricultural policies to back it up,” he said, promising to help farmers improve productivity, and adding that the state is trying to transform agriculture into viable economic activities.

He also announced that the state’s wheat farming programme has registered 18,200 farmers as part of the attention given to it by the government.

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, during the event decried the huge sum of money spent on food importation, faulting the N1.3 trillion annually expended on the importation of assorted food commodities into the country.

Dr. Gbenga Olabanji, Executive Director of Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) having the national mandate for the genetic development of wheat, noted that Nigeria has the potential for wheat production, and is able to produce wheat yielding 8 tons per hectare. He added that Nigeria has 600,000 hectares of land that is good for wheat production

India may not secure food security deal at WTO Nairobi meet

farmers

US, EU, Australia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Pakistan effectively rejected a draft decision aimed at exempting programmes for supporting millions of resource-poor farmers from any subsidy limit.

India is unlikely to secure a permanent solution for public stockholding programmes for food security at the World Trade Organization’s Nairobi ministerial next month, after the US, the European Union (EU), Australia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Pakistan effectively rejected a draft decision aimed at exempting programmes for supporting millions of resource-poor farmers from any subsidy limits.

On Wednesday, the US, the EU, Australia, Brazil, Paraguay and Pakistan said the draft ministerial decision for a permanent solution being tabled by India along with its allies in the G-33 farm coalition would distort global farm trade because of exemptions for such programmes from subsidy discipline.

The G-33 farm coalition led by Indonesia, in which China, India, the Philippines, Korea, Turkey, Kenya and 40 other countries are members, has demanded two deliverables at the Nairobi ministerial beginning on December 15—a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) for protecting poor farmers from sudden surges in imports of farm products supplied by heavily-subsidized countries and exemption from subsidy reduction commitments for public stockholding programmes.

The US, the EU, Australia, and Brazil blocked the G-33’s SSM proposal on Tuesday. But, on the permanent solution for public stockholding programmes, the US, the EU, Australia, Brazil, Paraguay and Pakistan adopted a different strategy

On Wednesday, the chair for Doha agriculture negotiations Vangelis Vitalis convened a closed-door meeting to discuss the G-33 draft ministerial decision on the permanent solution. Participants invited to the meeting included the US, the EU, Australia, Brazil, Paraguay, Indonesia, China, India, the Philippines and Nigeria.
Indonesia explained the central features of the four-page draft decision, which calls for amending the WTO’s agreement on agriculture by inserting a new annex six to cover the domestic subsidies underpinning the public stockholding for food security purposes.

The decision says programmes for the acquisition of foodstuff at administered prices by developing and poorest countries “with the objective of supporting low-income or resource-poor producers,” and for subsequent distribution at subsidized prices with the objective of meeting food security requirements shall be exempted from subsidy reduction commitments.

Some countries, said India, spoke about “unintended consequences” but have not given any suggestions on how they can be addressed, according to participants familiar with the meeting.

India asked the opponents whether they are rejecting the G-33 proposal for a permanent solution on the ground that the interim solution is adequate and doesn’t require a change, said a participant, who asked not to be quoted.

In response, the EU said: “We are not rejecting the G-33 proposal but in the current form it cannot be accepted,” the person said.

Australia expressed serious doubts about the draft decision and whether it would properly address the “unintended consequences” such as the leakages from public stocks into the international market. The G-33 proposal, Australia said, will create another “green box”, implying another major exemption for programmes that do not have to be accounted for in subsidy reduction commitments.

The EU maintained that it wants to engage constructively in finding a permament solution. But the real deadline for finding the permanent solution is the eleventh ministerial conference in end-2017, and not the Nairobi ministerial, the EU argued.

At the Bali ministerial, trade ministers set a deadline for finding the permanent solution by end-2017, at the eleventh ministerial meeting while members at the General Council had mandated concerted efforts to resolve this issues by 31 December.

The EU suggested that the General Council’s decision last year is less important than what ministers had decided at the Bali ministerial meeting in 2013. Further, the best option for the G-33 countries is to start implementing the interim solution as worked out at the Bali ministerial in December, 2013, instead of pressing for a permanent solution, the EU maintained.

The US said it remains committed to public stockholding discussion but the latest G-33 proposal doesn’t change the substance of retaining such programmes in the green box, according to participants familiar with the meeting.

More pointedly, the US said that “amending the AoA [agreement on agriculture] is not the right way.”
Pakistan supported the EU by saying that the Bali decision struck the right balance and that the public stockholding programmes will lead to unsustainable production as well as undermine reform of global farm trade.

Brazil said it is seriously concerned about the “unintended consequences” which the proponents have not addressed in the draft decision. Paraguay said the G-33 proposal calls for a huge carve out by exempting food security programmes from subsidy discipline.

China asked the opponents to engage constructively by suggesting what needs to be done if there is a problem of placing the public distribution programmes in the green box disciplines which are exempted from reduction commitments.

India dismissed the concerns raised by Australia, the EU, Australia and Brazil saying that those talking about farm trade reforms are silent about the huge subsidies provided by a few major industrialized countries. India challenged the EU’s interpretation of last year’s general council decision to arrive at a permanent solution by the tenth ministerial meeting. It said the General Council decision last year during the inter-ministerial conferences is hierarchically on the same footing as decisions taken by trade ministers.

IITA wins Outstanding Research Institute Award

IITA

The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has received the Outstanding Research Institute award from the Nigeria-based Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL).

IITA was honored for its sterling leadership in agricultural research in Nigeria in particular, and sub Saharan Africa in general.

In a letter to the Director General, IITA, Dr Nteranya Sanginga; the Chief Executive Officer of CVL and copied to the GNA, Professor Pat Utomi wrote: 'I write to appreciate IITA for its laudable contributions towards economic growth in Nigeria and also inform you that the CVL team has specifically selected your organization as one of the honorees at the upcoming CVL Agriculture Sector celebration.

Your recognition is under the Category of Outstanding Research Institute (i.e. a prestigious recognition given to research institutes for their valuable contribution through research, publications, trainings, and advocacy)

Receiving the award, Dr Sanginga dedicated the prize to African farmers especially women, who in spite of all odds, have remained a pillar of food security on the continent.

'We are proud of this honor and it demands that we do more to lift more people out of poverty,' Dr Sanginga who was represented by Dr Gbassey Tarawali, Head of IITA Abuja Station, said.

Since assumption of office, Dr Sanginga embarked on a radical transformation of the Institute with a vision of bringing 11 million people out of poverty, and reclaiming 7.5 million hectares of degraded land and putting that back into sustainable use.

The Institute's strategy emphasizes generating research outputs and having impacts on farm level. Consequently, IITA became a major player under Nigeria's Agricultural Transformation, playing a critical role in crop improvement, and value addition.

CVL estimates that Nigeria's agricultural sector, which comprises crop production, livestock, forestry, and fishing contributed 26.63 per cent in real terms to the nation's Gross Domestic Product as at the third quarter of 2014, as against 20.89 per cent in second quarter of the same year.

Prof Utomi said: 'We are also aware that Nigeria was declared the biggest economy in Africa and one of the 11 global growth generators last year by The Economist in April 2014.

This rapid growth has been accounted for based on the contributions of key sectors (particularly non-oil sectors) of the economy.

To further sustain this status, the CVL Economic Growth Sector Celebration Series was initiated to continually identify, honor and celebrate outstanding sectors that have immensely added value in a particular year.

The high profile event attracted top executives and entrepreneurs showcasing the immense contributions of the agricultural sector to Nigeria's economic growth and making them serve as exemplars to other sectors.

IITA’s Cassava Weed Management Project Signs MoU With SON

IITA Cassava Weed Management Project

The Cassava Weed Management Project, managed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON).

This is contained in a statement signed by the IITA Communications Officer, Mr Godwin Atser, and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Ibadan.

According to IITA, the MoU is to foster cooperation for the development and implementation of collaborative programmes, while highlighting the framework for partnership between both organizations.

Areas covered in the MoU include the exchange of scientific information and development of specific cooperative programmes and projects, especially in the areas of standardization.

The Weed Management Project Leader, Dr Alfred Dixon, described the signing of the MoU as a remarkable milestone in the efforts to address the problem of weeds in cassava farms in Nigeria.

“The weed challenge is a huge task and we need all hands to be on deck to solve this problem.
“The IITA Cassava Weed Management Project is employing the use of best-bet agronomic practices, mechanical weed control options, use of environmentally friendly herbicides, and the integration of the three options to control weeds.

“So far, the project has procured and is adapting mechanical weeders in collaboration with Nigerian engineers.

“Once completed, local fabricators will be trained on the fabrication of these weeders for onward dissemination to farmers,’’ Dixon was quoted as saying. (NAN)

Director Urges FCT Farmers To Form Cooperatives

maize farm

Mr Salami Abdullahi, Deputy Director, FCT Agricultural Development Project (ADP), has called on farmers in the territory to form cooperatives to enhance access to finance and input delivery services.

He made the call on Thursday in Gwagwalada at a stakeholders’ workshop on the Implementation Strategy for Community Business Net (CBNet).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop was organised by the FCT ADP in collaboration with Agricnat Consult Limited.

Abdullahi said that CBNet was intended to enlighten farmers on the fact that agriculture was a business and should not be seen as avenue for them to be assisted by the government.

“We encourage them to form cooperatives and farmers’ groups to enable them have their internal self help mechanism.

“This is important because it helps in the process of identification and being able to interface effectively with each other.

“It can also help to scale up their productivity and key into the processes they created for themselves in areas of finance and input delivery services,” he said.

Abdullahi said the essence was to create a platform to mentor the farmers on the business aspect of agriculture.

He added that the idea was to create a market place for interchange of technology and services with the farmers to enhance their productivity.
 
“Over the years the banks have developed phobia in lending to farmers because the recovery or the payment system is low and expensive because of the disperse nature of the farmers.

“We want to use this system to create that confidence because we have a one-stop shop to enable them have confidence that somebody is there who knows exactly which farmer is getting what.
Mr Phinehas Uankhoba, a participant at the workshop, called on the government to develop deliberate programme and policies to attract youths to agriculture.

He also called on the government to re-direct its investment in commercial banks for agricultural purposes to Agricultural Banks where agricultural proposals and investments could easily be understood. (NAN)

Minister Assures Nigerians Of Wheat Production Increase, Import Reduction

Chief Audu Ogbeh

The minister of agriculture and rural development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has decried the huge sums of money spent on food importation.

Speaking on Tuesday in Kura, Kano State, during the flag-off of the 2015 dry season wheat and rice production in the state, Chief Ogbe faulted the N1.3 trillion annually expended on importation of assorted food commodities into the country.

Also speaking at the occasion, the state governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, promised to help the farmers improve productivity and objected to the idea of continuing to use agriculture to manage poverty.
“In Kano State, agriculture is now to be treated as a business,” he said, adding that the state is trying to transform agriculture into viable economic activities.

Ganduje said, “We urgently need an approach to improve agricultural production, with sound agricultural policies to back it up.”

He announced that the state’s wheat farming programme has registered 18,200 farmers as part of the priority attention given it by his government.

Dr. Gbenga Olabanji, executive director of Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI) having the national mandate for genetic development of wheat, noted that Nigeria has the potential for wheat production and is able to produce wheat yielding 8 tons per hectare. He said Nigeria has 600,000 hectares of land that is good for wheat production.

“The production capacity has increased from 1 to 2 tons per hectare to 5 to 6 tons per hectare through improved varieties.

Adamawa Farmers Demands Disbursement Of N2bn Agric Loan

farmland

Adamawa State farmers yesterday demanded the disbursement of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) N2bilion agricultural loan which the state government procured since 2014.

Spokesman of the farmers, Mallam Abdulmumini Hussaini noted that the loan has since 2014 when it was procured, been lying low in government accounts while the farmers who ought to benefit from it are living in penury.

He said, “ We had to petition the state assembly over the withholding of the fund by the last administration of Governor Bala Ngilari.

“A committee was set up by the then house which discovered that about N700 million of the money was used by the administration to buy foodstuffs for Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) leaving behind the sum of N1.3 billion for the present administration”, Hussaini said.

Hussaini noted that following the non release of the remaining N1.3 billion to them, they booked an appointment with the incumbent governor and lay their complaint following which the governor directed them to the ministry of agriculture.

He explained that when they visited the commissioner of agriculture, they were told that out of the money, only N210 million was available for disbursement to farmers.

NCF, Oxfam train farmers on climate change adaptation

Nigerian Conservation Foundation, NCF and Oxfam have formed a synergy geared towards improving the resilience of small scale farmer’s, aimed at adapting to climate change.

With the initiative tagged, Farmers Field School (FFS), the farmers are prepared on measures against climate change as well as its effects on food crops. This measure will also make small scale farmers to cope with the negative effects of climate change.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the initiative in Omo J4 Forest Reserve, the Chief Conservation Officer, NCF, Adedamola Ogunsesan said though, the menace of climate change and its numerous effects is a global issue, but each country will develop its strategy, aimed at ameliorating the impacts on human lives as well as agricultural productions to tackle issues of food security.

According to him, Ogun state like other states in the country, is faced with low food harvest due to lack of ineffective farming practices by farmers and inadequate knowledge to effectively manage the effects of climate change on food crop production.

He therefore noted that farmers in rural communities should be equipped with knowledge on how to tackle climate-induced poor yields, poor soil fertility, low nutrient retaining ability, abnormal flow of rain fall as well as spreading of common and uncommon diseases.

“Adaptation strategies are short and long-term changes to human activities that respond to the effects of changes in climate. In agriculture, adaptation will require cost-effective investments in water infrastructure, emergency preparation for and response to extreme weather events, development of resilient crop varieties that tolerate temperature and precipitation stresses, and new or improved land use and management practices”.

The initiatives are also interested in the use of indigenous knowledge as adaptation strategies. According to the NCF Field Officer in OMO Forest Reserve, Clifford Omonu, the initiative requires grassroots experiments, regular field observations and group analysis among others.

The knowledge gained from these activities would enable participants to make their own locally-specific decisions about crop practices and management as it affects them.

This approach represents a shift from earlier agricultural programmes; in which farmers were compelled to adopt generalized recommendations for a better outcome.

The purpose of this initiative is to establish a regular Farmers Field School (FFS) in nine communities in Omo Forest as well as train and build farmers capacities for climate change adaptation while reducing human pressure on forest resources in the forest.

“We will train some farmers in these nine selected communities of Area J4, Aberu, Mile 1 village, Osoko, Olooji, Aba kurudu, Abeku 1, Eleyele London and Abeku Temidere” Omonu said.

OPINION: Keep Family Farms in Business with Youth Agripreneurs

Nteranya Sanginga, Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Courtesy of IITA

IBADAN, Nigeria, Nov 23 2015 (IPS) - Finding a way to allow youth to contribute their natural and ample energies to productive causes is increasingly the touchstone issue that will determine future prosperity.

It is a tragic irony that today’s youth, despite being the most educated generation ever, struggle to be included.

That’s true in advanced countries. But it is even more true in Africa, where almost two-thirds of the jobless are young adults, whose ranks swell by 10 to 12 million new members each year. The challenge is staggering in scale: Today there are 365 million Africans aged 15 to 35, and over the next 20 years that figure will double.

There is no magic wand. It is youth themselves who must find a solution. Everyone else – governments, international organizations, the private sector, social groups and parents – has a huge stake in their success and so must not stand in the way. Normally one hears about the need to help cast in elaborate theories based on the need for redistribution. But the truth is, we need a step change.

That’s the spirit the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is adopting with our “agripreneur” coaching programmes. These aim to use self-help groups so that people can indeed help themselves. As I bluntly told a group of youth in Uganda, we will provide support in the form of technology, knowledge and advocacy, but the real activity has to be done by themselves. Another message was: “be aggressive.”

It is well known that Africa is a vast land of family farmers, many living in rural areas and regularly struggling with poverty and hunger. Figures can also be easily made to show how most family farms are exercises in subsistence, and don’t always succeed without external help.

Family farming is a way of life, to be sure. But that does not mean, when you really think about it, that it cannot be done as a business. Doing so would represent a change, but the time has come. Making agriculture a commercial trade offers a set of new tools to entice talented youth to a sector we all know they tend to run away from.

As Akinwumi Adesina, formerly Nigeria’s agriculture minister and now the president of the African Development Bank, likes to say, “Africa’s future millionaires and billionaires will make their money from agriculture.”

And it is quite likely that youth, being in a proverbial rush, will accelerate the transformations that will lead to better lives than a mad rush to cities where employment prospects aren’t keeping pace with urban population. Moreover, agriculture has been the weak link in terms of productivity growth across the continent – that means there is an enormous upside to doing it better.

Knowledge needs pollinators. While extension services are excellent and should be upgraded, young people are natural communicators when they think something is cool and useful. That’s what agriculture has to be.
IITA’s agripreneur campaign hinges on our version of a Silicon Valley hackathon. Incubators are created to allow youth to learn and exchange ideas of a practical nature – about how to keep accounts, new crops and farming techniques, the myriad possibilities of agricultural value chains that include roles for seed traders, food processors, weather forecasters, insurance salespeople, marketing specialists.

One of our agripreneur “interns” told me that what he took away was that success is not in fact all down to money. An enterprise really needs ideas, of course, and the ability to plan.

To be clear, his enthusiasm – as so many of our alumni say – was about the possibility of enterprise. Call it agribusiness. Agricultural commodity value chains provide just that, a series of transactional opportunities that work to improve efficiency for all and reward the talented. This is a major catalyst for youth. After all, it opens the door for the professionalization of agriculture.

To be sure, the agribusiness model crucially requires inclusive efforts to make sure credit is available to youth, to assure that gender equity becomes an operational assumption rather than just a goal, and a host of public goods including scientific research. Yet it begins with a changed mind set.

People must learn how to apply for a loan. Bankers always say they wish to fund on the basis of a business plan rather than collateral. It is time to put that to the test. IITA’s focus on agripreneurs is a well-placed bet on the idea that nobody learns faster than youth.

Colombian Farmers Take BP To UK Court Over Oil Pipeline

Signage for a BP gas station in London,

A group of Colombian farmers this week began legal proceedings against British oil giant BP over allegations that an oil pipeline caused serious damage to their land and crops. The case is one of the largest international environmental lawsuits of its kind and marks the first time BP will face a U.K. court for its actions overseas.

The trial, which began Wednesday, is expected to last for four months. The 109 farmers are arguing for British company Equion Energia, formerly BP Exploration (Colombia) Limited, to pay out $28.6 million for what they say is negligence in building the Ocensa pipeline in the mid-1990s.

It’s rare to see a case like this litigated in the U.K., analysts say. “The avenues for extraterritorial claims for victims of alleged human rights abuses have been shrinking, both in Europe and in North America,” said Mauricio Lazala, deputy director of the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, a London-based nonprofit organization that monitors human rights in businesses around the world.

The amount of damages being sought was large for an environmental case, Lazala said. The $28.6 million sum might be dwarfed by the $9.5 billion in damages charged to Chevron in Ecuador’s blockbuster environmental lawsuit. (That settlement was later ruled fraudulent by a U.S. district judge.) “But that case involved damage to health, alleged cancer and death, while here in this Colombia case it’s purely environmental damage.”

The farmers say the Ocensa oil pipeline, the longest in Colombia, caused soil erosion, degraded water quality, harmed vegetation and pasture areas and threatened their livelihoods. “After the pipeline was laid, our water sources filled up with mud,” said Rodrigo de Jesus Mesa, a 63-year-old subsistence farmer who traveled to London to testify, according to the Guardian. “It made farming very difficult – but I can’t even sell the farm because of the pipeline.”

The farmers are being represented by British law firm Leigh Day, which litigates personal injury and product liability cases in addition to international human rights claims. Leigh Day is also representing members of Nigeria’s Bodo community in their lawsuit against Royal Dutch Shell for damages allegedly caused by two oil spills.

Shubhaa Srinivasan, a partner at Leigh Day, said it was particularly meaningful that some of the farmers would be giving testimony at the trial in London, saying it was often "daunting" for them to speak out against large corporations like BP. "Having them able to tell their stories [in court] will have a significant impact worldwide," she said.

A separate group of Colombian farmers secured a settlement with BP in 2006 for an undisclosed amount over damage caused by the pipeline. But this time, BP has altered its strategy and chosen to fight the lawsuit in court.

“The Ocensa pipeline project in Colombia involved significant steps being taken at the time of construction to engage with local communities, make appropriate compensation payments and ensure that the land that the pipeline traversed suffered no material damage,” BP said in a statement. “BP believes that these measures were effective and that the construction of the pipeline was carried out to a high standard.”

Other companies facing similar allegations overseas will be watching the trial carefully. “This case will send a message to all U.K.-based companies that their conduct abroad can be litigated here in the U.K.,” Lazala said. BP’s decision to fight the lawsuit this time could also send a message to people considering similar suits that they would be in for a lengthy battle rather than an out-of-court settlement, he noted.

The Nigerian Agricultural Sector Needs to Dwell Less on the Rhetoric of its Predecessors

Nigeria’s food import is growing by about 11 percent per annum, with top imports including wheat, rice, sugar and fish. The last administration made many attempts to unlock Nigeria’s agricultural potential as the country contains 84 million hectares of arable land, of which only 40 percent is utilized. More alarmingly, only around 0.8 percent of arable land is even irrigated, compared to the 28 percent that is in Thailand. Although there are approximately 110 million young people in the work force, due to low wages for laborers in the agricultural sector, food production has largely been left to the elderly.

Nigeria possesses nearly 279 billion cubic meters of surface water, yet potential sources of irrigation from two of the major rivers in Africa – the Niger and Benue Rivers – remain unexploited. The primary challenge at hand is how to increase agricultural productivity. Yields per hectare are only 20-50 percent of comparable yields in developing countries like Brazil, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia and this leaves much room for improvement. In terms of input, Nigeria has one of the lowest usage rates. Mechanization intensity remains low (perhaps 10 tractors per 1000 hectares compared to Indonesia’s 241 tractors per 100 hectares).

The last administration tried to tackle this menace by establishing the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) under Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, the current African Development Bank (AFDB) President. The ATA essentially called for people to start treating agriculture like a business by integrating food production, storage, processing and industrial manufacturing through value chains, focusing on sectors where Nigeria had a comparative advantage. It also included plans to adopt import substitution measures to drive sector growth and investment-driven strategic partnerships with the private sector. Adesina’s major achievement and the hallmark of his tenure was the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GES) for fertilizer and seed distribution. This ended nearly four decades of corruption by eliminating direct procurement and distribution of seeds and fertilizer, enabling private sector seed and fertilizer companies to sell directly to farmers. As a database of around 15 million farmers was developed, along with an email wallet for input delivery, the need for middlemen was erased. Unfortunately, as it now stands, the previous administration ended up owing millions of dollars to fertilizer and seed companies.

Still, this policy should be continued, along with the Staple Crop Processing Zone (SCPZ) concept, which strives to boost import substitution and create wealth for farming communities. The SCPZ will enhance the development of rural farming neighborhoods through the building-up of modern processing capacity in agricultural production clusters. Through this process, farming productivity in such clusters will be supported in order to sustain processing needs and creating structured markets through organized linkages between farmers and processors. Thirteen such zones were to be created to absorb production in a scheduled manner and address the perennial problems of post-harvest losses. However, most have been created in name only, with minimal impact. It would be good for the incoming minster to fine-tune the SCPZs to fix these deficiencies.

In the area of financing, the government introduced the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), which will serve small-holder farmers and agribusinesses and the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NiRSAL), a Nigerian Central Bank single-digit financing framework for agriculture. The government also provided fiscal incentives to encourage domestic import substitution, including 0 percent duty on agricultural machinery and equipment imports, pioneer tax holiday for agricultural investments, duty waivers and other industry-related incentives to support the private sector. This should be improved as well because its impact so far has been minimal and is seen not to be inclusive enough.

In a nutshell, I would rate the last administration as average, but the current administration should endeavor to walk the walk and dwell less on the rhetoric and grandiose plans of their predecessors. The environment must be conducive to business as agriculture has a long gestation period and the government should be consistent in policy formulation and be an enabler instead of a participant in this endeavor.

HORTSON to hold its 33rd Annual Conference in Abuja

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) of the Abuja 2015 33rd Annual Conference of the Horticulture Society of Nigeria (HORTSON) welcomes you to its 33rd Annual Conference holding at the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), Mabushi ,Abuja, starting on the 29th November- 4th December.


This year's theme was chosen to emphasize the strong relationship between Horticulture and Food Nutrition Security on the one hand, and its potential for Wealth Creation and Employment Generation thereby contributing to the overall National Security, as a popular adage, " A hungry man is an angry man ".


HORTSON was founded in 1977, 38years ago as a Forum to bring together Scientists, Agricultural Extension Agents, Farmers, Marketers, Processors, Policy Markers, Investors , Corporate Bodies, Research Institutes, Institutions, and other Stakeholders who are concerned with  the improvement in the activities of the various stakeholders along the entire value chain of horticulture. This Conference will feature the latest Advanced Innovations across the entire spectrum of Horticulture, which comprises of Oleiriculture, Pomology and Floriculture.

PRESS RELEASE FROM CELLULANT – KENYA

Achiever in Agriculture Award for Cellulant Nigeria’s CEO – Bolaji Akinboro 

Wednesday, 25 November 2015; Lagos, Nigeria – Cellulant’s co-founder and CEO of Cellulant Nigeria, Bolaji Akinboro will today (Wednesday, 25th November) receive the Achiever in Agriculture Award from the Central Committee of the Nigerian Agriculture Awards (NAA) for the company’s E-wallet technology – a digital platform that has transformed the lives of more than 14 million farmers in Nigeria. The ceremony will take place at the Landmark Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos during the Annual Award Dinner.

Cellulant, is Africa’s leading one-stop payments and digital commerce service company, with offices in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Uganda, Zambia, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Mozambique. They employ over 300 people, and reach 40 million customers Africa-wide.

Since its launch in 2011, Cellulant’s E-wallet has facilitated the distribution of over US$1 billion in fertilizer subsidies to farmers under the Growth Enhancement and Support (GES) programme, a component of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

“Over and over again we have seen Africans, through various innovations, prove that the impossible is made possible when the needs of the consumers are at the centre of the solutions provided. GES is certainly a testimony to this. Delivery of a programme of this scale and at this speed is a first for Nigeria considering that the entire agro-dealer network had to be rebuilt from scratch”, says Mr Akinboro.

“It is an honour to receive this award recognising the hard work and contribution of Cellulant and those who worked tireless to see the programme come to fruition.” he added.

The GES programme has more than doubled the income of the farmers from US$700 to US$1,800 per annum per household, improving their living standards and moving them out of subsistence into self-sufficiency in three years.

Bolaji has spent most of his working life changing the lives of people and societies as an intrapreneur and entrepreneur in for profits and not for profits in Africa . He understands the African market very well and has spent time working in business development with reputable companies in the continent.

Some of his work includes working in Sales and Marketing at Procter & Gamble in Nigeria and setting up P&G in Ghana as its Country Director where he grew the business from scratch to a US$10million operation.

He was recruited by the World Bank through KPMG to head the Business Development Unit for its Africa Virtual University (AVU) project and was based in East Africa. It was during this time that he met his Kenyan partner, Ken Njoroge and together they founded Cellulant in 2004.

A Pharmacy graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, Bolaji holds a post-graduate certificate in management from Herriot Watt University in the United Kingdom. He is also an alumnus of the Oxford University Business Economics Programme.

In 2015, Bolaji was awarded by the Federal Government of Nigeria – Outstanding Contributor in the Development of Agriculture through Technology as well as Agriculture Innovator of the Year in Technology from Agrainnovate in 2014

The Nigerian Agriculture Awards (NAA) is an annual event oganised by Verdure Vision, publishers of AgroNigeria Magazine, Nigeria’s most authoritative agro-centre print and online publication with presence across all geo-political zones of the country. In 2015, Prominent Awardees who will be receiving awards alongside Mr Akinboro include four Nigerian State Governors, the Nigerian Central Bank Governor, prominent industrialist and investor, Alhaji Sani Dangote and Okomu Oil Palm Plc., among others.

Issued on behalf of Cellulant

by Yolanda Tavares Public Relations, Nairobi, Kenya

email:  yolanda@ytpr.co.ke  Contact: +254722511073

2015 AgrikExpo: Primlaks promotes ‘made in Nigeria’ foods

Primlaks Group, the pioneer producer of Individually Quick Frozen, IQF, fruits and vegetables in Nigeria, has again demonstrated its steadfast support for agriculture in Nigeria by exhibiting its innovative Sympli brand of convenience food at the 2015 FoodBext West Africa Exhibition in Lagos.

Sympli is the registered brand name of a range of IQF foods produced by Venus Processing and Packaging Limited, VPPL, which is part of the Primlaks Group.

The locally farmed, processed and packed Sympli products, which include yam fries, yam cubes, plantain dodo and plantain chips, are delivered in ready-to-cook state for frying, steaming or baking.

The Chairman of VPPL, Otunba Christopher Tugbobo said that the product was a proves that Nigeria is capable of doing new things in agriculture that can help reduce its dependence on oil and gas.

Tugbobo, a one-time Head of the Division of Agricultural Research in the Federal Ministry of Economic Development and a retired Permanent Secretary, described Sympli as a 100 per cer Nigerian product, stressing that it is produced locally by Nigerians for Nigerians and that it has created much needed employment, helped reduce post-harvest losses and gave Nigerians a home grown brand in the frozen food segment that could be proud of.

The Group Chairman of Primlaks, Mr. H. K. Ram, explained that Primlaks invested in Nigeria’s fi rst IQF production facility in order to tap into the country’s vast agricultural potential, particularly in light of growing concerns on unemployment and dwindling foreign exchange reserves.

He described Sympli as Primlaks Group’s contribution to Nigeria’s drive for self-suffi ciency in value added food production and creation of additional sources of foreign exchange.

Lagos Produce Dealers lament lack of Storage Facilities

Tomatoes

A man cuts the good part of a rotten tomato in the dump of Buenos Aires biggest vegetable market Tuesday, May 21, 2002. A four-year-old economic downturn has become the worst recession in Argentine history.

 The jobless rate has soared to 20 percent, the peso has devalued more than 70 percent against the dollar, and more than one-third of the 36 million people now live in poverty. (AP Photo/Diego Giudice)

Agricultural produce dealers in Lagos state  have pleaded with the Federal government for the provision of storage facilities, to reduce waste of agriculture products and increase profits.

Chairman of the association, Mr. Ileyasu Azeez of the Amuwo Odofin branch in Lagos State, addressed the issue of storage saying that; “It will be counter-productive if at the end, farmers and sellers dispose of produce in a hurry, because of fear of the produce getting spoilt’. He reiterated that both farmers and traders would be better off if there were storage facilities for produce and users will be sure of getting fresh produce throughout the year.

As regards the imported solar powered storage system, which some businessmen introduced in the country, the chairman said it could only store 60 tonnes of produce. He also said that in spite of the equipment’s short lifespan of four years, it was costly and the members of the association could not afford it at N10 million per unit. He therefore appealed to research institutions in the country to assist with the provision of tropical storage facilities.

Azeez lamented that members of the association often sell their goods below the cost price for fear that they might get rotten. “It even takes longer than two days to transport produce like plantain, oranges and bananas from Okada, in Edo to Lagos markets. He appealed to the government to provide the facilities and allow installments

“It is only when products are available all year round that people can invest in processing them to add value to them,’’ He said.

Imo women farmers form groups, solicit for finance, inputs

Imo State Women Farmers

Imo State Women Farmers have organised themselves into groups for the purpose of engaging in collective farming, so as to foster comparative advantage.

Speaking with AgroNigeria, the leader of the group, Mrs. Omanze said the cost of labour has always been a big challenge for farmers in the rural areas; adding that the fruitless efforts of an individual farmer trying to plant variety of crops each season and ending up reaping little or nothing is also another issue. To them, it is better to work in groups.

 

She maintained that although, some of the members still work on their individual farms, most of them can now boast of increased harvests since they made the decision of collaborating. “The women are calling on the government at all levels, as well as foreign development partners, to assist them with finance, agricultural inputs and modern equipment to further enhance their farming activities,” she said.

 

Mrs. Amanze, however regretted the fact that some months ago, tractors were launched by the State Government, only to be benefited by big farmers, leaving small holder rural farmers, especially women totally out of the scheme. 

 

“Government policies on agriculture should be targeted towards helping the rural women farmers who are like the beast of burden in the society” she said. The women were of the view that the only down-to-earth aid from the government to farmers in Nigeria remains the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme. According to them, now that the programme has been halted this year, the smallholder farmers in   rural   communities across the nation are the worst hit.

 

The women farmers therefore pleaded with the present government to sustain the GES Scheme as it has impacted so much on their lives.

 

He therefore advised the federal and the state government, as well as the private sectors to clearly identify their roles in developing agriculture in the country; putting national interest at the back of their minds.

Int’l Potato Centre unveils Orange–Fleshed Sweet Potato’s potentials

Professor Ted Carey

International Potato Centre recently unveiled Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato’s potentials, rolling out two varieties of the produce – King J and Mothers Delight.

 

Sweet potato, a staple crop in Sub-Saharan Africa and in some parts of South America and Asia has become one of the most globally consumed crops today. The new technology known as orange–fleshed sweet-potato (OFSP), a veritable source of beta-carotene and vitamin ‘A’ is said to be capable of improving the health of the predominantly malnourished African mothers and children as well as galvanize increase in profit when cultivated. 

 

In the words of the project leader of the initiative, a Kumasi Ghanaian breeder, Professor Ted Carey, the project is targeted at improving the lives of millions of people in Africa. Countries like Ghana, Nigeria, Burkina-Faso and Malawi have all been taking the OFSP advantages comparatively. He said that the CIP Development and Research has succeeded in involving a number of international organizations like IITA and FARA, just as the Nigeria government has also embraced its rainbow project.

 

Recently, at a sweet potato seed system and market linkage in Osogbo, the CIP project manager from Tamale, Ghana; Dr. Erna Abidin said; “Through diversified market, we are commercializing and expanding the OFSP initiative. We have made Africans realize through advocacy and sensitization that OFSP is a food and nutrition security crop and now, households, vine multipliers, researchers, governments and other stakeholders are joining us in repositioning OFSP as a profit generating crop”.

Explaining the nutritional advantages of the OFSP, the country project manager and M&E specialist Dr. Justus Manje said that the sweet potato new hybrid is full of essential vitamins which are in short supply in the daily dietary intakes. “Vitamin A deficiency is rampant in Africa and has contributed to high rates of blindness and diseases in pregnant women and children” he said.

Partnering with the CIP, the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike (NRCRI), an institute with the mandate of conducting research on root and tuber crops in Nigeria has said it is still working on how to further improve the nutrient-laced OFSP and then roll out more varieties. The country’s agronomist CIP, Dr. Jude Njoku said that apart from having high yield, it is also disease resistant, adding that the variety was bred via a conventional means.

 

“We just established a root foundation which was flagged off two weeks ago at ARMTI in Ilorin and we have also sensitized multitudes at the IDP camp in Abuja.  I can assure you that after generating our data from the field trials, we shall release more varieties so that our vegetable farmers can reap bountifully from them”. 

KDSG to privatise abattoirs, send 7 butchers to Saudi Arabia on study tour

The Kaduna State Government on Monday said it was preparing the state abattoirs for privatisation and would send seven butchers on study tour in Saudi Arabia.

The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Manzo Maigari, who disclosed this to newsmen, said it was a resolution of the state executive council at its meeting in Kaduna.

Maigari said the privatisation of the abattoirs would commence after full consultations with all stakeholders.
“As you are aware, the governor has approved study trips to Saudi Arabia for seven leaders of the butchers association state-wide.

“They will go and see how meat slaughtering is mechanised and handled in an Islamic setting.“We want meat to be handled in a more Islamic way in the state,’’ the commissioner said.

According to him, when the seven butchers being sent abroad return, they will be consulted on the direction of the privatisation agenda, based on what they have seen and learnt in Saudi Arabia.

“We will encourage them to see if they can take over management of the abattoirs themselves, so that government will be left with the responsibility of regulation only.’’

Maigari said it was hoped that the study tour would be a pilot project that would open up the sector to private investors, create empowerment and generate employment in the state.

“We will standardise our meat to the global best practice standard,’’ he assured. The commissioner noted that the standard of hygiene at the abattoirs presently was poor, and needed to be upgraded.

He said the state government had already established an interim state meat compliance committee to ensure that meat is handled in a hygienic manner at the abattoirs.

Nigeria faces stiff challenge to boost agriculture sector

President Muhammadu Buhari

The pothole-ridden roads that connect Lagos, Nigeria’s bustling commercial capital, with Adeniyi Bunmi’s leafy farm in southwestern Ogun state are among the many challenges faced by the entrepreneur.

“You can’t even drive in to an average farm,” said Bunmi, arguing that access to his 150 hectare site, which was a dense forest until it was cleared by bulldozers six years ago, is good compared with other rural areas.
The poor transport infrastructure in Africa’s most populous nation is one of the major obstacles in the way of President Muhammadu Buhari’s aim of boosting agriculture and reducing the reliance on oil exports at a time of low crude prices.

The pockmarked route between Lagos and Bunmi’s farm alternates from tarmac to gravel and dirt tracks, making it hard to transport produce ranging from plantain to pineapples to clients in the city, a bumpy two-hour drive away.

But roads in the southwest are generally better than those in the north where the infrastructure is far worse.
Africa’s biggest economy and top energy producer has been hammered by low crude prices, since it relies on oil exports for around 70 percent of government revenues. Buhari, who took office in May, has said a strengthened agriculture sector would create jobs and reduce the reliance on costly food imports.

“The petroleum we had depended on for so long will no longer suffice,” he told an agrarian trade body three months after taking office in May. “We campaigned heavily on agriculture, and we are ready to assist as many as want to go into agricultural ventures.”

But five months after Buhari took office, his cabinet is yet to be sworn in, leaving him without an agriculture minister to flesh out policy details.

A proposed $25 billion infrastructure fund to invest in much-needed modernisation of road, rail and power networks, announced by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday is still at the planning stage.

Nigeria has tens of millions of farmers, most of whom work on a subsistence basis and live on less than $2 a day, making the warehouses, electricity access and machinery needed to improve efficiency unattainable.

FOOD IMPORTS
The resulting inefficiency explains why Nigeria produces 1.5 million tonnes of tomatoes annually of which 45 percent perish. The inability of farmers to feed a nation of 170 million people has led to an increasing reliance on imported food.

Nigeria is among the world’s largest importers of rice and the biggest buyer of U.S. wheat, while much of its own fertile land lies fallow.

In 2012 it imported 2.3 million tonnes of rice – a record high. Some 4.1 million tonnes of wheat was brought into Nigeria in the same year – nearly double the amount imported in 2000.

The rocketing food import bill, against a backdrop of a weakening naira and strong dollar, has contributed to consumer inflation rising to 9.4 percent year-on-year in September, its highest level since February 2013.

Buhari has referred to the rising cost of living as one of the motivations for reinvigorating an agriculture sector that in the 1960s was the top source of employment and, until recently, remained the biggest contributor to GDP.

Since last year’s GDP rebasing calculation, agriculture has fallen behind the services sector, making up 21 percent of Africa’s largest economy, highlighting how far it has fallen since the oil boom of the 1970s shifted priorities.

“It requires a lot of capital,” said Bunmi, 37, who used money from relatives to buy land incrementally over the last six years and now employs 125 people.

“People don’t want to invest. They would rather invest in a business that would bring a product out very fast,” he said.

CORRUPTION
The inability to secure funds leaves many farmers unable to take the steps needed to move beyond subsistence farming, such as hiring bulldozers to clear land for farming, building warehouse facilities and buying tractors.

Nigeria’s farmers have received little help from successive governments that vowed to support development, said Otunba Oke, who chairs the Lagos branch of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria
(AFAN).

“The government should assist with grants. The government should work with banks to ensure more favourable interest rate payments for farmers,” he said, adding that most farmers were unable to meet the requirements to secure loans.

However, previous efforts at government intervention have been undermined by corruption and mismanagement, agriculture analyst Liborous Oshoma said, citing a fertiliser scheme.

“People who weren’t farmers were given fertiliser licences,” said Oshoma. “Fertiliser racketing was a big problem in Nigeria,” he said, adding that many made a profit at the expense of farmers.

“People are leaving agriculture in their droves and looking for white collar jobs,” added Oshoma, who said Buhari’s administration will have to overcome the widely held perception that farmers work hard but remain poor.

Bunmi has an image on his mobile phone of his sons, aged four and seven, digging on the farm. But would he encourage them – and others – to follow in his footsteps?

“An average person will come into agric once they know the toil, the stress, the struggle will not go in vain,” he said.

Dwindling Oil Price: Okowa canvasses urgent steps to cushion effects

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State

As the economy continues to bite harder occasioned by the free fall of oil prices in the international market, governor of Delta state, Ifeanyi Okowa, has called for urgent measures to check the loss of jobs in the country.

Okowa who spoke on Friday in Asaba when the National President of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Comrade Igwe Achese, led members of his executive to pay him a courtesy call, said the dwindling revenue from oil has become a major challenge that must be tackled through partnership between the state and federal government to diversify the economy.

He noted that the oil and gas sector was not the only sector being affected by the nose-dive in the price of oil, just as he disclosed that the construction sector has been greatly affected and urgent steps must be taken to address the situation and its attendant effects.

“We are beginning to loss jobs in the oil companies, the construction companies are even affected most because they employ more workers, especially, the youths, when they are working, the youths in their areas of operation are employed.

“Today, it is affecting the construction of roads and other infrastructure, we believe that with the coming of the dry season, we will be able to engage the construction companies and they will in turn, engage the youths and our people,” Okowa said.

While calling for patience and understanding from Nigerians and urging them to be positively engaged, Governor Okowa emphasised that the economy can be diversified with Nigerians going back to agriculture, agro-based business, small and medium scale enterprises.

He continued, “I hope the Federal and State governments will partner to find ways to diversify the economy so that we will not depend solely on oil but tap the benefits of engaging in agriculture and SMEs,” decrying situation where the gains from oil in the past were not used to prepare the country for the current down-turn in oil prices.”

The Governor used the occasion to assure Deltans of his administration’s commitment to remove tankers from the road, noting that he was ready to partner with the private sector in the development of tanker parks in the state, especially in the Warri/Effurun axis.

Earlier, Comrade Achese had said they were in the state to felicitate with Senator Okowa on his electoral victory and disclosed the Union’s efforts towards ensuring that tankers were parked properly without constituting nuisance to other road users.

Achese informed the Governor that the down-turn in the oil prices has taken its toll on oil workers were nine hundred persons have been laid off in Chevron’s operations in Delta State and same was applicable in other multi-national oil companies and called for urgent steps to check the situation.

IFAD empowers 221,751 farmers in Edo

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State

Peter Aikhuomobhogbe, Coordinator International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), said on Sunday that the programme had empowered 221,751 farmers in Edo in the last 10 years.

Aikhuomobhogbe told NAN in Benin that most of the beneficiaries of the scheme were rural farmers, who were empowered to engage in small and medium agricultural enterprises.

He disclosed that the beneficiaries comprised 89,912 males and 115,547 females, adding that 13,452 of them were youths made up of 7,534 males and 5,918 females.

He said that the 10-year programme which began in 2005, re-prioritized its activities in 2012, with greater focus on agriculture.

The coordinator said that between 2012 and now, IFAD established seven cassava mills in Emuhun, Ikiran-Ile, Okuor and Evbohuan and other communities of the state.

He said that the programme also established a rice mill and yam storage facilities in Illushi community and sank bore holes in some other communities.
“The programme also assisted farmers to engage in fish and other livestock production, cultivation of different crops as well as capacity building and processing,’’ he added.

Aikhuomobhogbe explained that the programme had officially ended in the state, but that its loan scheme would end on March 31, 2016.

“What we are doing now is programme completion report and survey to determine its impact on the beneficiaries.

“The survey and report will serve as a basis for future intervention programmes in the state,” adding that the report would also reflect the failure and success rate of the programme.

Oklahoma wheat farmers faces challenges and responsibilities

With the United States normalizing relations with Cuba, there's been a lot of talk about new opportunities for Oklahoma's farmers.

Cuba has 11-million people and this country sell 85% of the grain to the other nations of the Caribbean.
Oklahoma State University Agricultural Economist, Kim Anderson says Cuba is less than 1% of the world market, but it won't hurt.

"If we open those Cuban markets, we will definitely pick up some demand there. We have got comparative advantage on transportation.

We've got say $10 a metric ton less, than say out of Argentina."These days if you're a wheat farmer in Oklahoma, you'd better be aware of everything from South America, to Russia and Kazakhstan.
Ponca City Wheat Farmer, Don Schieber is a global businessman.

"The value of the dollar in our Black Sea markets have been hurtin us on our exports sales and you've got Nigeria and Egypt waiting to grow more of their own grain"Schieber says he has to play every angle to be competitive.

You won't find a high roller in any casino, who has more nerve than a wheat farmer.But Schieber says he's not big on them.

"I've got nine of em here within 25 miles. I've been in two of em to eat. So I do enough gamblin out here. I don't need to go to a casino."

As the seeds went-in this fall, the farmers once again bet on the future.They're also aware that they have a responsibility to a hungry world.

Every year the farmers are hoping for the best possible yield and the best taste at the bakery. Researchers at O.S.U. are working to get that done.

They'll tell you, we also need to double our production by about the middle of this century.Dr. Brett Carver is the head of the wheat genetics program.

He says he's well aware that a lot more people are coming to dinner."We know that we can't get worse. There's no going back. We must get better in the food that we are raising."

They're using genetics to improve the farmer's odds and output, with custom varieties for Oklahoma.
But each one takes 12-years to develop and the Carver says world's population is growing fast.

"We're looking over our shoulder right now. The game is on now. We need to be preparing for 2050, 2060 today."

Fortunately they're just scratching the surface of crop genetics that offer tremendous potential. Oklahoma's farmers planted their wheat last month and they'll be harvesting in early summer. Let's hope they keep at it.By 2060 there will be about 10-billion of us, ready for that next meal.