NAERLS FORUM
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| Scientist and All Farmers' Association of Nigeria at two days seminal on Agricultural Development Strategy in the New Political Dispensation |
Agric - Vet Complex of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in collaboration with All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) organized a 2 - day Seminar titled “Agricultural Development Strategy in the New Political Dispensation”. The complex comprises the Faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine; the University based Research Institutes (IAR, NAERLS and NAPRI), Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the University Farm as well as the Division of Agricultural Colleges.
The Seminar was aimed at creating a forum for interaction among key stakeholders to generate ideas useful for developing agriculture in the new political dispensation. There is a general concern that agriculture should occupy its rightful place in the national economy as a reliable means of sustaining the economy as well as creating jobs to millions of Nigerians. Several potentials exist in agricultural sector, for example, soybean production can be intensified to replace crude oil.
The
Seminar was held from 21st to 22nd May. 2015 at the Conference Hall of NAERLS
and was Chaired by the Former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Prof.
Shehu U. Abdullahi while the current Vice Chancellor, Prof. Ibrahim Garba
played the roles of Chief Host. The Seminar was graced by important dignitaries
from Universities, Research Institutes, Prominent Farmers and Traditional
Rulers.
Among the important guests were
Arc. Kabir Ibrahim, the National President of AFAN, Hon. Munir Babbab
Dan’agundi, Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Agriculture during the 7th
National Assembly, Senator Abu Ibrahim,
Prof. B. Y. Abubakar, Executive Secretary of ARCN, represented by Prof. M. D.
Magaji, Prof. Ibrahim Garba, Vice Chancellor, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria
represented by Prof. Akpan, Dean Faculty of Agriculture, Deputy National
President of AFAN and 36 States Chairmen of AFAN and many others important
personalities.
Five
papers and one keynote address were presented by selected scholars and
prominent farmers during the two days National Seminar. The Seminar was the
first of its kind and it was done to elicit and generate discussion among the
stakeholders to find solutions for myriad of teething problems militating
against Agricultural Development in Nigeria. The Keynote Address titled “Reform
and Restructuring of Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria” was presented by
ES of ARCN, Prof. B. Y. Abubakar. Other papers were presented during the two Technical
Sessions, which followed immediately after the opening Ceremony and Preliminary
Sessions. The titles, presenters and discussants of the five papers are:
1.
Problems
and Prospects of Agriculture in Nigeria
by Dr. I. Y. Ilu, Chairman, Agric
- Vet Complex of ABU Zaria, the paper was thoroughly discussed by Prof. M. S.
Kalla and Dr. G. Kwanashe
2.
Policy
Enabling Environment and Institutional Frame Work for Enhance Agricultural
Development by Prof. S, Z, Abubakar, Vice Chancellor, Alvan
Ikoku Federal University of Education, Owerri while Prof. Lawal S a’idu, Prof. M. D. Magaji & Prof. P.I
Rekwot discussed the paper
3.
Research
and Development as Foundation for Solid presented by Prof. S.G Ado, Vice
Chancellor, Al-Kalam University, Katsina while Prof. J.E. Onyibe & Prof. A.
Suleiman discussed the paper
4.
Organizing
Farmers for Enhancing Agricultural Development by Mal.
S.S. Abubakar, Former Executive Director, NAERLS, ABU Zaria and the paper was discussed
by Prof. Sani Miko and Arc. Kabir Ibrahim
5.
Budgets
and Finances of Agriculture by Dr. Abba Y. Abdullahi, Agricultural
Consultant and President, Fisheries Society of Nigeria and the paper was
discussed by Prof. M.B Auwalu & Mrs. Nana Basheer.
The
first Technical Session was chaired by Prof. T. J. Arokoyo, a renowned
Professor of Agricultural Extension and International Expert of Agricultural
Communication. The second Session was equally chaired a renowned Professor of
Irrigation Agronomy, Prof. I. U. Abubakar, Immediate Past President, Nigerian
Society of Agriculturalists and the current Executive Director of IAR, ABU
Zaria. No doubt, the three sessions (technical and preliminary) were stormy
with cross carpeting ideas on the problems, solutions and way forward. It was
apparent that soft spots of the stakeholders were touched and there was serious
concern on the face of every participant indicating something urgent has to be
done to address these myriad of agricultural challenges in the country.
At
the end of the workshop, a BLUE PRINT
on the strategy to move agriculture forward so that it can occupy its rightful
position in National Development was formulated. Major issues concerning
Nigerian Agriculture were listed and problems militating against such issues
were identified. The Blue Print went further to propose possible solutions to
the identified problems, identified relevant government agencies and
organizations responsible for the implementation of the proposed solutions.
Strategies for implementation of the proposed solutions to the identified
problems were similarly proffered. The Blue Print is summarised as follows:
1.
Research and extension for development: The Identified problems are
a.
Unstable policy environment
b. Institutional
failures (observed weaknesses in research and extension)
c. ARCN is a
coordinating council with no control mechanism on the activities of National Agricultural
Research Institutes (NARIs)
d. Weak linkage
between ARCN and the NARIs
e. Weak
linkage between Research Centres/Institutes and Industries
f. Poor
funding of Agricultural Research and erratic releases of the budgeted funds
g. Widespread
poverty especially in the rural area.
h. High
level of unemployment especially among youths.
i. Youth
restiveness.
j. High
post-harvest losses.
k. Low
agricultural productivity in Nigeria.
The proposed solutions or Interventions are:
a.
Restructuring and strengthening of ARCN into a
research managing council through appropriate legal and administrative
instruments.
b. Reform of
the research funding system towards greater financial autonomy, such as the
establishment of an Agricultural
Research Fund.
c. For
effective research-extension linkage, ARCN should establish KVK-like (Indian krishi vigyan kendras) Technology Transfer Centres to be
called Agricultural Research Technology Transfer Centers (ARTTC) in all local
Government Areas of the Country.
d. Continuing with the value chain approach
for agricultural commodities development as obtainable in Agricultural
Transformation Agenda.
e. Start the training of middle cadre
agricultural business managers to provide the needed manpower to operate the
approach.
f. Start agricultural business courses (70 %
practical and 30% theory) in universities and polytechnics immediately in order
to engage youths in self-reliance ventures.
The organizations proposed to be
responsible for the interventions are:
a)
Federal Government
b) NARIs
c) Agricultural
universities and colleges
d) Nigerian
National Assembly
The Implementation strategies proposed
for the interventions are
a)
Use the existing agro-ecological zone and emphasis
of what each zone can produce (comparative advantages in the zones).
b)
Facilitate establishment of large scale product
processing for perishable commodities like beef, vegetables, fruits, etc.
through PPP.
c)
Part of money spent on importation should be spent
on research for development.
d)
Subsidy should be strategically applied where
applicable along the value chain of agricultural commodities.
2.
Agricultural policy, the
Identified problems are;
a)
Provisions for agriculture development in Nigerian
constitution are inadequate.
b)
The majority of the Local government Authorities
have abandoned most of their duties to agriculture.
c)
The third tier of government is hollow in terms of
their involvement in agriculture.
d)
National Council on Agriculture (NCA) does not have legal backing; it serve
only advisory roles.
e)
Inconsistency of agricultural policy through
abandonment of previous agricultural programmes and projects.
f)
Adulterated inputs and produce (problem of quality
control).
The proposed solutions or
Interventions are:
a) Differentiation of functions for the 3 tiers of
government to actualize the intent of the concurrency of agriculture in the
Nigerian Constitution.
b) Streamline
the functions of parastatals to eliminate duplications (see Oransanye Report).
c) Transferring
the River Basins facilities to the States where they are located.
d) Standard
Organization of Nigeria should standardize inputs and outputs of Agriculture.
e) Build the
capacity of produce inspectorate to ensure standardization of produce.
f) Agricultural
experts with passion for developments should be appointed as Minister and
Commissioners of Agriculture at the Federal and State levels, respectively.
g) Improved
inter-ministerial cooperation and interactions (synergy).
h) Licenses
for importation of agricultural commodities (where applicable) should be given
by Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
i) Farmers
should be mobilized by their groups to access funds from Central Bank of
Nigeria.
j)
Policy continuation should be promoted. We are
still not food and nutrition secured because of inconsistency of policy.
k) Provide
legal backing for platforms like National Council for Agriculture (NCA), State Council
for Agriculture (SCA) to be able to enforce compliance of resolutions.
l) Increase Government annual budget to Agriculture
to a minimum of 10%.
m) Ensure Guaranteed Minimum Price for food crops (warehouse
receipt system should be adopted to stabilize price).
n) Revise the Land Use Act to discourage
fragmentation and enable easier access to land for investors.
The organizations proposed to be responsible for the
interventions are:
a) Law makers
b) The three tiers of government
c) Regulators
d) Operators
e) Service providers
f) Facilitators
g) Advocates
The Implementation
strategies proposed for the interventions are:
a)
Create and
develop of the relevant institutions to discharge the functions assigned to
each tier of Government.
b)
Develop
supportive guidelines to enable each tier internalize the new paradigm.
c)
Develop codes and standards for practices, services, produce and products
of Agriculture.
d) Make a comprehensive
cadastral mapping of land in Nigeria.
e) Provide
credit in kind (following irrigation field’s example of Sudan).
f)
Restrict importation on commodities that can
easily be produced in Nigeria.
3. Farmers’ organization; the identified problems are:
a) Producers
are not organized strong enough to carry out their functions and
responsibilities.
b) Most
farmers’ groups in Nigeria are intervention responsive and their lives and sustain
abilities are dependent on how long the intervention last.
c) Smallholder
farmers are mostly not represented by Apex groups.
d) Low
income farmers have limited access to inputs (qualitatively and quantitatively)
e) Low
extension agents-farmer ratio.
The proposed solutions or Interventions are
a) Capacity
development for resource management by farmers’ group.
b) Supply of
inputs should be through small groups.
c) Government
should endeavor to continue with genuine registration of farmers’ registration.
d) Facilitation
and promotion of service providers in agricultural sector.
The organizations proposed to be responsible for the
interventions are:
a) Farmers’
apex body.
b) Input
dealers and other actors in the agricultural value chain
c) Government
The Implementation strategy proposed for the
intervention is to create farmers Organizations at various levels, which will
be assigned very clear roles and duties and they should be empowered to play
the roles under the guidance of expert service providers.
4.
Agricultural Finance and Budgeting; the
identified problems are;
a)
The one size fit all loan conditions offered by
banks to famers has shown not to work in the interest of the famers.
b) The
requirement of collateral in securing loans has been the major hindrance to
farmers accessing the necessary funds to boost their production.
c) There is
high unemployment and inflation – both currently rated at double digit.
d) Factories
are producing at less than 30% of installed capacity for lack of adequate raw
materials from the farms.
e) There is
consequent high import bill on foods and a balance of payment disequilibrium.
The proposed solutions or Interventions are
a) Loan with
low interest rates should give loan to famers based on the knowledge and/or
experience shown on their proposal to bank.
b) Banks
have to move out from banking halls to the farms in order to ascertain the
capability of the farmer.
c) Agricultural
development should not rely on provision of inputs, as is usually the case
where government believes by providing fertilizer.
d) The
sector requires broad-spectrum approach to development process.
The organizations proposed to be responsible for
the interventions are Producer organization (Value chain actors)
a) Government
b) Financial
institutions
c) Non-Government
Organizations
The Implementation strategies proposed for the interventions
are
a)
The over two trillion Naira Pension Funds should
be rightly applied for agricultural development with good management and sense
of committed patriotism to national wellbeing.
b)
The interventions from government and groups
should focus on the followings:
i.
Social (security, cultural, amenities, etc.).
ii.
Economic (finance, market, policies,
infrastructure, etc.).
iii.
Environmental, political (inclusiveness in participatory
policy formulation, research, budgeting, etc.).
iv.
Value re-orientation (perception of agriculture as
business as against means of livelihood).
The
workshop was concluded with agreement and commitments by the stakeholders to
work together and address the identified problems. NAERLS pledged to support
farmers organization through capacity building on continuous basis and create
avenue for effective linkages among the stakeholders. AFAN Executive Officers were called upon to
embark on sensitization campaign of farmers for collective action towards
addressing problems militating against development of agriculture. Similarly,
AFAN and NAERLS agreed mobilize local government chairmen and state governors to
provide effective support for strengthening farmer organizations while
addressing key issues on agricultural development.
It
was also agreed that the Seminar should be conducted on annual basis to discuss
issues related to agricultural development in the country. At the end of the
workshop, an advocacy committee was formed. The major task of the committee was
to make advocacy to the relevant government officials for adoption of the Blue
Print as guidelines for the development
of agriculture. The committee members are:
1. Dr. I. Y. Ilu, Chairman of
Agric-Vet. Complex
2. Professor S.Z. Abubakar
3. Arc. Kabir Ibrahim (AFAN
National President)
4. Hon. Munir Babbab
Dan’agundi (V/Chairman House Committee on Agriculture)
5. Senator Abu Ibrahim
6. Dr. Abba yakubu Abdullahi
(AFAN)
7. Chief Okapo (AFAN)
8. Mrs. Nana Basheer
9. Professor Sani Miko (SG
2000)
10. Chief Olaifa (AFAN Deputy
National President)
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