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| CEREAL CROP |
THE NATIONAL
COORDINATOR OF ZERO HUNGER COMMODITY ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA IN OUAGADOUGOU,
BARKINA FASO AT AN INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE
cereal crops
are grains usually cultivated farm land for food, cash and livestock feed. In
Nigeria, major cereal crops cultivated are Maize, Rice, Sorghum, Millet and
Wheat. The country is endowed with a land mass of 923,000m sq km of which 45%
is arable for cereal, tree crop and tuber crop farming. Other climatic features
such as annual rainfall are average of 1,150mm; 8 hours sunshine per day,
humidity and temperature of 210c were very favorable to cereal
production.
0.2 PREAMBLE – Before I
expatiate on Nigeria, I will briefly dwell on the continent of Africa in cereal
production. Africa with its vast land area covering 3 billion ha has 1.3
billion ha of agricultural land out of which only 252 million ha (19.36%) is
arable (FAO 2012). Africa is the centre of origin and also a major producer of
several cereals. Like sorghum, pearl and finger millet, teff, rice, maize and
wheat.
Agriculture is
the engine for growth in Africa, with subsistence agriculture practiced by
majority small holder farmers, yield gaps are high and poor soils amongst other
constraints add to the difficulties for sustainable farming and incomes.
Cereals like Sorghum, millet, wheat, maize and rice are major staple foods of
the most population. These cereals are grown over an area of 98.6m ha producing
162m tons. Please see Table 1.
TABLE I. AREA AND PRODUCTION OF SELECTED CEREAL CROPS IN AFRICA.
|
CROP
|
AFRICA 2013
|
|
|
AREA (HA)
|
PRODUCTION
(T)
|
|
|
Maize
|
34,075,972
|
70,076,591
|
|
Millet
|
19,998,008
|
16,008,838
|
|
Rice (paddy)
|
11,206,813
|
28,798,202
|
|
Sorghum
|
23,142,595
|
23,350,064
|
|
Wheat
|
10,224,958
|
24,704,201
|
|
Total
|
98,226,080
|
162,422,507
|
Source FAO
report 2013.
0.3 EVOLUTION OF CEREAL PRODUCTION IN THE
LAST 5 YEARS IN NIGERIA.
Cereal
production in Nigeria has undergone a lot of transformation and evolution in
the last five years for the purpose of this presentation, my focus will be on
2010-2015.
MAIZE: is a
major food crop grown in diverse agro ecological zones and farming systems and
consumed by people with varying food preferences and socio-economic backgrounds
in Nigeria. The crop is grown mainly in North East, North West and North
Central of Nigeria and grown sparsely in South West, South East and South South
of Nigeria. The central role of maize as a staple food is comparable to what
rice is in Asia. Maize accounts for almost half of the calories and protein
consumed in Nigeria and one-fifth of calories and protein consumed in West
Africa.
Maize occupies
more than 1.5 million ha in Nigeria with an average yield of 1.5t – 2.0t per
hectare under rain fed program. Considering the low average yield that are
still pervasive in farmers fields, meeting the projected increase demand for
maize grain in Nigeria present a challenge.
TABLE II SHOWING MAIZE PRODUCTION IN NIGERIA 2010-2015
|
YEAR
|
AREA (Ha)
|
PRODUCTION
(Ton)
|
|
2011
|
1,501,282
|
3,002,564
|
|
2012
|
1,550,100
|
3,100,200
|
|
2013
|
1,620,410
|
3,564,902
|
|
2014
|
1,580,300
|
3,318,630
|
|
2015
|
1,345,880
|
2,691,760
|
Bureau of
Statistic – Nigeria
From the above table there was
an increase in production from 2010 both in hectares cultivated by the farmers
and an average increase in yield of 2.1 ton per hectare. This is as a result of
the GES – Growth Enhancement Scheme and E-wallet-Electronic Wallet by the
Federal Government of Nigeria through which input such as fertilizer and seed
are distributed to small farm holders at 50% subsidy. The Federal Government
bears 25% while the state Government bears 25% of the price subsidy
respectively. Each farmer now paid half of the price of farm input, which
accounted for gradual increase until year 2015 when the subsidy scheme was
suspended by the present government in Nigeria.
RICE: has
become a highly strategic and priority commodity for food security in Nigeria.
Consumption is growing faster than that of any other major staple in the
country because of population increase, rapid urbanization and change in
dietary intake. Although local rice production increased rapidly after the food
crisis of 2008-2009, a key problem facing the rice sector in Nigeria is that
local production has never caught up with demand. The country therefore
continues to rely on importation to meet its increasing demand for rice.
However
recently, in 2016, the Government of Nigeria has restricted rice importation in
order to encourage local production, one major problem is the smuggling
practices of traders.
Another major
problem is the processing procedure that requires improvement to eliminate
pebbles and stone in packaged local rice.
MAP OF NIGERIA
MAP OF NIGERIA
SHOWING SOME CROPS PRODUCTION AREAS (CEREAL)
TABLE III SHOWING RICE PRODUCTION AND
CONSUMPTION IN NIGERIA 2010 – 2015
|
YEAR
|
PRODUCTION
(T)
|
CONSUMPTION
(T)
|
GAP (T)
|
|
2011
|
10.6 million
|
28.8 million
|
18.2 million
|
|
2012
|
11.2 million
|
29.5 million
|
18.3 million
|
|
2013
|
11.8 million
|
31.6 million
|
19.8 million
|
|
2014
|
11.9 million
|
32.4 million
|
20.5 million
|
|
2015
|
13.8 million
|
33.5 million
|
19.7 million
|
Source – National Cereal Research Institute
SORGHUM: is the
second most important cereal crop in Nigeria after maize with about 21% of
total cereal area followed by millet which is about 14.2% of total cereal land
coverage. The demand in sorghum and millet in Nigeria over the last twenty
years reflected in the trend for increasing area under cultivation. Unfortunately
however, crop productivity has not kept pace with increasing demand, due mainly
to a lag in crop improvement efforts in sorghum and millet, relative to other
cereals. Other factors are extreme environmental conditions, resource
constrained and low farming input system.
Furthermore, dry land
environment, climate change and variability, land degradation, poor research
work and weak national institutions are other militating factors. Despite these
factors there is a strong case for stepping up the efforts towards development
of agronomic management of sorghum and millet in Nigeria.
0.5 CHALLENGES,
STAKES AND KEY DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED BY FARMER ORGANIZATIONS
There are many challenges faced
by cereal farmers and farmers’ organizations in Nigeria as listed below:
·
Government bureaucracy and in bottleneck in recognizing farmers organization.
·
Non availability of farm input such as herbicide, insecticide,
seed and fertilizer at the appropriate time.
·
Low availability of traction for land preparation.
·
Poor extension services to members.
·
Inadequate window for loan and finance.
·
Unstable market price for farm produce.
0.6 MAJOR PROGRAMS
IMPLEMENTED BY FEDERAL AND STATE GOVERNMENTS TO SUPPORT CEREAL FARMING
Although government policies has
been unstable in the last ten years generally in Agricultural programs, however
it is worthy to mention some of the programs put in place to support cereal
farming in Nigeria over the years.
GES, E-wallet accessing input to farmers through their telephone
at 50% subsidy – 2010 – 2014. ATA – Agricultural Transformation Agenda.
Counterpart funding on FADAMA III program for rice, maize and
sorghum.
International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
(ICRISAT) is adequately supported by Nigerian government in the areas of
sorghum, millet and rice research.
HOPE project – (Harnessing Opportunities for Productivity
Enhancements) funded by Bill-Melinda Gates Foundation in partnership with the
Nigerian government for cereal crops.
Sorghum Transformation Value Chain (STVC) supported by Nigeria
Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
USAID, in partnership with West Africa Agricultural Productivity
Project (WAAPP, CORAF, WECARD and CGIAR) is getting support from the government
to improve on cereal crop farming in Nigeria.
0.7 MAJOR INITIATIVES
OF THE PLATFORM AND MEMBER FEDERATIONS IN THE SECTOR
The platform and member
federation has achieved a lot over the years through regional meetings and
information sharing in the cereal sector. Other key initiatives include the
under listed but not limited to the under mentioned:-
Regional sharing of research work to improve productivity.
Robust market of produce through ECOWAS free trade movement of
commodities.
Problems shared are problems solved as in the case of worm attack
on maize in 2016 in central and North of Nigeria warehoused by the federation.
Syndicated fund sourcing for research work through regional
cooperation.
Promotion of local production against importation from other
regions like Asia and Europe.
0.8 ROLES AND ACTIVITIES PROMOTED BY WOMEN
AND YOUTH IN THE SECTOR
The roles and activities of
women and youth in the Agricultural sector are enormous and in the cereal
sector is fundamental to the success recorded in that sector in Nigeria.
v
They both account for over 60% of the labour used in cereal
production on farmland in Nigeria. Such labour includes land preparation,
planting, fertilizer application, herbicide application.
v
Cooperative movements are better coordinated by the youth and
women in cereal production. Through cooperative formation, they easily access
credit and farm input.
v
Harvesting and Processing – Women and youth plays a critical role
in harvesting and processing of cereal crops in Nigeria, this role has led to
increase in production and an improvement in expanding the value-chain.
v
Apart from constituting a major source of labour on the farm, many
women and youth are small farm holders of cereal, constituting to direct
production increase over the last ten years in Nigeria.
v
Capacity development through train the trainee is better
coordinated by women and youth in the cereal sector.
0.9 PERCEPTION OF
THE ROLE AND POSSIBLE FUNCTIONS OF A REGIONAL CONSULTATION FRAMEWORK OF
FARMERS’ ORGANIZATIONS TO TAKE UP CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY THE SECTOR.
The world is a global village,
therefore the role and possible framework of farmers’ organization at a
regional level to take up the challenges of the cereal sector cannot be over
emphasized. A regional collaboration will lead to improved production through
regional research information sharing. Other benefits of regional achievements
through consultation framework of farmers’ organization are;
Guaranteed quality of farm input at less price by bulk sourcing.
Pressure group on government and regional body like ECOWAS for
farmers benefit.
Guaranteed market through regional commodity exchange market
within the sub-region.
Improved research findings for exchange within the region to
improve yield and agronomic practices.
Fund sourcing for on lending to members is better achieved through
regional collaboration – AFDB, Bill-Melinda Gates Foundation, Ford Foundation,
Sasakawa Global 2000.
10.0 CONCLUSION
The fact remain that West
Africa plays a critical role in cereal production in the world with small farm
holders who are confronted with poor yield per hectare in comparison with yield
from Asia, Europe and America. This low yield occasioned by many factors such
as poor soil, poor seed, high cost of farm input, climate change, low credit,
unstable market price, inadequate extension services leading to low income to
farmers and poverty.
It is only through a
formidable regional consultation framework of farmers’ organization that the
challenges of the farmers can be surmounted. Until these challenges of cereal
production are overcome, that the sector can achieve the desired goal of
improving the quality of life of members through increase income.
Thank you for
your kind attention.
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