The communiqué issued at the end of 2019 NATIONAL ORGANIC AGRICULTURE BUSINESS SUMMIT

 We, the 90 participants gathered at the 2019 National Organic Agriculture Business Summit (4 th edition) held at Solab Hotels and Suites, Ikeja, Lagos State, Nigeria from October 16 – 18, 2019 representing organic agriculture stakeholders from all the geo-political zones of Nigeria and the United States of America (one participant ).

The attendance represents circles of investors in agricultural input supply, crop production, processing, packaging and consumers. Also represented at the gathering were representatives of government organisations related to agriculture, education (research and higher educational institutions), trade, health and environment, hotels and hospitality, supermarket operators, media practitioners and civil rights organisations. The summit’s deliberations centred on the theme ‘Organic export opportunities for national development’.

RESOLVED 

·         that the level of understanding of organic agriculture principles and practices is low in Nigeria; 

·         that the activities of Organic Agriculture platforms in Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for policy formulation and implementation are at low ebb compared to the size of the country;

·          that the understanding of possible business opportunities from organic agriculture is poor among potential stakeholders; 

·         that there is huge technical knowledge gap of organic agriculture production system in the country;

·          that extension services to facilitate organic agriculture in the country is almost nonexistent;

·          that sourcing of organic inputs in the country is still very challenging;

·          that there is poor awareness of the required procedures for certification of organic produce and products for both domestic and export trade;

·          that there is extremely limited enabling environment for organic agriculture business development in the country; 

·         that there is the need for a holistic engagement of youths and women in organic agriculture for meaningful economic participation;

·         that there is the need to increase Nigerian organic market share (in term of produce, products and  services) in the global market e.g. BioFach (which holds yearly by mid February at Nuremberg, Germany); 

·         that there is the need for more science based evidence and facts through research to promote organic agriculture; 

·         to emphasise the need for funding of the annual National Organic Agriculture Business Summit in order to extend its benefits to more stakeholders; thereby contributing to national development;

·           to mainstream organic agriculture into existing curricula for agricultural training at higher educational institutions (HEIs) in Nigeria;

·         that there is need for appropriate funding to support the efforts of organic agriculture entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

 RECALLING

·          that Nigeria subscribes to the Sustainable Development Goals; specifically Goal 2 (Zero Hunger), Goal 3 (Good Health and Well-being), Goal 5 (Gender Equality) and Goal 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) that are relevant to organic agriculture;

·         that Nigeria is yet to achieve a remarkable share in the current global organic market of over USD 100 billion;  that available facts reveal paucity of scientific evidences to support organic agriculture in Nigeria, especially for exportable produce and products; 

·         that organic agriculture is not reflected in the existing curricula for agricultural training at higher educational institutions in Nigeria; 

·         that agricultural funding policies of the Government have not given adequate attention to organic agriculture sub-sector;

 WE URGE 

·         all tiers of government in Nigeria to fully explore opportunities in the African Heads of States and Governments’ Decision on Organic Farming [EX.CL/Dec.621 (XVII), 2010]; 

·         appropriate organisations with expertise in organic agriculture to consistently enlighten stakeholders in Nigeria on principles and practices of organic agriculture; 

·         relevant national organisations and international partners to provide entrepreneurial education on organic agriculture for all stakeholders in the agricultural value chain; 

·         organisations in charge of academic curricula of HEIs in the country to mainstream organic agriculture into the academic curricula of the HEIs in Nigeria for the development of technically sound faculty and workforce in the sector; 

·         Agricultural Development Programmes and other extension service arms in the country to properly train their personnel to be able to assist farmers in overcoming challenges associated with organic agricultural production; 

·         appropriate agencies of Government ministries (Agriculture & Rural Development, Industry, Trade and Investments, Health, Environment, Mineral Resources, Science & Technology, etc.) to contribute to the development of organic agriculture in the country; 

·         public and private organisations with mandate for organic agriculture to consistently train producers on certification and export procedures in organic agriculture; 

·         that appropriate policies be put in place to provide enabling environment for organic agriculture business development in the country, especially the Nigerian Organic Agriculture Bill that has been drafted since 2016. The bill could be pushed through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as an executive bill; 

·         national organising committee of the annual National Organic Agriculture Business Summit to be better expanded to bring on board various stakeholders like Organic Division of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investments, the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) , National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the National Agricultural Seeds Council (NASC), National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Bank of Agriculture (BoA) and Washington State University, United States of America.

·           that the National Organic Agriculture Business Summit should be well positioned to attract more local and foreign business opportunities in the organic agriculture sector; 

·         establishment of Organic Agriculture platforms in all relevant MDAs for policy formulation and implementation. An example can be seen in Morocco where a special Department for Organic Agriculture was established at both national and state equivalent levels.

APPRECIATING

·          the efforts of partner organizations of the Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA) Initiative in  Nigeria, namely; Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria (Country Lead Organization), Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Farmer Development Union (FADU), Justice Development and Peace Commission (JDPC), Uyo, Organic research teams of University of Ibadan, Kwara State University and Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Ikot Ekpene Women Food Cash Crops (MPCS) and Healthy Food for Consumers Initiatives, under the chairmanship of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for organizing the National Organic Agriculture Business Summit and contribution to development of organic agriculture systems in Nigeria; 

·         funding from the Swiss Agency for Cooperation and Development (SDC) of Switzerland for EOA Initiative in Nigeria; 

·         Prof. Akin Abayomi, the Hon. Commissioner, Lagos State Ministry of Health for gracing the Summit and presenting the maiden edition of OrganiCulture (National Organic Agriculture

·         the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investments for supporting organic agriculture in the country; 

·         the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and The Sun Newspaper for supporting organic agriculture in the country; 

·         the efforts of the National Universities Commission (NUC) and National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) for their positive involvement in mainstreaming organic agriculture into existing curricula of agricultural programmes for HEIs in Nigeria; 

·         H.E., Lt. Col. Abubakar Zakariya Maimalari (Rtd) [Former Military Administrator of Jigawa State and C.E.O Excel Standards Ltd., Kano], Prof. V.I.O. Olowe (the President of the Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners of Nigeria), Dr. Cornelius Adewale (Washington State University), representatives of Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), the Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), Bank of Agriculture (BoA) for their presentations during this Summit, as well as the various exhibitors during the event;

·          the consistent support of the ECOWAS Commission, Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC), the Association of Deans of Agriculture in Nigeria (ADAN), Organic Agriculture Practitioners in Tertiary Institutions in Nigeria (OAPTIN), National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC), the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) for the development of organic agriculture in the country.

CONGRATULATING THE 2019 NATIONAL ORGANIC AGRICULTURE MERIT AWARD WINNERS 

·         Barr. Olusola M. Sowemimo of Ope Farm, Ogun State, as the Organic Farmer/ Processor of the year, 

·         Mrs. Ebere Agozie of the News Agency of Nigeria, as the Advocacy/Media Personality of the year and 

·         Anambra State Government, as the State Government of the year, in appreciation of their dedication and devotion to the development of organic agriculture in Nigeria.

We agreed to meet in Uyo 2020 for the fifth edition, while bidding for hosting of 2021 and 2022 NOABS will be done at Uyo, for the sixth and seventh National Organic Agriculture Business Summit to further pursue the drive for the development of organic agriculture businesses in the country.