‘Zero Hunger Project has not met its goals ’

Recently, Food Farm News had a chat with the National Coordinator for Zero Hunger Farmers, Mr. Tunde Arosanye. He bared it all revealing how solvable problems have bogged down the project making it unproductive and unable to meet its goals. Excerpts...

Can we meet you Sir?

My name is Dr. Tunde Arosanye , National Coordinator for Zero Hunger Farmers

That project has been on for the period of three years now or there about, what can you give as your assessment of the program in relation to food security in Nigeria?

I can just score Zero Hunger activities in the last three years just 50 per cent, and this is so because the Federal Government has not adequately played the role she is expected to play on her own leg of the project agreement by the United Nations (UN)

Really?

Yes

How?

During the time of Chief Audu Ogbeh as minister, the government could not key into some of the pivot of the scheme. For example, if there is a donor fund from UN and African Development Bank, and it is expected that 20 percent of the fund is supposed to come from coordinating country like Nigeria, and it never comes. This means that the program will be standing on one leg instead of two. Some of the research institutes that were supposed to be funded were not adequately funded coupled with the fact of lack of enabling environment that suppose to be put in place to identify critical gaps in the food production especially ensuring the safety of farmers in the farm. It is the responsibility of government to provide security which is not there,  and it is known that farmers and the herders have been conflicting, and banditry etc have actually reduced the activities of the practical farmers on the field. All these put together has affected the performance of the program in Nigeria.

But the program is still continuing?

Yes, as our chairman, former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is doing the best he can. But he has not got the adequate support or attention or encouragement from the federal government.

Let us leave that for now and come back to general issues on Agriculture in Nigeria as you will agree with me that so many challenges and hindrances are bedevilling or befalling the sector from moving forward. What is the way forward?

You are every correct many challenges are bedevilling the sector from primary production level to secondary production level and tertiary production level. The farmer which is the category i belong is the primary producers. Issues on land development, issues on tractorization, issues of inadequate inputs and substandard inputs like herbicide, insecticide and what have you fertilizer, adequate seed; Issues of poor research funding and moribund extension services,  markets and poor budgeting allocation to agriculture are all serious issues to be solved.

These problems are so enormous that the farmers are always using the little they can save to handle the farming business. Only few of them are benefiting from government loans, along the value chains most of the produce sell far below cost of production, and even if they have farm, like rice and cassava they, they may just discover the farms have been grazed by cattle. And every effort to stop these cattle grazing has been in vain as they say they always migrate in the night, and they cannot be traced. All these things are so complicated that the Nigerian agriculture is gradually going down.

Does this means there is no remedy or way out?

There are remedies because we cannot fold our hands because we need to feed. Food is basic necessity of man, without food you cannot talk about the existence of a state or nation like Nigeria. Nigeria is a nation of about 200million people, we cannot be a sovereign nation and be relying on aids and imported food as a nation. So I believe, there are no challenges without solutions. Government at all levels, federal, state and local should be proactive by engaging farmers to identifying  the challenges they are passing through from production to marketing, and putting appropriate mechanism in place to address  all these challenges which are so enormous. For example fresh graduates that want to go into farming, after roaming the street for two years. How does he access land? If he has family land, the land needs to be cleared.  To clear one hectare even in the savannah, you need N100, 000 to N150, 000 so where can a fresh graduate get such? , there are no sufficient tractors, the capital are not that available, if you go to commercial banks they will say that deposit cash are not available, and if they will lend, you will pay between 20-25 percent interest rate annually. It is practically impossible to break even at the rate. So we can go on and on. The people in processing are facing electricity and other infrastructural challenges like the roads are not okay for the farmers to take their produce to the markets. The roads are bad as users face obstacle of big potholes that turn down agricultural produce thereby leading to wastages and some are being attacked. All these are surmountable. There must be serious commitment from all tiers of government and stakeholders; we must see Nigeria as our own country with commitment.