Lessons From IFAD’s Success In Edo State

Hon. Abdul Oroh

Edo State Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Hon. Abdul Oroh has appealed to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) not to wind down the Community-Based Natural Resources Management Programme (CBNRMP) but should rather strengthen same.

Oroh, who made this appeal during an exclusive interview with AgroNigeria team in his home in Edo State, said the programme is well conceived.

“I think it’s a well conceived programme we have been happy to work with. The only problem I’ve seen is that we cannot expand it down to all the local government areas. Also, I’m told the programme is winding down, I think a good programme should not wind down rather it should be stepped up,” Oroh said.
He said youths, who initially had reservations about the programme, are today not only self-employed, but they are entrepreneurs.

“Unemployed youths who were engaged to develop their fish ponds were initially sceptical, they wanted to work in the banks or go to Lagos or Abuja to do something but they found themselves now taking care of their own lives. They are not only formulating the feeds, or drying the fish but they are also into marketing and they are making money and expanding.

“Most of our women on the other hand, are now running their poultries either as individuals or as cooperatives. We have some processing plants that we have established, we have the rice plant in Udoshi, we have cassava processing plant in Ogbuneken and a couple of other places. We also created infrastructure around those places like a borehole which members of those communities will benefit from and not just those who are members of the cooperatives or the farmers associations,” he said.

Oroh, while disclosing how successful the intervention programme was said “I would say it is a very successful programme in Edo State. The intervention is in nine local government areas but I think the multiplier effect has gone beyond the nine local governments. Three local governments were picked from each senatorial district and it covers areas like fisheries, aquaculture, crop, processing, access to market training and building of infrastructure.

“It has also assisted them in developing a saving culture -where you put some money in for investment for the raining days. The programme has also succeeded in training them to work together and to venture into new areas giving them the confidence to vary their scopes of operations. For instance, you see those who are growing only yam for their families, now they have gone beyond that. They grow yam, they now grow cassava, vegetable, citrus and many more,” he said CBNRMP is an IFAD intervention programme meant to invest in rural people.

The programme has made community development fund available to support local initiatives in sustainable livelihood improvement, natural resource management and the provision of small-scale community infrastructure.

The goal of the programme is to improve the standards of living and quality of life of the poor rural people in the Niger Delta, with a special focus on women and young people, spread across the nine Niger Delta states of Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers, where poverty is severe and widespread despite a wealth of natural resources.

It has been observed that poverty is especially prevalent among small-scale farmers cultivating food crops and among fishing communities using only rudimentary equipment. These groups lack food security and are highly vulnerable to environmental shocks. The programme encourages them to participate in developmental activities.

It also builds the capacity of government institutions at different levels to meet the needs of these groups, and consolidates partnerships among donors, NGOs and other agencies.

A major concern is to reduce tension and conflict by improving employment opportunities for young people and channeling their energies into the development of sustainable livelihoods and natural resource management activities.

AGRICULTURE AND FINANCE; A MARRIAGE OR A SHAM

Agro-business

It is beyond crucial that man has food to eat; its importance cannot be over-emphasized. Food sustains our very existence and ultimately, does agriculture.

Terms such as “Agro-business” or “Agricultural Finance” are not new to us, they have been discussed, deliberated upon and dissected with little or no tangible results, even if these terms are new, it can be quickly pieced together to go with agriculture and finance. A marriage of the two sectors.

Agricultural Finance refers to the acquisition of financial services such as; loans, leases, insurance of crop and/or livestock, it covers the whole agricultural processes of input supply, production, distribution and marketing. Agricultural practitioners and Farmers are expected to make use of the opportunities Agricultural Financing provides but how easy is it to access these opportunities and are they truly helpful to farmers?
The co-owner of Eltoda Farms, Mrs. Toyin Falade, opens up on her experiences as a Farmer and her challenges with agricultural finance.

Eltoda farms, majorly dealing in livestock farming (poultry) and aquaculture, have been running for 14years, Mrs. Falade in partnership with her husband runs the marketing aspect while he runs the production.

As regards the funding of the farm, she said “finance is important in agriculture; however it is not the most important thing, passion first. When we decided we wanted to go into Agriculture, we had so many challenges; we were losing money every day but passion kept us. The funds are not forthcoming as they ought to be from financial institutions considering the importance of agriculture to life”.

According to her, “most banks do not fully understand the need of an average farmer, what they do is sympathize with us but they do not empathize with us. They have no understanding of what we are faced with. You cannot just sit in the four walls of your office and draw up packages for a farmer without being on the farm to know what our needs are. They have no fair idea and come up with a lot of impossible criteria, far-fetched collaterals. They keep saying when you give a farmer a loan; they will go and marry a second wife”

Mrs. Falade further explained how the funds can be utilized if they were given to farmers and how technology has made farming easier, more efficient, increased speed, better output and made agriculture a fun thing to do.

“Currently, our farm is operating on a semi-automated system, but there are a lot of achievements we could have done if we were operating on a fully automated system. There are fully automated cages where the feeding system, drinking system and manure system are all automated. For instance, I have a three tier cage, and I noticed that on a particular side the birds are doing better and producing more than on the other side, that is because they are being fed by different people.

“The birds faring better, are being fed by a tall attendant and so he could dispense better on the topmost layer while the other birds are being fed by a average height attendant who cannot reach them. Also, no matter how skilled a person is, there would still be wastages. These are as a result of things done manually, if we had a device and the attendants input a figure to feed a 100,000 birds, it is the exact figure put in that would be delivered.

“This minimizes wastages and ensures efficiency. We need funds to acquire machines, if we had the machines, we would be more productive. Banks are not being helpful; they are looking for their own comfort in the form of collateral. I believe if banks seriously co-partnered with farmers, things will no longer be treated casually” She explained.

Speaking on the role being played by the government, the co-owner of Eltoda Farms stated that, “the government is very far from the farmers. We forget that Nigeria is a highly consuming nation, we do very little of production and hardly export. Focusing our attention solely on oil exploration, as a Nation, there are other ways we can grow and agriculture is a high employer of labour.

“If an average family is self-sufficient regarding their feeding, other issues become minimal. The reason people commit all sort of atrocities at times is because they cannot bear to see their family go hungry.” She continued “the government has been looking elsewhere, putting so much money into oil exploration and telecommunications with very little attention to agriculture. The government of Nigeria should go back to times we had initiatives such as; Operation Feed the Nation, as a Country, we need to be self-sufficient at least when it comes to our food.”

Advising the government, Mrs. Falade said she believes the government should be more involved in agriculture, re-instating that nobody can live without food, “the community in which our farm is located do not have electricity but it is still existing, but the community could never have survived without food. The government is cutting off the subsidy on fuel and people are still surviving, this subsidy should be for farm produces instead.”

She also mentioned the non-availability of regulatory bodies for agricultural products. “In my experience with poultry, business men bring in chicks; parent stocks from who knows where, but because there are no standards, no body to check if the chicks meet the criteria before they sell out, we get bad deals.”

The co-owner of Eltoda farms further lamented that oftentimes farmers ‘burn their fingers’ in investments without any form of profit to show forth, “having fed the chicks for 20 or 21 weeks, expecting them to lay eggs, you will realize the chicks are not healthy”.

“We do not have government cover. If you sell bad chicks to me and there is a body I can report to, and you would have to return part of my money or anything, then you will be more careful next time.”

She also gave examples of times when she had gotten vaccines for her hens, which was supposed to maintain a ‘cold chain’ hence it loses potency, only for it to cause a relapse in the hen, “they sold to us failed vaccines!”

Mrs. Falade pleaded with the government to protect farmers and the banks should also be willing to help by getting more involved in the processes of agriculture, “they should visit our farms, speak with us and know what we are faced with in order to be able to offer us something beautiful for an average farmer.”

Impact of Fertilizer Quality Control System in Nigeria

fertilizer quality control system

In a bid to ensure fertilizer quality control system in Nigeria, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), has join forces with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), to put in place policies that will ensure better agricultural yields through quality control.

Speaking at the launch of the AGRA-supported project with the theme “Establishment and Implementation of Fertilizer Quality Control System in Nigeria”, the Permanent Secretary of the FMARD, Arc Sonny Echono, represented by the Director, Farm Input Support Service Department of the Ministry, Akinbolawa Osho, said “fertilizer is a crucial input in crop production, and its importance in crop productivity, and food security of the country cannot be over emphasized”.

He also disclosed that the legal and regulatory framework for fertilizer quality control would enable the Federal Government Inspectors to undertake periodic quality control at fertilizer production plants, ports of discharge, and market outlets.

The Permanent Secretary disclosed that fertilizer samples would be drawn by inspection officials for laboratory analysis. He said that government has identified some violations in the sub-sector which include plant nutrient deficiencies, misbranding, adulteration, short weight of bags, bagging quality, operating without certificate of registration or with expired certificate of registration.

Echono, however, condemned the activities of some unscrupulous players who have been ripping farmers off the benefit accruable from their investment in fertilizer. He maintained that the obligation of the government under the policy statement is to ensure and enforce quality control of fertilizer through the establishment of a market-friendly, legal regulatory framework that is adopted and legislated by the ministry.

He said, “the legal and regulatory framework for fertilizer quality control will provide the Federal Government Inspectors the power to undertake periodic quality control at the fertilizer production plants, fertilizer samples to be drawn by inspection officials for laboratory analysis, payment of inspection fees, and guidelines for proper labeling,” among others.

Meanwhile, Echono assured that a draft Fertilizer Bill sent by the Ministry to the National Assembly had passed the first reading and it is expected to be passed into law soonest. He maintained that the present administration’s drive in the agriculture sector of the economy is geared towards employment generation, food security, and poverty reduction.

Earlier in her welcome address, the Deputy Director, Quality Control, FMARD, who is also the Project Manager, Chinyere Akudinobi, stated that the project was aimed at developing and implementing a functional fertilizer regulatory system in the country which she said would address the problems of fertiliser quality in Nigeria. Making a presentation on the project, Akudinobi noted that while fertilizer consumption was estimated at about 790,000 metric tonnes annually, 280,000 metric tonnes was blended locally while the rest was imported.

China Green Agriculture Attended the Changchun International Agricultural Expo

China Green Agriculture, Inc. (NYSE: CGA) ("China Green Agriculture", "we" or the "Company"), a company that mainly produces and distributes humic acid-based compound fertilizers, other varieties of compound fertilizers and agricultural products through its subsidiaries in China, today announced that the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Gufeng Chemical Products Co., Ltd. ("Gufeng"), had attended the 14^th Changchun International Agricultural Expo ( the "Changchun Expo"). The Changchun Expo was held from August 14, 2015 to August 23, 2015 at Changchun Modern Agricultural Demonstration Centre.

Changchun Expo was founded in 2000. It advocates that modernization is the key to speed up agricultural development. It has become the largest international agricultural expo in China, more than 1.7 million participants attended the Expo this year.

During the event, Gufeng showcased our advanced agricultural material and products as well as the Company's online sales platform for basic agricultural materials -- 900nong.com. The online sales platform had attracted interest from the Expo attendees and visitors. It showcased the most recent development direction for traditional agricultural business model.

Mr. Tao Li, chairman and CEO of the Company, stated, "We are excited to have participated in Changchun Expo, and we appreciate the increasing recognition of our business. I firmly believe this is just the beginning, and we look forward to more opportunities as we continue expanding our business operation in the agricultural industry."

About China Green Agriculture, Inc.
The Company produces and distributes humic acid-based compound fertilizers, other varieties of compound fertilizers and agricultural products through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, i.e.: Shaanxi TechTeam Jinong Humic Acid Product Co., Ltd. ("Jinong"), Beijing Gufeng Chemical Products Co., Ltd ("Gufeng") and a variable interest entity, Xi'an Hu County Yuxing Agriculture Technology Development Co., Ltd. ("Yuxing").

Jinong produced and sold 127 different kinds of fertilizer products as of June 30, 2015, all of which are certified by the government of the People's Republic of China (the "PRC") as Green Food Production Materials, as stated by the China Green Food Development Center. Jinong currently markets its fertilizer products to private wholesalers and retailers of agricultural farm products in 27 provinces, four autonomous regions, and three central-government-controlled municipalities in the PRC. Jinong had 1,010 distributors in the PRC as of June 30, 2015. Gufeng, and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Beijing Tianjuyuan Fertilizer Co., Ltd., are Beijing-based producers of compound fertilizers, blended fertilizers, organic compound fertilizers, and mixed organic-inorganic compound fertilizers. As of June 30, 2015, Gufeng produced and sold 332 different kinds of fertilizer products, and had 282 distributors in the PRC. For more information, visit http://www.cgagri.com. The Company routinely posts important information on its website.

Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the Company's business, products and financial results. The Company's actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements depending on a number of risk factors including, but not limited to, the following: general economic, business and environment conditions, development, shipment, market acceptance, additional competition from existing and new competitors, changes in technology, the execution of its ten-year growth plan, the foreign exchange risk amid the unexpected announcement by the PRC government in August 2015 sending the yuan to a 3% devaluation and various other factors beyond the Company's control. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this Safe Harbor Statement and the risk factors detailed in the Company's reports filed with the SEC. China Green Agriculture undertakes no duty to revise or update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law or regulations.

For more information, please contact:
China Green Agriculture, Inc.
Mr. Fang Wang (English and Chinese)
Tel: +86-29-88266383
Email: wangfang@cgagri.com

Storing organic manures in nitrate vulnerable zones

Organic manures

Organic manures come from animals, plants or humans. They include:

• slurry
• poultry manures
• solid manures (eg farmyard manure, sludge cake or compost)
• sewage sludge (also called biosoids)
• other liquid manures (eg abattoir waste or anaerobic digestate)

Slurry is a liquid organic manure that is produced by livestock (other than poultry) while in a yard or building. It includes animal bedding and water that drains from areas where animals are kept. 

You must separate slurry into solid and liquid parts using a machine on a waterproof surface where you can collect the liquid that drains from it. If the solid that remains can be stacked in a heap without leaking liquid, it can be treated as farmyard manure. If not, it's still slurry. If there is leakage from a stack, you must collect this and treat it as slurry. 

You must follow this guidance if a part or all of the farm buildings from which your slurry comes is within an NVZ. You must also follow the guidance on the rules for using nitrogen fertilisers in NVZs and storing silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil. 

Storing slurry and poultry manure

You must be able to store all the slurry you produce and all poultry manure produced in a yard or building, during the storage period, unless you reduce the volume by:

• sending it off your farm
• spreading some of it on fields with a low risk of runoff

The storage period runs from:

• 1 October to 1 April inclusive (6 months) for pigs and poultry
• 1 October to 1 March inclusive (5 months) for cattle, sheep, goats, deer and horses

In addition to storing the slurry you produce, you must provide storage for any slurry, rainfall, washings or other liquid that enters the store during the storage period. 

For rainfall, average figures for each month of the storage period can be used for the storage capacity calculation. Use the Defra PLANET and MANNER NPK nutrient management tools to get rainfall information for your postcode. 

You may need to use a longer average rainfall period for your calculation to make sure you comply with the closed period and non-spreading conditions. For example, 6 and 7 months respectively to cover wetter than average years and spatial rainfall differences within a postcode area (eg height above sea level). 

You may need a greater storage volume if in some years you can't empty the store before the start of the closed period. 

You should allow for:

• all rainfall expected to enter the store during the storage period (rain falling directly into the store and washings from elsewhere, including contaminated yards)
• any water or other liquids that enter the store during the storage period

To find out how much manure your animals will produce, you can use standard values tables (XSLM, 128KB ) or farm software like the MANNER NPK tool. 

Using low risk land

You can spread slurry or poultry manure on fields that have a low risk of runoff, to reduce the amount of storage capacity you need to provide. 

If you do this, you must still comply with the closed period for spreading slurry. 

You'll also need to take account of the limits on spreading slurry or poultry manure from the end of the closed period until the end of February. 

Land with a low risk of runoff:

• has an average slope of less than 3 degrees
• doesn't have land drains (other than a sealed pipe)
• is at least 50 metres from a watercourse or conduit leading to a watercourse (eg a ditch or working land drain)

You must provide storage facilities for an additional 1 week's manure as a contingency measure in case you can't spread on fields with a low risk of runoff on some days.

Storing solid manures

You must store poultry manure, other types of solid organic manure or animal bedding that contains organic manure in one of the following ways:

• in a container
• on a waterproof base, where you can collect and store runoff
• in a roofed building
• in a temporary field heap

Locating and constructing temporary field heaps

You must:

• make sure your field heap is at least 10 metres from any surface water (eg a river, pond or ditch) or land drain, or 30 metres if the land slopes at 12 degrees or more
• make sure the location of the field heap isn't liable to being waterlogged or flooded
• locate field heaps at least 50 metres from a spring well or borehole
• move the field heap at least every 12 months
• leave a 2 year gap before returning to the same site
• keep a record of the sites used for field heaps and the dates of use

You must show all the low risk areas suitable for temporary field heaps on your risk map if you plan to use them.

Temporary field heaps must:

• be made from manure solid enough to be stacked in a freestanding heap
• not give rise to free drainage from within the stacked material
• be covered with a waterproof material if they contain poultry manure without bedding or litter
• occupy as small a surface area as is needed to support the weight of the heap without it collapsing

Constructing or enlarging your storage facilities

If you're constructing new storage for slurry, reconstructing part of a storage facility or enlarging your current storage facilities, you must follow the rules on storing silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil. 

Keeping storage records

You must record:

• the capacity of the storage facilities on your farm (and update any changes to this within 1 week of the change)
• your calculation of the volume of manure that will be produced by the livestock you'll keep in a building or on hard standing during the storage period
• your calculation showing the amount of storage you need
• any changes in volume and storage capacity due to introducing livestock onto your farm for the first time (within 1 month of the change)
• your calculations to show how you've reduced your volume by sending slurry off your farm or spreading it on low-risk areas (if relevant)

By 30 April each year make a record of:

• the numbers and type ('category' in the standard values tables (XSLM, 128KB ) ) of livestock you kept in buildings or on hard standing during the previous storage period
• the dates for the start and end of use and locations of any field sites you use for storing solid manure

You don't need to record the start and end dates for your use of field sites separately if you record them on your risk map. 

You must keep these records for 5 years.

Contact the Farming Advice Service for more information on using and storing nitrogen fertilizers and manures.

Telephone: 0345 345 1302 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)

Email: advice@farmingadviceservice.org.uk

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria FG HARPS ON HUMAN CAPACITY FOR ECONOMIC, AGRIC DEVT...PG.24

FMARD

 The story has it that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has emphasized the need to develop human capacity in Nigeria to achieve economic growth, noting that the federal government is also determined to establish a sustainable agriculture sector that raises the incomes of the rural population while underpinning the national economy. 

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), Sonny Echono stated this while declaring open a staff training programme on innovative Collaboration for Development (CTA) in Abuja. 

The Permanent Secretary said the ministry seeks through the training to strengthen the staff capacity in developing and maintaining its online presence and relationship with the Nigerian public as well as play on effective role in influencing policy development processes and in supporting the development of effective value chains. 

Source: Thisday Newspaper of 16/9/2015 pg.24