EU-Nigeria Business Forum, Boost For FDI In Nigeria- Echono

Arc. Sonny Echono & Mr. Michel Arrion

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arc. Sonny Echono, has restated the importance of the EU-Nigeria Business Forum to the investment drive of government in the agricultural sector. Arc. Echono stated this on Monday, 2^nd November, 2015, when he received a two-man delegation of the European union (EU) led by the Ambassador and Head of Delegation, Mr. Michel Arrion in his office.

The Permanent Secretary explained that the opportunity of the business forum would help in promoting the current government plan of developing the agric value chains, now that government is diversifying from oil to agriculture.

Echono said the ministry’s participation would also provide a platform to discuss the EU ban on the exportation of Nigeria’s beans, which according to him was caused by excessive use of chemicals for preservation, saying other areas of collaboration and cooperation would also be explored.

He said the European Union is supporting Nigeria in the area of cotton where it has a better expertise.
The EU Ambassador and Head of delegation, Mr. Michel Arrion, in his remarks, stated that the EU has a  20-member strong relationship and presence in Nigeria  and would be willing to invest in the Nigerian industrial sector especially agriculture. He therefore called for more business and trade relations between the EU member-states and Nigeria.

The Permanent Secretary also received in audience the Ambassador of Ireland, Sean Hoy, and discussed issues bordering on areas of collaboration between the two countries.

During the meeting, Arc.  Echono, solicited for support in the areas of modern farming equipment to promote value addition. He strongly emphasized the need to bring technology into farming, massive production and linkage to markets and suggested the need to develop a template on areas of focus between Nigeria and Ireland for an effective cooperation.

In his remarks, Ambassador Hoy, stated the importance of establishing a strong economic tie with Nigeria, saying Ireland have a global expertise in the agricultural sector especially in high quality dairy products, tropical crops and nutritional drinks.

Considering the availability of raw materials in the country, he expressed his excitement with the proposed cooperation with Nigeria.

Nigeria’s Poultry Farmers Yearn To Fill Five Million Job Gap

Poultry farmers in the country under the aegis of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) on Tuesday, said its member were capable of creating five million jobs and unlock a trillion naira industry if they are provided with enabling environment and support by the government.

The body at the annual Nigeria poultry show in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, assured that the body was ready to key into the diversification of the economy which is a key component of President Muhammadu Buhari’s change agenda.

The national president of the association, Dr. Ayoola Oduntan made this known in his remarks at the 3 day event.

He said against the backdrop of federal government’s ban on importation of poultry products, the Nigerian farmers have the capacity to feed the nation, insisting that government should encourage them to achieve the feat.

Oduntan, explained that the theme for this year’s poultry show, “Poultry Value Chain – Unlocking One Trillion Naira Industry and Five Million Jobs”, had become imperative in order to show the determination and commitment of the body to the seriousness of agriculture as a potential sector, which could solve the nation’s economic problems.

He said “the industry’s potential is enormous in increasing the economy of the country if necessary measures are put in place. The value chain is unique, but in this country, everything is manual. The theme for this year is very important, which the present administration can achieve with us, with the right environment.”

He stressed that with the appointment of a new federal minister of agriculture, “the situation will improve for us and the country for good,” just as he commended the local and foreign investors who have shown interest in participating at the fair.

Ogun state chairman of Associatio, Dr. Lekan Odunsi, in his speech, said the fair was to showcase to the world that the industry has potentials “and that these potentials can attract foreign investors, which will lead to creation of jobs for our youths.”

He added that event was also an avenue “to see new technology, form new relationship and also to know that the capacity is there for optimal production in the poultry industry.”

The Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Emmanuel Ejiwere, urged all farmers in the country to collaborate with one another to expand their farm products, lamenting that there were so many small farms in the country which are not profitable.

“All poultry farmers in the country need to come together, there are so many small farms in the country. And these farms are not profitable. Find your neighbour and corporate with him. We are not in any competition, rather be co-operators. We need cooperation and specialization in our agric industry. We need to revolutionalise the way we think. The theme of this show can come to reality, if we think together and support one another in the industry”.

“We must join hands to fight for our farms, fight all the eateries which delay payments, the future millionaires in this country must come from the farmers, there is business in this industry”. He said.

A member, House of Representatives, representing Ilorin East and South, Dr. Amuda Kannike, while delivering his address, said that the federal government should make sure it revolutionalise the agriculture industry like it promised, stressing that truly the industry can reduce the unemployment rate in the country and also tackle insurgency.

Roaster Aims to Develop Nigeria’s Coffee Crop and Culture

Nasra Ali, managing director of Kaldi Africa, is pictured in her company's tasting room in Lagos

Like many of its cash crops, Nigeria’s coffee sector has been neglected for years in favor of more lucrative commodities like oil. But one of the few commercial coffee roasters in the country plans to change that.

The coffee found on the streets and supermarkets of Nigeria is mostly of the instant sort, and almost always imported. But Nasra Ali thinks Nigerians are ready for something different.

A daughter of a Kenyan coffee family, she runs Kaldi Africa, which takes beans grown in eastern Taraba state and roasts them in a warehouse in the commercial capital Lagos to make perhaps Nigeria’s only local blend.

Homegrown brew
Ali is counting on the country’s rising consumer class to shun imports in favor of her homegrown brew.
“We are trying to see how to be able to be part of that growth, with our value addition and ensuring that we really are able to appreciate good coffee in Nigeria,” said Ali.

Agriculture was once a major part of Nigeria’s economy, but it fell by the wayside as oil production began dominating the economy in the 1960s.

Head of Operations Alfred Mwai runs his hands through coffee beans in Kaldi Africa's warehouse in Lagos,

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari said he wants to build up the agriculture sector, although he has yet to appoint ministers to carry that out.

Head of operations Alfred Mwai said one of Kaldi Africa’s goals is to work with farmers to improve the quality of Nigeria’s beans.

“Are you able to bring up practices that will really be able to process the coffee to ... a quite clean level. Which will of course go to the next level of specialty coffee,” said Mwai.
In the meantime, the company hopes to not just win over customers, but to make good coffee a part of Nigerians' morning ritual.

Nigeria's Effort to Boost Agriculture Faces Many Challenges

 A farmer holds up a bunch of cassava roots, dug up from his farm in Oshogbo, Nigeria.

The pothole-ridden roads that connect Lagos, Nigeria's bustling commercial capital, with Adeniyi Bunmi's leafy farm in southwestern Ogun state are among the many challenges that the entrepreneur faces.
"You can't even drive in to an average farm," said Bunmi, arguing that access to his 150-hectare site, which was a dense forest until it was cleared by bulldozers six years ago, is good compared with that for other rural areas.

The poor transport infrastructure in Africa's most populous nation is one of the major obstacles in the way of President Muhammadu Buhari's aim of boosting agriculture and reducing the reliance on oil exports at a time of low crude prices.

The pockmarked route between Lagos and Bunmi's farm alternates from tarmac to gravel and dirt tracks, making it hard to transport plantain, pineapples and other produce to clients in the city, a bumpy two-hour drive away.

But roads in the southwest are generally better than those in the north, where the infrastructure is far worse.
Africa's biggest economy and top energy producer has been hammered by low crude prices, since it relies on oil exports for around 70 percent of government revenues. Buhari, who took office in May, has said a strengthened agriculture sector would create jobs and reduce the reliance on costly food imports.

"The petroleum we had depended on for so long will no longer suffice," he told an agrarian trade body three months after taking office in May. "We campaigned heavily on agriculture, and we are ready to assist as many as want to go into agricultural ventures."

But five months after Buhari took office, his cabinet is yet to be sworn in, leaving him without an agriculture minister to flesh out policy details.

A proposed $25 billion infrastructure fund to invest in much-needed modernization of road, rail and power networks, announced by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday, is still in the planning stage.

Nigeria has tens of millions of farmers, most of whom work on a subsistence basis and live on less than $2 a day, making the warehouses, electricity access and machinery needed to improve efficiency unattainable.

Food imports
The resulting inefficiency explains why Nigeria produces 1.5 million tonnes of tomatoes annually, of which 45 percent perish.

The inability of farmers to feed a nation of 170 million people has led to an increasing reliance on imported food. Nigeria is among the world's largest importers of rice and the biggest buyer of U.S. wheat, while much of its own fertile land lies fallow.

In 2012, it imported 2.3 million tonnes of rice, a record high. Some 4.1 million tonnes of wheat was brought into Nigeria in the same year, nearly double the amount imported in 2000.

The rocketing food import bill, against a backdrop of a weakening naira and strong dollar, has contributed to consumer inflation rising to an annual rate of 9.4 percent in September, its highest level since February 2013.

Buhari has referred to the rising cost of living as one of the motivations for reinvigorating an agriculture sector that in the 1960s was the top source of employment and, until recently, remained the biggest contributor to GDP.

Since last year's GDP rebasing calculation, agriculture has fallen behind the services sector, making up 21 percent of Africa's largest economy, highlighting how far it has fallen since the oil boom of the 1970s shifted priorities.

"It requires a lot of capital," said Bunmi, 37, who used money from relatives to buy land incrementally over the last six years and now employs 125 people.

"People don't want to invest. They would rather invest in a business that would bring a product out very fast," he said.

Corruption
The inability to secure funds leaves many farmers unable to take the steps needed to move beyond subsistence farming, such as hiring bulldozers to clear land for farming, building warehouse facilities and buying tractors.

Nigeria's farmers have received little help from successive governments that vowed to support development, said Otunba Oke, who chairs the Lagos branch of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria.

"The government should assist with grants. The government should work with banks to ensure more favorable interest rate payments for farmers," he said, adding that most farmers were unable to meet the requirements to secure loans.

However, previous efforts at government intervention have been undermined by corruption and mismanagement, agriculture analyst Liborous Oshoma said, with many people profiting at the expense of farmers.

"People are leaving agriculture in their droves and looking for white-collar jobs," added Oshoma.
Bunmi has an image on his mobile phone of his sons, aged 4 and 7, digging on the farm. Would he encourage them, and others, to follow in his footsteps?

"An average person will come into [farming] once they know the toil, the stress, the struggle will not go in vain," he said.

EU Gives Nigeria Deadline On Export Of Contaminated Food Products

Dr Paul Orhii

The European Union (EU) has given Nigeria June 16, 2016 deadline to put a management system in place to reduce pesticide contaminated food products the country exports to the region or face continued rejection of exports.

Meanwhile, the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is worried that these food products rejected at the international market because of their high pesticide residue are actually what Nigerians consume at home.

NAFDAC director-general, Dr Paul Orhii said this could explain the increased level of cancers, kidney failures and different other diseases in the country.

Orhii said this yesterday when the new Comptroller General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col Hameed Ali (rtd.) visited him in Abuja adding that NAFDAC seeks collaboration in safeguarding the health of the nation.

He said: “We have taken on the job to make sure that we are going to deploy mobile laboratories that will go from farms and markets to identify at what point these contaminants get into the food products and once we identify it we will conduct public awareness campaign and workshops for the people growing these foods.”

“We also want to put a system in place so that before these products leave our shores to the international markets, the NCS can inquire and test these products to curb the incidence of rejects at the markets.”

According to NAFDAC, the rejection of Nigeria food items on the international market especially Europe, United States and Japan because of concerns on the quality of some of the products is crippling the economy of Nigeria.

“This is most especially when it comes to agricultural products like sesame seeds and beans which sometimes contain some contaminants like aflatoxins- pesticides residue. “

“When we came in, Nigerian cocoa beans were been rejected at the international market because of pesticides residue but we held workshops with cocoa growers in Akure and since then, our cocoa exports have improved,” Orhii added.

He said that NAFDAC’s collaboration with the NCS has come a long way right from the inception of the agency and pledged his commitment at making such collaboration grow even stronger. “We are very happy that you talked about using technology to make our work easier and we will continue to improve in that regard.

“We are also aware of the radical reforms that going on in the Nigerian customs under your command and we fully support it and assure you that we are poised to partner with the NCS to keep Nigeria off smuggled counterfeit and substandard regulated products,” Orhii said.

600m People To Suffer Malnutrition By 2080 – UN

Hilal Elver

The United Nations on Wednesday warned that an additional 600 million people could be subjected to malnutrition by 2080 as a result of thesevere threats posed to food security by climate change.

Making this warning in a press release made available to our correspondent in New York, Hilal Elver, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, said global leaders must urgently stop the severe and distinct threats on food security.

Furthermore, the UN food expert added that increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather, rising temperatures and sea levels,as well as floods and droughts had a significant impact on the right to food.
According to Ms. Elver, all these climate incidents would negatively impact on crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture and on people’slivelihoods.

Warning that responding to the food demand throughlarge-scale production oriented agricultural models was not the right solution,the UN official noted that there was a need for a major shift from industrial agriculture to trans-formative systems such as aggro-ecology that support thelocal food movement, protect small holder farmers, respect human rights, food democracy and cultural traditions, and at the same time maintain environmental sustainability and facilitate a healthy diet.

She continued that those who had contributed the least to global warming were the ones set to suffer the most from its harmful effects,urging that urgent action was needed to respond to the challenges posed by climate change.

“Civil society pressure is mounting on the parties of the United Nations framework Convention On Climate Change(UNFCCC) to achieve results in Paris by adopting a human rights approach to the climate change agreement that will respect, protect and fulfill human rights of all persons, and especially those most vulnerable. Any agreement must include aclear commitment by all relevant parties to ensuring climate justice and foodsecurity for all,” Ms. Elver said

Farmers Urge to access CBN intervention fund

farmers

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has advised farmers to develop agri-business proposals to access the ₦200 billion Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) intervention fund.

The Lagos State Chairman of the association, Mr Femi Oke who gave the advice in an interview with newsmen recently in Lagos said the fund has been available, however, farmers and agribusiness owners were not utilising it.

Oke disclosed that the fund was an avenue for farmers to develop their productivity through the use of modern technologies.

“We are happy with the intervention fund by the CBN being disbursed through commercial banks. Although the fund has been in existence, but farmers are not taking full advantage of it. All they need to do is forward a credible business proposal through any commercial bank.

“The fund repayment plan is at a single digit interest rate which is very good because farmers cannot deal with double digit interest rate,” he said.

The chairman, however, called on the Federal Government to advise commercial banks to desist from collecting or making other charges, which discourage farmers from accessing the fund.

He alleged that the banks were making the process too difficult for farmers thereby scaring them away.
It will be recalled that the CBN, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, introduced the Commercial Agriculture Credit Guarantee Scheme (CACS) in 2009 to finance agriculture value chain. The value chain begins from input supply to cultivation and finally to marketing.

The CACS was originally introduced to fast-track the development of the economy through credit facilities at a single digit interest rate.

Report has it that a farmer is entitled to ₦5 million and above from the CBN intervention fund.

Agricultural revolution will check corruption – Farida Waziri

Dr. Farida Waziri

A call has been made for the diversification of Nigeria’s economy through policies that will boost agricultural productivity and industrial output for the nation’s socio-economic development.

Former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Dr. Farida Waziri, who made the call while commissioning the World Bank Africa Centre of Excellence Project, “Centre for Food Technology and Research” (CEFTER), located at the Benue State University (BENSU), Makurdi said the time had come to diversify the nation’s economy from being oil revenue driven to other sectors, especially Agriculture.

Waziri, who was the chairperson at the official launch of the Centre, noted that the World Bank project is coming to Nigeria at the right time.

According to statement by her media aide, Ade Williams, the former EFCC boss said long years of over-dependence on oil revenue is one of the driving forces of public and private sector corruption in the country.

She said “No doubt, our over-dependence on oil revenue has brought us to the point where we are as a nation today. As an anti-corruption czar, I have seen how some of those the nation entrusted with its oil resources in the past helped themselves more than the country.

“With our focus on agriculture, the struggle by political office holders to steal oil fund would diminish while the national wealth will be in the hands of the people instead of a privileged greedy few. We cannot all dig oil wells in our backyard but we can all farm in our backyards. It is time to end oil-money induced corruption in our land by buying into President Buhari’s vision and take ownership.

“I have made my contributions in the fight to discourage that and even recovered some of the looted funds in billions of dollars. For daring to do that, I came under fierce attacks, slander, blackmail and threats but by God’s grace and long years of experience, I survived all. I am glad today that indeed, there is a new sheriff in town.”

She further said: “I am aware the mandate of CEFTER is to promote teaching, research and extension in Post Harvest services, enhance agricultural productivity and industrial output for the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria and Africa. I must admit that this can’t be coming at a better time than now when the new leadership of our country is already looking towards agriculture as a more reliable alternative to oil revenue.

“With the strategic location of CEFTER in the food basket of the nation, Benue state and the caliber of hands that have been put in charge to manage the project, I will wholeheartedly seek the support of the federal government, multi-nationals and well-meaning Nigerians and our friends across the country that this is one project all of us should support in the interest of our national economy and economic development of all.”
Waziri added that the support will in no small way reduce the over $4 billion estimated as the yearly post harvest losses incurred by African countries.

While counseling the managers of the Centre to make dedication and transparency their watchwords, the former EFCC boss commended the Vice Chancellor of BENSU, Prof. Charity Angya, and the Project Manager of CEFTER, Dr. Barnabas Achakpa Ikya, for their efforts to see the project take-off.
Benue State University was chosen by the World Bank as one of its 10 Africa Centres of Excellence Project.

10,000 Akwa Ibom Youths will get Agric Jobs – Gov. Emmanuel

Udom Emmanuel

The Akwa Ibom State Government has said it will create jobs for 10,000 youths in the agricultural sector in order to sustain its administration’s plan for an agricultural revolution.

Governor Udom Emmanuel who disclosed this during the weekend in Uyo, the state capital, in an interaction with leaders of major socio-cultural organisations, said his administration was committed to laying a solid economic foundation for the future through industrialisation.

Emmanuel said for the agricultural revolution’s take-off, 10 modernised cassava processing plants would be established across the state.

The governor noted that the state was blessed with arable land that makes cultivation easy for all seasons.
He therefore reiterated the commitment of his administration to exploiting the agricultural potential in the state by ensuring that the vast arable land across the state was cultivated.

Emmanuel said the job creation plan would make it easier for youths – who were sent to Israel for training on mechanised farming – to maximize their skills in agriculture.

He noted that the move was meant to ensure that indigenes could earn a living rather than beg for it, adding that “If we do not plant today, there may not be harvest tomorrow to sustain the people, as over-dependence on oil cannot do the economy any good.”

Nigeria can reduce wheat importation by 25% – Peju

wheat

The representative of the International Potato Centre, (IPC) in Nigeria, Dr. Phorbee Peju has said the Country can reduce importation of wheat by 25 per cent, if its farmers embraced proper growth of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes, (OFSP).

Peju, who spoke at the 18th annual lecture of Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), Ilorin on the topic; ‘Food Security, Employment Generation and Wealth Creation in a Developing Economy: the Role of (OFSP),’ said OFSP, which could be grown in all the 36 states of the Federation could meet some bakery needs in Nigeria.

According to her, the bakery industry – which is the largest industry in Nigeria – can boost farmers’ productivity; improve nutrition and livelihoods if OFSP- in form of puree – can be used in bread baking and other pastry products like cookies, cakes, pies and so on.

She said a composite flour of about 40 per cent OFSP puree has been made into well acceptable bread for commercial purpose in Nairobi while most bakery in Osun State are presently using it.

Peju noted that this inclusion even at 25 per cent, will go a long way in reducing dependence on wheat importation, conserve foreign exchange, put more money in farmers’ pockets and productively engage our women and youths, adding that this is just one aspect of use, not to mention other products that can be adopted from countries especially China.

She disclosed that there are other commercial high value products that can be made from the OFSP like juice, complementary foods, and jam/spread.

According to the country’s representative, Rainbow project, in collaboration with the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta and Federal Polytechnic Offa are working tirelessly on OFSP diversified product development and promotions for uptake by the medium-large scale industries.

OFSP is a breed of sweet potato that is fortified with Vitamin A; which is an essential micronutrient for all especially children under the age of five, pregnant and lactating mothers, just as it improves vision.

Beyond ‘boil and eat’, the OFSP had been processed into various commercial products and also used to enrich indigenous foods. Rural women processors in the six OFSP projects’ states have successfully come up with OFSP Kunu, (local beverage), OFSP gaari, Fufu, elubo, pap and other meals.