Poultry Farmers Should Cooperate Not Compete – Ijewere

Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere

The need for cooperation and specialization in the Nigeria poultry industry has been re-emphasized.
Speaking at this year’s Nigeria Poultry Show organised by the Poultry Association Of Nigeria (PAN) which was held at the DLK Events Centre, Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Coordinator Nigeria Agribusiness Group (NABG), Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere said there is a need for poultry farmers to realize that they are not in any competition with anyone in the industry.

Ijewere, who is also the CEO Best Foods Global Limited, said poultry farmers in the country must understand that they are in poultry for business and not competition.

He said: “You must realize that you are in poultry for business and business means profit, profit means progress, progress means development and development means growth.

“Given the statistics we have, there is no poultry farmer in Nigeria that is in competition with anybody because whatever you produce does not even scrape the surface of the demand for poultry products in the country”

The NAGB Coordinator described as stupid and unprofitable the mentality of poultry farmers who build a cage around themselves, adding that there is a need to sort out ways by which everyone could work in cooperation.

Ijewere who noted that there are too many small poultry farmers in Nigeria, said about 90 percent are unprofitable.

According to him, there is a need for poultry farmers in Nigeria to locate and cooperate with their neighbours and also have an area of specialization.

“As poultry farmers, you have to move to a critical mass, find your neighbor and cooperate with them. There is no need for someone who has 500 birds to start processing them; the loose to be incurred is enormous. You need cooperation, you need to have specialization. Not everyone that says am in poultry business, needs to have a farm.

“There should be people who do the day old chicks; there should be people who do the aggregation of the feeds, maize, soya and all other inputs. We do not have enough of the specialization, do not try to be everything to every sector of this business” he said.

Ijewere further stated that there is a need for each poultry farmer to revolutionize his/her thinking, saying “the thinking in agribusiness in Nigeria today is no longer supply driven, it is now demand driven, fortunately for the poultry industry, the demand is high but it is getting more sophisticated.

“As the news of the imported chicken that is poisonous is growing, less people are asking for it, which means that they are going to ask for our own chicken. The question is are we ready? Do you have what they need? Do you have the quantity they demand and deserve? There is a need for you to start thinking change.
“We must not go on individual farming; we must go on collecting farming. We must be able to do it together with no competition in view” he said.

On the issue of off-takers, Ijewere said NABG is mapping out ways to end this challenge. He noted that due to the small nature of some poultry farmers, they are usually taken for granted and owed for several weeks before being paid especially by eatery owners. This he said happens because farmers are not united.
He however stated that there is a need for poultry farmers in Nigeria to realize that they are not in competition with anyone rather they need to be in cooperation with each other.

Ijewere therefore urged the host of the event PAN Ogun State Chapter, to as a matter of importance, map out ways to protect its own farmers in other to restore their hope, adding that the future millionaires in Nigeria must come from the agribusiness industry.

Nigeria Poultry Industry to Create 5 Million Jobs

Hon. Dr. Abubakar Amuda-Kannike

The desire of the Nigeria poultry industry to create five million jobs has been described as “completely in-tune” with the mission of the Buhari’s led administration.

Speaking at the 2015 Nigeria Poultry Show organised by the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) which was held in Abeokuta, Ogun State, the Chief speaker, a member of the House of Representative Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency, Hon. Dr. Abubakar Amuda-Kannike said the ambition of the Poultry Industry in Nigeria represents one of the solutions to the current rebellious crisis bedeviling our nation.

Amuda-Kannike said the theme of the event: “Poultry Value Chain: Unlocking One Trillion Naira Industry and Five Million Jobs”, coincide with the current change agenda which attempt to focus on job creation particularly via agriculture.

He said the theme also shows the desire of a group of people who believe in Nigeria project and are therefore working to compliment the efforts of the government to turn around the fortune of Nigerians by providing food and job security.

“As a country that is blessed with great natural resources, it will only be expected that as a people we take advantage of our heavily endowed environment. Once people can fend for themselves, the ability to commit crime will be reduced” Amuda-Kannike said.

Looking at the poultry industry in overview, the Chief speaker noted that if there is one thing that is universal, it is the world’s love for chicken.

“There is no doubt that the continuous increase in the demand for poultry products favours  poultry production, eggs and poultry meats over beef or cattle production to meet global protein needs.
“Poultry especially chicken and eggs are said to combine about 30.5 percent of the protein intake of Nigerians, nonetheless, harnessing the huge potentials of poultry products requires a very complex chain which in its self must engage expertise, finance, capital, logistics, labour and manpower” he explained.
Amuda-Kannike said this explains why the poultry industry in Nigeria is heavily characterised by subsistence of backyard and semi-commercial farmers with less than 1000 birds.

However, he noted that inasmuch as the Nigeria poultry industry is predominated by backyard farmers, the industry is still adjured to be estimated at about 80 million naira, which is about 400 million dollars, with over 100 million birds which produce 650 thousand metric tons of eggs and 290 thousand metric tons of poultry meat in 2013.

“The poultry industry is currently estimated to be responsible for contributing 25 percent of Nigerians Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The desire therefore of the Nigeria poultry industry to initiate a plan of providing jobs is completely in-tune with the mission of the current administration. In the words of President Muhammadu Buhari ‘Diversification of our economy is no longer something to pay lip service to’ Thus, there is no gain saying the fact that job creation in the country that has unemployment rate higher than 24 percent, invariably connotes putting a square peg in a square hole” he said.

Amuda-Kannike explained that the beauty of positioning agriculture in the economy can be derived from its huge multiplier effect, consequently expanding the frontiers of agriculture like the poultry industry is attempting to do, will certainly feed the country, provide jobs, reduce crime and insurgency and overall cause the necessary push for economic growth and development in Nigeria.

He noted that given that the agro-allied businesses and industries account for about 30 percent of national income in Africa, a large number of Africans depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

“If the Nigeria poultry industry is at the very verge of maximizing its potential by virtue of our peculiarity as a country with vast arable land as well as a large number of population, it is my believe that providing the five million jobs as stated by PAN is possible” the Chief speaker said.

However Amuda-Kannike stated that one of the greatest challenges in the poultry industry in Nigeria is the inability of the backyard or subsistent poultry farmers to migrate freely to large scale or commercial farming.
This according to him is fuelled by lack of finance as accessing of capital for business expansion is not easy in Nigeria and lending institutions especially commercial and micro-finance banks across the country have made it extremely difficult and unattractive for a large number of framers – particularly the poor farmers – to secure loans as theses banks attach unattainable conditions beyond the reach of the farmers.

He said “it is also lack of finance that enhances the low quality of production of feeds which is indeed another challenge facing the poultry industry in Nigeria. The process of producing poultry feeds is not properly handled and processed due to finance.”

Another challenge noted is the issue of pest and diseases control; poor electricity or inadequate power and water supply as component of basic infrastructure in Nigeria is already flocked; poor state of slaughtering houses of meat and egg processing facilities; shortage of agricultural extension agents and Vetinary health professionals especially for the rural local poultry farmers.

“Furthermore, are the challenges of inadequate data, poor marketing and information systems and the challenge of proper waste management – which is a great source of concern for environmental and health issues.

“Unlocking the potential of the Nigeria Industry therefore means addressing the major challenges confronting poultry in Nigeria” Amuda-Kannike said.

University of Uyo Holds Agric Exhibition, Bio Fortified Provita Flour on Display

University of Uyo students

On the heels of a memorable 21^st convocation ceremony of the prestigious University of Uyo, the Faculty of Agriculture of the university held an agric exhibition yesterday November 4, 2015 tagged “Akwa Ibom Dakkada to Agriculture”. The exhibition on post-harvest processing of agricultural produce which was the high point of a total package that encompassed enlightenment campaign, paper presentation and awards, inquisitively had on display a lone item – Provita Flour, a provitamin A cassava flour. The exhibition was so designed and organized to bring to fore, with exclusive courtesy, the numerous outstanding and unparalleled nutritional and economic advantages of beta carotene varieties of cassava – the yellow cassava.

 

Speaking with AgroNigeria correspondent, the Faculty of Agriculture 2014/2015 internship chairman, Ebube Ezenwa Geoben, asserted that Provita Flour is good for diabetic patients because of its low starch level and added nutritive value of high β-carotene, a precursor to vitamin A. He called on the government to invest more in universities by establishing laboratories to promote the evolvement of similar breakthroughs in other areas of agriculture. “The exhibition which is organized at the instance of the 2014/2015 internship students of the faculty is a podium for the promotion of high quality processed provitamin A cassava flour”, he surmised.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta), a native of South America was introduced into the southern part of Nigeria in the period of slave trade proliferated by Portuguese explorers in the sixteenth century. Over time, this tropical root crop has become a major economic sustenance crop as well as a cash crop of great importance in Nigeria, the world’s largest producer of cassava producing approximately 45 million tonnes, almost 19% of total world production.

Nigeria made history with the formal launch of three varieties of provitamin A cassava or beta carotene (β-carotene) cassava commonly referred to as yellow cassava as opposed to the white flesh of regular cassava roots. These varieties were jointly developed by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan and National Roots Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike.

While speaking at the launch of the cassava varieties at NRCRI Umudike, Abia State three years back, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, erstwhile minister of Agriculture and Rural Development and current president of African Development Bank (AfDB) remarked that Nigeria loses over 1.5 billion dollars in GDP annually to vitamin and mineral deficiencies as many staple foods are low in essential micronutrients. Independent research shows that almost 20% of pregnant women and 30% of children under the age of five suffer from vitamin A deficiency resulting in stunting in children, predisposition to sicknesses such as diarrhea and measles and even premature death. In pregnant women, vitamin A deficiency results in night blindness and increases the risk of mortality.

According to UNICEF, 43 % of under five children in Nigeria are stunted compared to 39% for all developing countries. In the Human Development Index (HDI), Nigeria ranks 158^th out of 182 countries with life expectancy of 48 years, risk of maternal death of 1 in 18 and under five mortality rate of 186 per 1,000 live births. With the highest absolute number of children who are stunted and with 41% of children under the age of five stunted, Nigeria’s stunting prevalence puts it as the 32^nd highest out of 136 countries- this is not a compliment! The grave necessity for apposite health and nutrition improvement to combat vitamin A deficiency remains most apparent.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that in the past three decades, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes, a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves, has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels. Dr Adesina, therefore, lauded the launch of provitamin A cassava which has lower percentage starch content as      ‘‘a revolution for nutrition and health in Nigeria’’. 

According to the former minister, provitamin A cassava will go a long way in correcting the nutritional and dietary deficiencies of the poor and vulnerable as well as individual and household vitamin A deficiency.

Obong, Joy Ime of the Department of Animal Science and an exhibition planning committee member said the exhibition was to showcase the product, Provita Flour made from provitamin A cassava. She outlined the uniqueness of Provita Flour to include high vitamin A content which makes it good for the eyes and skin, low starch content which makes it the baker’s choice and diabetics’ appeal, bio fortified product with lower cyanide content, ease of multiplication and propagation which makes it more economical in comparison with regular cassava cuttings. Enhanced awareness on the nutritive and economic values of the product will give it an edge over others, she added. She therefore called on relevant stakeholders to stimulate the expansion of market opportunities for provitamin A cassava and its products in Nigeria.

The students’ performance during the internship year particularly at Domita Farms Uyo, Vika Farms Uyo and Songhai Farm Port Harcourt, as appraised by the internship coordinator, Dr. Unyime Robson Etuk of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, was outstanding. This was collaborated by the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Iniobong Akpabio, who sent his goodwill message through the internship coordinator expressing his delight at his students’ drive towards modernized agriculture.

The exhibition brought together two chieftains and stakeholders in the Akwa Ibom agro business space who have so distinguished themselves as acclaimed achievers in agriculture under the names Domita Farms and Vika Farms. One year internship/field experience is a window that introduces students of agriculture to the real world of agriculture with myriads of challenges imploring for solutions, the chairman of the occasion, Head of Soil Science Department, Akwa Ibom State University and the owner of Domita Farms, the largest farm in Uyo, Dr Dominic Udoh posited. Currently a part time lecturer in the University of Uyo, Dr Udoh also doubled as the representative of the Head of Department, Soil Science and Land Resource Management, University of Uyo. The one time commissioner for agriculture applauded the students’ initiative and contribution towards the promotion of agriculture appreciation by the citizenry.

Students of agriculture with their innovative and enterprising minds should continue in the noble profession that bequeaths self-sufficiency, dignity and prestige. This was the position of Dr (Mrs) Asikpo Essienibok of the Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment who also doubled as the representative of Vika Farms Limited, Uyo. “Agriculture contributes the second largest percent to the country’s GDP and so we agriculturists do not take ourselves for granted”, remarked Jimmy Maxwell of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension.

The exhibition which also marked the end of the 2014/2015 internship year witnessed the award of certificates and agricultural souvenirs, a runway show, music performance and poem rendition as well as a paper presentation by Ms. Abasikpongke Willie, a student of Saints College Uyo -the younger generation of agriculturists.

Provita Flour, a product of the Faculty of Agriculture, made from provitamin A cassava is a high quality cassava flour best for consumption as fufu and excellent for bakery. In the words of Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, “…as you choose provitamin A bread, you are choosing improved health and nutrition”.

“The Lagos State government is interested in the agricultural sector”–Akinwunmi Ambode

Akinwunmi Ambode

The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode has said that the Lagos State Government recognizes the agricultural sector because of its ability to foster wealth and job creation in Nigeria.

He made this statement yesterday, November 5th, at the 4th EU-Nigeria Business Forum themed; “Unlocking Opportunities For Diversification”.

According to him, the conference which held at Eko Hotel Lagos was aimed at strengthening the bond between the European Union and Nigerian business individuals and organizations.

“The European Union’s relationship with Nigeria is a very significant one. Thus, the state government will continue to recognise agriculture, as it is a tool for wealth and job creation, as well as development in Nigeria” he said.

The governor also stated that the state will continue to build on the policies put in place by the previous administration noting that the state government has just developed policies on food security and has also appointed a special adviser on food security to this effect.

As part of the states’ vision to empower youths, Ambode said that it has just started an initiative called “Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme”.

To foster the security of investors, the governor also said the state has started a security trust fund and is also reforming the justice sector.

“Investment can only thrive in an environment where security is guaranteed” he said.
Having said that, Ambode urged prospective investors to take advantage of agrobusinesses like water recycling, fishery, forestry and other related businesses.

“Lagos is open for business and the European Union will hopefully help to boost our economic activities and also improve the competitiveness of Nigeria in the global market” he said.

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