TOMATOES: THE TOAST OF FESTIVITIES

tomatoes

These are tomatoes; crucial farm produce and core constituent of daily meals and vegetarian diets.
Tomatoes are widely known for their outstanding antioxidant content and rich concentration of lycopene. Researchers have recently found an important connection between lycopene, its antioxidant properties, and bone health. A study was designed in which tomato and other dietary sources of lycopene were removed from the diets of postmenopausal women for a period of 4 weeks, to see what effect lycopene restriction would have on bone health. At the end of 4 weeks, women in the study started to show increased signs of oxidative stress in their bones and unwanted changes in their bone tissue. The study investigators concluded that removal of lycopene-containing foods (including tomatoes) from the diet was likely to put women at increased risk of osteoporosis. They also argued for the importance of tomatoes and other lycopene-containing foods in diet. We don’t always think about antioxidant protection as being important for bone health, but it is, and tomato lycopene (and other tomato antioxidants) may have a special role to play in this area.



Intake of tomatoes has long been linked to heart health. Fresh tomatoes and tomato extracts have been shown to help lower total cholesterol. In addition, tomato extracts have been shown to help prevent unwanted clotting (aggregation) of platelet cells in the blood – a factor that is especially important in lowering the risk of heart problems like atherosclerosis. In a recent South American study of 26 vegetables, tomatoes and green beans came out best in their anti-aggregation properties.



But only recently are researchers beginning to identify some of the more unusual phytonutrients in tomatoes that help provide us with these heart-protective benefits. One of these phytonutrients is a glycoside called esculeoside A; another is a flavonoid called chalconaringenin; and yet another is a fatty-acid type molecule called 9-oxo-octadecadienoic acid. As our knowledge of unique tomato phytonutrients expands, we are likely to learn more about the unique role played by tomatoes in supporting heart health. Tomatoes are also likely to rise further and further towards the top of the list of heart-healthy foods.



There are loads of health values of tomato, too numerous to mention.In this festive season, the product could have been cheaper and more affordable if we had more attention paid to agriculture .Anyways, it’s not late.



While you savour the sweet taste of your stew, don’t forget ,it’s a product of agriculture. Help bring agriculture back to public consciousness.

Africa Renewable Energy Initiative gets $10bn Support from G7 Nations

Africa Renewable Energy Initiative

To enable Africa produce 300 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative has received 10 billion US dollars support from G7-countries.

This was disclosed by the President, African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, during an interview session with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Monday, Dec. 14th, 2015.

“In the last two weeks, we have worked hard, and have launched what is called the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative. This was launched just last week in Paris and it has already garnered 10 billion US dollars as support, from G7-countries. Our goal is to provide Africa with 300 gigawatts of electricity by 2030, from renewable sources – either wind, solar or geothermal.

“Africa contributes only four percent of global green house emission, but we suffer disproportionately in terms of the negative impact of climate change. The continent today loses over 50 billion dollars a year due to drought and flood, as a result of climate change. The Multi-Lateral Development Bank; AfDB, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Inter-American Development and European Investment Bank have put together, over 48 billion dollars to support our countries in terms of climate finance” he said.

Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina also said that the initiative was to ensure universal access to sufficient amount of clean, appropriate, and affordable energy, and aims to help Africa achieve sound and sustainable development.

According to him, Africa has no fewer than 640 million people living without electricity, while 700 million Africans, most of whom are women, lack access to clean cooking energy.

Stating explicitly that adaptation to global warming is a response to global warming, which seeks to reduce the vulnerability of social and biological systems to current climate change, Adesina, called on national governments in Africa to provide funding for climate adaptation.

He said it was unfortunate that Africa could only produce about 90 gigawatts of electricity in spite of its available potential. “Africa is tired of being in the dark, and the bank has taken the leadership in working with others to help light up and power Africa,” he said.

On agriculture, Adesina, stated that Africa has the potential to feed the whole world, and that all it needs to do is release its potential energy and convert it to dynamic energy. He also said that the AfDB would encourage African countries to take advantage of the business opportunities inherent in agriculture.“It makes no sense to be exporting raw materials, when we can add value to our produce, because when you export raw materials, you are exporting jobs and importing poverty. When you get agriculture right, you get macro-economic and fiscal stabilization right,” he stated.

On this note, he said that the AfDB is going to support countries all across to do what he called commercial financing and investment to go into agriculture.

OAU confers Doctor of science Honoris causa on AfDB President,Dr Akinwumi Adesina

Dr. Adesina

The crème of the Nigerian agricultural sector converged on Saturday, 12th December 2015 at the Oduduwa Hall of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. Reason: the conferment of a honorary Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) degree on the President of the African Development Bank(AfDB) and former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,Dr Akinwumi Adesina.



The conferment was done by the Chancellor of the University, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar ,the Etsu Nupe and the Vice Chancellor,Professor Idowu Bamitale Omole, who showered Dr. Adesina with ample encomiums, and chronicled his immense contributions to Nigerian agriculture, which culminated in his AfDB appointment.
Other honorees include elder statesman and renowned entrepreneur, Oyekunle Alex-Duduyemi, and iconic Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG)
Special guests who graced the occasion include the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, the Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development,Chief Audu Ogbe, wife offormer Governor of Ekiti State and Minister of Solid Minerals,Mrs Bisi Fayemi, and Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Professor Julius Okogie.





Dr. Adesina was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development between 2011 and 2015. On May 28, 2015, he was elected to become the President of the African Development Bank. He is the eight president in the organization’s history, and the first Nigerian to hold the post.

He aggressively implemented bold policy reforms and pursued innovative agricultural investment programs to expand opportunities for the private sector, moving Nigerian agriculture away from subsistence to the business model.



Dr. Adesina is a consummate scholar of African agriculture and economics, with more than 20 years of experience managing successful agricultural programs across Africa.

FAFIN invests in Diamond Pearls Agro Allied Ltd.

palm kernel

Fund managers of Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN); Sahel Capital, has announced its investment in Diamond Pearls Agro Allied Limited, a fast growing edible oil processing company in Nigeria.

In a release by its management, the company has a vegetable oil refinery, which refines crude palm kernel and palm oil to produce vegetable oil for industrial and domestic use. It is also backed by a quality management team, and is well positioned to take advantage of the high growth edible oil market in Nigeria.
Located in Kwara State, the company is strategically situated to satisfy the current vegetable oil supply gap in northern Nigeria, while still close enough to the south‐west to provide products to its growing market. It has also expanded to become one of the largest vegetable oil processors in its region, with major market share in the northern part of the country.

According to Mr. Adewale Adeyemo, Founder and Managing Director of Diamond Pearls Agro, the company was selected after a rigorous operational review of several edible oil processors across Nigeria. “FAFIN’s team came at the right time to help facilitate the achievement of our ambitious expansion plans and we are delighted to have them as our partner, as we position to become one of the largest edible oil processors in the country,” he said.

The release further indicates that FAFIN’s investment, Diamond Pearls intends to procure equipment as well as augment its working capital. Given the seasonality of raw materials in the edible oil sector, the investment will enable Diamond Pearls to better optimize its processing operations throughout the year as well as increase its capacity utilization to meet the large unmet demand for its products.

In addition, the company intends to develop and expand its oil palm plantation in order to strengthen its supply chain; in line with government’s efforts to develop the local production capacity of the sector. As part of the investment, Diamond Pearls’ Board of Directors has been reconstituted to include two independent directors with significant wealth of experience in the oil palm sector.

Two members of Sahel Capital’s team, Mr. Olumide Lawson and Mr. Ayodele Balogun will be joining the board. Mr. Olumide Lawson in his remarks said “Diamond Pearls Agro is well positioned to exploit the great potentials of the edible oil sector and we are excited to make an investment in such a promising company. Our objective is to help establish Diamond Pearls as a clear leader in its sector, and we look forward to providing the necessary support to take the company through its next phase of growth.”

FAFIN, an agribusiness‐focused private equity fund, managed by Sahel Capital aims to transform the agricultural sector in Nigeria. Its fund sponsors include the Nigerian government, via the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the German government via KfW Development Bank, and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.

Forex ban threatens 100,000 tomato processing jobs

There are indications that the listing of tomato paste among the 41 items banned from accessing foreign exchange from the official window by the Central Bank of Nigeria is endangering the jobs of 100,000 workers in the country.

Labour union officials in some of the local tomato processing companies said the inability of the firms to import paste and other raw materials used in their production process had drastically affected them.
According to the union officials, the jobs of the workers are at stake unless the ban is reversed, adding that the opportunity for backward integration would be lost by the affected companies under the present regime.

In an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Monday, the Director-General, Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association, Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, noted that although the climatic condition in the country was in support of local cultivation of tomatoes, farmers lacked the capacity to produce them in large quantities.

He said, “What is it that has made the CBN to prohibit tomato paste manufacturers from the foreign exchange that should not be extended to numerous products, including petroleum, for which the Almighty God has blessed us with in abundance?

“Our climate can support the cultivation of tomato but processing it into tomato paste is a different kind of business. And those who are packaging tomato paste depend on output from those who are processing them before they can package.

“If tomato paste is now placed among the list of items that will not have access to the foreign exchange market overnight, that line of business has been killed because the government is working from the perspective that there are tomatoes in the environment for cultivation, processing into paste and packaging. Rather than prohibiting the items overnight, why not engage the manufacturers in discussion.”

In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, the President, National Union of Food, Beverage and Tobacco Employees, Lateef Oyelekan, said the companies involved should be given the latitude to plan for backward integration.

According to him, the quantity of the produce being cultivated presently in the country is not enough for local consumption as well as processing into paste.

He pointed out that it would take over a year for the planting, harvesting and processing of the produce into paste, adding that most of the companies had run out of stock.

Africa Closer to a Cure for Banana Disease

A farmer showing a banana affected by the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) whose signs include premature ripening of the bunch and rotting of the fruit. Credit: Busani Bafana/IPS

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Dec 14 2015 (IPS) - In one Ugandan dialect, ‘kiwotoka’, describes the steamed look of banana plants affected by the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW) – a virulent disease that is pushing African farmers out of business and into poverty.


A bacterial pathogen affecting all types of bananas including sweet banana (Cavendish type) and plantain bananas, a staple for more than 400 million people in developing countries, BXW is so destructive that there is a 100 per cent crop loss where it strikes.

Smallholder farmers and the other actors in the banana value chain lose more than half a billion dollars in harvests and potential trade income across East and Central Africa. Signs of the disease first identified in Ethiopia more that 40 years ago, include wilting and yellowing of leaves with plants producing yellowish bacterial ooze, premature ripening of the bunch and rotting of the fruit.


Currently, there is no cure for BXW. It is spread by insects or using infected tools and has been controlled through a combination of methods. Farmers have been taught to remove and destroy affected plants, taking out the male bud which is the first point of attack by BXW, using sterilized farm tools and destroying single infected stems. But the disease has forced many smallholder farmers in Africa to abandon growing bananas, which hold the potential to improve food nutrition and income security. This is in line with the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed to by more than 160 global leaders in September 2015.

For farmer Lubega Ben from the Kayunga district in Uganda, a cure is long overdue. Each banana plant claimed by BXW on his 15-acre plot is one too many. Growing bananas for the past 40 years has helped Ben provide food and income for his family.

“Bananas are and have been very important for providing food and income for my family,” says Ben, who has been growing bananas for 40 years. “Though my children have all grown up and left home, bananas are what has seen them through their schooling and also fed them.”

Ben is convinced the 200 banana bunches he harvests each year could be more with better methods if the banana bacterial wilt is controlled.

From control to a cure
In addition to the package of efforts to control the disease, in 2007 researchers turned to science for a cure.
Scientists at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) headquartered in Ibadan, Nigeria in partnership with the National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO) in Uganda are close to a breakthrough after more than eight years researching solutions to BXW.

In 2007, IITA and NARO, together with the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF) and Taiwan-based Academia Sinica successfully engineered resistance of the African banana to BXW using genes from green pepper in the laboratory. Green pepper contains what researchers call ‘novel plant proteins’ that give crops enhanced resistance against deadly pathogens.

The genetically modified (GM) banana varieties with resistance to the banana bacterial wilt disease were developed using genetic engineering. Genetic modification refers to techniques used to manipulate the genetic composition of an organism by adding specific useful genes. These useful genes could make crops high-yielding, flood, drought or disease resistant – key traits important for smallholder farmers in Africa who are experiencing weather variability linked to climate change.

IITA biotechnologist, Leena Tripathi, has been part of the research team leading the fight against the Banana Xanthomonas Wilt.
“We are still a long way. The project has a plan for commercialisation of the GM bananas resistant to BXW in 2020 for use by farmers,” Tripathi told IPS. ” We have tested ten independent lines we picked from bigger trial of 65 lines and have found them to be completely resistant to BXW compared to the non transgenic plants for several generations in two different trials confirming durability of the trait.”

The transgenic varieties have undergone confined field trials in Uganda, a major grower and consumer of banana in Africa. The results are so encouraging that smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa could soon be growing the new varieties commercially soon, says Tripathi.

According to Tripathi, with the encouraging results so far, IITA and NARO are working on Matoke varieties which are preferred in Uganda and dessert varieties preferred in Kenya.

“With a few more trials starting next year, then meeting the biosafety, environmental safety and satisfying regulatory processes, we hope by 2020 to get approvals and deregulation for commercialization and dissemination to farmers,” Tripathi said.

Raising the Africa Banana Export Potential
Developing GM banana cultivars resistant to BXW is seen as economically viable because of the banana’s sterile character and long growth period which have been a challenge in developing a resistant banana through conventional breeding.

“Genetic engineering is one of the most important crop breeding tools in the 21st century,” Daniel Otunge, Regional Coordinator of the Open Forum on Agricultural Biotechnology (OFAB) told IPS, adding that biotechnology has given breeders a faster, cleaner and certain way of producing crop varieties resilient to climate change, resistant to pests and diseases and that are nitrogen and salt-use efficient.

“Africa should be celebrating these crops because they provide us with the best chance to be more food secure and nutritionally robust,” said Otunge.

Researchers estimate that farmers will adopt GM bananas by up to 100 per cent once it is released, with an expected initial adoption rate of 21 to 70 per cent. The financial benefits could range from 20 million to 953 million dollars across target countries where the disease incidence and production losses are high, says research study, Ex-Ante Economic Impact Assessment of Genetically Modified Banana Resistant to Xanthomonas Wilt in the Great Lakes Region of Africa published in the PLOS ONE Journal in September 2015.

Concerned about the march of BXW, nine Uganda farmers got together in 2011 and formed a non-profit community-based organization, the Kashekuro Banana Innovation Platform (KABIP), to specifically control the pathogen on their plantations. More than 300 farmers in the Sheema District lost their plantations and 200 others were forced to replant or open new fields when BXW hit. They hope a solution lies in GM bananas.

“Our farmers have not been exposed to GM bananas. Therefore, we need to try them and test whether they can be a solution,” says Anthlem Mugume, the coordinator of KABIP representing more than 2000 farmers, told IPS.

Arguably one of the world’s favourite fruit, banana are the forth most important staple crop after maize, rice, wheat, and cassava with an annual world production estimated at 130 million tonnes, according to the African Agricultural Technology Foundation. Nearly one-third of this production comes from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the crop provides more than 25 per cent of the food energy requirements for over 100 million people.

East Africa produces and consumes the most bananas in Africa, with Uganda being the world’s second largest producer after India.

According to the WorldTop Export, a website tracking major exports, banana exports by country totaled 11 billion dollars, a 32.8 per cent overall increase in 2014. A cleaner, healthier banana, offers Africa a sweet opportunity to break into the global export markets, reduce poverty and boost business for smallholder farmers.

Ethiopian flower industry flourishes

The Ethiopian flower industry is flourishing, with the help of government incentives and low labor costs, experts told Anadolu Agency on Friday.

The country is now the second-largest flower exporter in Africa, with over 100 flower growers on 1,700 hectares (17 000 000 square meters or 182,986,477 square feet).

“We are now second in Africa only to Kenya, and we expect to overtake them soon,”Berhanu Ludamo,  Promotion and Information Service Head of Ethiopian Horticulture Producers Exporters Association told Anadolu Agency.

 “Ethiopia earned $250 million from horticulture export in 2014. The amount is expected to increase this year due to the expansion of horticulture farms.” Berhanu said. The area will grow to 3,000 hectares in the coming five years and the revenue is projected to increase to $550 million, according to Berhanu.

Climate is a major competitive advantage. Parts of the country south of Addis Ababa are 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) above sea level, and this makes it an ideal environment for floriculture, according to Shiferaw Mitiku, a researcher and agricultural marketing consultant in Addis Ababa.

“The export-oriented agricultural policy, attractive incentives, macro-economic stability and cheap labor constitute the competitive edge for the Ethiopian flower industry,” he said.

According to Ethiopian Investment code 2001, flower growers are offered “a five-year tax holiday, duty free imports , access to bank loans and farm lands as well as an 100 percent exemption from payment of export customs duties.”

Berhanu said the competitive advantages are attracting foreign flower growers.

“They are coming from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda and from Ecuador,” Mitiku said.  The Netherlands, which is the world center of the flower trade, is also investing in local flower farms.

Gizachew Wondimu, manager of one of the biggest farms, Gallica Flowers, which moved in 2008 from Ecuador to Ethiopia, told Anadolu Agency that  “availability of adequate water and human labor encouraged the farm  to move to Ethiopia.”

 “The   farm is located at 2,600 meters above sea level, which is suitable for growing best quality flowers,” Gizachew said. “We grow 82 premium quality flower stems per hectare annually on average and export to Italy, France, Germany, Middle East, Korea, Japan, Russia, Cameroon, Nigeria and South Africa.”

“The farm exported 6 million best quality flower stems last year,” he said. Private investment will help the farm grow to one of the largest in Africa, Gizachew said.

 But the “Ethiopian brand” is not yet established in the world flower industry, according to Shiferaw. “Some countries re-export Ethiopian cut flowers and the brand disappears.”

“We have very few experts,” he said. “And incorporation of the rural community is also a serious issue,” he added.

A floriculture entrepreneur, who asked for anonymity, told Anadolu Agency that the industry is led by foreign investors, and foreign demand.

 “Local demand is insignificant,” he added.

Berhanu said that the Netherlands is specialized in adding value to and re-exporting flowers it imports  from different countries including Ethiopia.”

The Netherlands exported the highest dollar value worth of flowers amounting to $4.7 billion during 2014. Brazil is also a competitor, although a newcomer to the industry, with $25.8 million in flower exports in 2014.

Dutch floriculture in Ethiopia is reaching the global markets, however: Afriflora, from Ethiopia won a Dutch Flower Award on Nov. 5.

Okowa uncovers 70% fake farmers under Agric Scheme

Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, might have placed his finger firmly on why several agricultural and job creation schemes by government in the past failed to yield the desired results as most of the people who applied for inclusion in the state’s agricultural programme were found to be “fake farmers”.

Okowa revealed that over 70 percent of the applicants in the multinational agricultural empowerment scheme who claimed to be farmers were found not to be farmers during a verification exercise carried out by his government.

Specifically, the governor said that when verification was done to authenticate the list of thousands of farmers from across the state applying for the state’s agricultural loans, “only 25 percent of the first list prepared and submitted were real farmers.”

The governor made the startling revelation as the special guest of honour at the 2015 Media Week organised by the Delta State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) held in Asaba on Wednesday.

The theme of the Media Week is “Reporting Okowa’s S.M.A.R.T Agenda: What Benefits To Deltans.”
Okowa, who took the opportunity to reel out some of the programmes, activities and achievements of his administration so far, however, expressed happiness that past beneficiaries of the state’s microcredit schemes had begun to pay back the soft loans they received following recent enlightenment and encouragement by the government.

The governor stressed the importance of the press in the development of a peaceful, progressive and egalitarian society where meaningful development was possible, while noting that this task placed a “huge moral burden on the media practitioner” he must ensure fairness and balance while remaining objective and truthful.

Okowa said, “As far as I am concerned, if a reporter publishes the truth, it is for the good of the society, as long as the principles of fairness, equity, observance of professional ethics and balance are followed.
“What is unacceptable is to embark on creative writing and invention of sensational stories to discredit government or persons; you cannot build on falsehood and expect it to stand, because, sooner or later, it will surely crumble.”

“It is important for government to allow the journalists to carry out their watchdog role in the society if any positive impact is to be made in socio-economic and political development of the society.

Nigeria’s future depends on agriculture –Nkem-Abonta

Hon. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta is a PDP member representing Ukwa East and Ukwa West Federal Constituency of Abia State. Currently, he is sponsoring a bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the Chartered Institute of Export and Commodity Brokers of Nigeria that has just passed second reading. In this interview, he spoke with GEORGE OPARA on the objectives and merits of the bill and other political matters. Excerpts.

What informed your sponsoring of the bill for an act to provide for the establishment of the Chartered Institute of Export and Commodity Brokers of Nigeria ? 
 Well, you see, it depends on where you have interest. Mine is on agriculture and adding value to agricultural products. You can see that we now depends on oil and having one single form of revenue wouldn’t be healthy for any nation. Currently, oil is no longer doing well. The oil price is falling internationally and nationally which is giving us a great concern. Be that as it may be, we have to virtually depart from oil-based revenue, diversify and seek ways and means through which we can increase our revenue. Any country that depends on import will never have a foreign exchange reserve.

Therefore, the essence of this is to make sure we begin to export what is exportable, add value to agricultural products and then see what we can do. You see, most Nigerian agricultural products cannot meet export requirements because they don’t have the required improvements on them. We must add value. If, for instance, you want to export cocoa, you must add some value. May be in terms of packaging and preservation and so on .So, there will be nothing to lose, we have all to gain, if we have the institute that will be able to control, regulate, research and improve what we can produce.

This bill seeks to establish the chartered institute of export and commodity brokers of Nigeria to be charged among other things with the responsibilities to determine the level of education needed before a person can become a member of the institute and to practice export and commodity trade as a business. It further seeks to establish a governing council of the institute which shall have the responsibility of managing the institute, setting up operational standard for educators and practice requirements.

Objectives of the bill are not far fetched. The main objective of this bill would be to promote industry and commerce particularly exports and international trade which is the corner-stone of every country’s foreign exchange earnings. So, what do we do in Nigeria if we don’t export? The bill also seeks to research and locate all exportable products from agriculture, mineral resources and manufactured goods that are available in Nigeria for export.

If we are to research for these goods, locate them, put them in exportable form and export them our country will be better for it. Also, the institute would partner with relevant agencies and companies in creating an interchange point between the commodity producers, Nigerian distributors and export merchants for the storage of their products and to quicken product’s inspection for export.

And liaise with federal, state and private sector, local governments and relevant agencies in Nigeria on how to make all export processing zones in Nigeria to be functioning, viable and to see that more of such are established for the promotion and exportation of make in Nigeria goods. You can see that most free zones are not functioning.

What happened to TINAPA? What happened to most free zones? They are not working. They are not functional and are not optimally used because of lack of knowledge, interest and not been adequately informed and even when informed, they don’t know how to export. Therefore, the bill seeks to train most Nigerians on commodity trade, practical approach to export as a business and on how to benefit from untapped commodity wealth in Nigeria. What is Malaysia and Singapore doing today?

Malaysia is exporting agricultural products like palm oil. What about cocoa? Ghana is surviving from cocoa. That’s what they are doing. Can’t we export our ginger? Can’t we export our cassava, groundnut or palm oil? Do you know that palm oil is more expensive than crude oil? A litre of petrol is N90.00 and a bottle of red oil is N300.00. And a drum of crude oil internationally is less than 50 dollars which if converted to naira is less than N15, 000. A drum of red oil is over N100,000. So, why are we wasting time? This is God-given.

Therefore, you can see that the responsibility of the commodity brokers will be to research and identify all products be it agricultural or mineral resources in either semi-manufactured or finished products for export and, serve as intermediary between the commodity producers and export merchants.

So, if you look at the merits of the bill, it will improve success factors of government export promotion policy and associate with government for better export policy implementation. Which means our export policy will be encouraged. The government ideas or concern for export must be pushed. It must be private sector-driven.

And this bill seeks to establish the institute that will drive that If you say government says export, if it is not private-driven, we are going nowhere because government has no business in doing business. That’s why the export promotion council with part of its objectives to encourage export is not doing much. And it is not going to do much better. It can only do what it is doing now.

But with this institute, it will be able to research and determine what is exportable and how we can harness the government policy to achieve what we want? That is what I considered and that is why I sponsored this bill for consideration.

What about the roles of the commodity brokers?
The commodity brokers are to research and identify all products be it agriculture, mineral resources and manufactured goods either semi-manufactured or finished goods for export. And the brokers serve as intermediary between the commodity producers and export merchants. Let me give you an example, if you need to export palm oil, you must be able to have them in exportable quality, in good shape and well stored. And you know that you can get the best quality of palm oil if you mill them within 2-3 days of harvest.

These local farmers cannot do that. They don’t even have the machine to mill it. Therefore, a commodity broker who installs a mill will lure the local farmers to come there and mill and they pay the cost of what is milled. He secures it and gets a buyer who comes to the point to trade. So, the commodity broker is the link between the producer and buyer. Also, this method and process can be applied to other products for export trade.

Thus, it will create employment, it will create economic viability. It will also get us foreign exchange. Recall, former President Obasanjo went into cassava initiative without even making plan for export. That year, the whole country was flooded with cassava. There was cassava slump.

We could not preserve and export the cassava. The farmers lost. The following year, they refused to farm. So, this institute will be able to fill that gap through research, warehousing etc. why is it that when you order one shipload of rice from America, they get it for you? It is because of the brokers who have arranged production, adding value, storage shipping and packaging. And that problem is gone off the farmer.

The farmer only produces, makes his money. Somebody adds value, stores and arranges for export. And those who want to import will go to accredited exporters who are licensed, well known, and credible and would place the order. That is how it should be. So let’s get the agricultural sector organized if we must forge ahead.

What is the progress of the bill in the house?
The bill has scaled through the second reading and has been referred to relevant committees. I am sure the 8th assembly in the ear of change will work assiduously to see that the bill gets to the senate and Mr.
President for his assent,so that we may have a turnaround in agriculture, our hope is only in agriculture. But this bill had some challenges in 2006 and 2014. I didn’t quite appreciate what you mean by challenges. The making of laws is a rigorous process.

I know I introduced this bill in the 7th assembly; they argued it but in the wisdom of the house, didn’t see the need for the institute to be because they had thought that government has no business in establishing and funding such an institute. But whatever that can bring the policy of government to grow now that it is very clear that we know that oil revenue is dwindling, we must look for an option. And the next thing is agriculture. So, the challenges from the dwindling oil revenue have exposed the need why this bill will now scale through so that we can go on as a country.

You were in 6th, 7th and now 8th assembly. What do you think is peculiar with the present assembly?
I know that in the 6th and 7th Assembly of Rt. Hon. Dimeji Bankole and Rt Hon. Tambuwal, we have parliamentary disagreements that influenced how we took off but there were stability until the end of the sessions, though with few defections from the PDP to APC in the 7th assembly. However, the 8th assembly came with its challenges with the PDP as opposition which also made the house to be robust in its parliamentary engagements. Those of us in the PDP have to tight up our belt and face the work.

You were a member of the House of Representatives who used to playing the politics of the majority but now you are in opposition. How do you feel?
I have no ill-feelings. Opposition is a good thing in democracy. It is credible. All we need to do is to play credible opposition. To be in opposition does not mean you are not part of government. Opposition has a very important role to play. We must be on the watch of the ruling APC to save Nigeria. I am happy to be doing an opposition job. It is not a bad job except we have ill-feelings. Opposition will even help the ruling party to achieve and also save Nigeria

Nigerian banks budget N300b loan to SMEs, agric sector

Emefiele, CBN governor

The Bankers Committee said it had set a target of N300 billion to boost lending to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and the agriculture sector in 2016.

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, said this while briefing newsmen on the communique released after the 7th Annual Bankers Committee Retreat held in Lagos from Dec. 10 to Dec. 11.

The theme of the conference was “‘Creating an Enabling Environment for SME Growth’. Emefiele said that the facilities would not only be for SMEs, but also to large scale farming companies.

On the agriculture, he said its value chain needed to be de-risked to allow banks to grant facilities to farmers to stimulate growth in the economy.

Emefiele said that the bankers agreed that de-risking those value chains in the agriculture would encourage large scale farming and boost productivity in the sector.

According to him, achieving this will increase lending to the sector, while the monetary and fiscal authorities must work together to improve local production.

He said that increased local agriculture products like rice, tomatoes, wheat, fish, sugar, among others, would reduce the demand for foreign exchange.

Emefiele said this would help to boost country’s foreign exchange reserves and by extension strenghten the naira. The central boss said that banks believed that there was need to improve the level of infrastructure.

He said that the retreat, which allowed stakeholders to share ideas, also afforded them the opportunities to review the performances of the outgoing year of 2015 and set agenda for banking industry in 2016.

The CBN boss said that the retreat also gave the opportunity to exchange ideas with invited ministers about their agenda and plans.

He said that the banking industry would continue to support government’s effort to diversify the economy because of the ongoing challenges facing the global market.

“I must say that the Nigeria is not an exception given that today we are affected adversely by the drop in crude oil prices which in itself has adverse impact on nation’s revenue.

“We had extensive discussions on some of the previous outcomes of the bankers committee which have helped to increase lending to the manufacturing sector, facilitated finance to the power and aviation sectors.
“It has also helped to sensitise lending to the agriculture secture where we have seen lending increasing from as low as one per cent in 2010/ 2011 to as high four per cent in 2014/2015,” Emefiele said.

Those in attendance at the conference included the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Raji Fashola and the Minister of Transport, Mr Rotimi Amechi.

Also in attendance were the Minister of Solid Minerals, Mr Kayode Fayemi, the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun,and chief executives of banks, Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), SME operators and those in agriculture and power sectors.