World Bank to commit $500m to Northern Nigeria’s irrigation projects

The World Bank has earmarked $500 million for the revival of irrigation farming in Northern Nigeria through the rehabilitation of infrastructure in all parts of the region Kano State Governor, Dr Abdulahi Umar Ganduje confirmed this when he played host to the Task Team leader of the World Bank Assisted Commercial Agriculture Development Project, Dr. El- Hadj Adama Toure, in his office.

The governor lauded the Breton Woods institution for the intervention which he described as desirable in view of the potential benefits to Northern region’s economy and by extension, the nation’s development. Gov Ganduje promised that his administration would sustain its collaboration with the World Bank as a strategic option for promoting commercialization of agriculture in the state.

He explained that in spite of the dwindling revenue from the Federation Account, his administration would embrace and promote commercial agriculture on a sustainable manner while also assuring that the state government would provide its counterpart funds for the project soon.

“We must come back to the drawing board, we must till the soil and get what is coming out from the soil which is more reliable, more dependable and more sustainable”, he said. The Governor, described the Commercial Agriculture Development Project as timely in view of the importance of agriculture as the mainstay of the state’s economy and the Federal government’s plan to ban the importation of rice and wheat importation into the country.

Earlier, the Task Team leader told the governor that, Nigeria’s Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) was designed in 2009 to strengthen agricultural production systems and facilitate access to markets for eight agricultural value chains in five pilot states.

He disclosed that $150 million intervention fund would impact on 50,000 small and medium commercial farmers in five Nigerian states including, Kano, while many households will benefit indirectly through farm access roads, energy and market spillover effects.

CBN urges farmers to add value to farm produce

The Central Bank of Nigeria has tasked farmers in the country with striving towards adding value to their farm produce in order to prevent waste and to earn more on them.

The Assistant Director, Development and Finance Department of CBN, Mr. Babatunde Okulaja, gave this advice in Osogbo on Thursday at a training session organised by the apex bank.

Okulaja said one of the recent innovations of the CBN to restructure the nation’s economy was an initiative called Produce, Add Value and Export.

Okulaja stated that a fresh sum of N220bn had been released to beneficiaries under the CBN’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund adding that 60 per cent of the fund would provide financial services to women-driven enterprises.

According to him, some of the available schemes of the apex bank are: Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund; Agricultural Credit Support Scheme; Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme; Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending and Anchor Borrower’s Programme.

The EU Export Ban: Can SON bail Nigeria out?

For some time now, the Nigerian dried beans have been prevented from enter­ing into the European market for failing to meet the European food safety require­ments. This suspension, it is learnt, has been on since June this year and will remain in force until June 30, 2016, when it may be removed provided Nigeria is able to provide sufficient guarantees of compliance to the European food safety regulations.

Dried beans is not the only Nigerian prod­uct that is under ban in Europe but also such products as dried meat, smoked fish, peanut chips, palm oil, melon seeds and ses­ame seeds. And unconfirmed reports said that many other Nigerian commodities may follow if proactive measures were not taken by the government to mitigate the situation by addressing the issues that necessitated the suspensions.

Recently, the head of the European Union (EU) Delegation to Nigeria, Mr. Filip Amato, was quoted in the media as saying that the suspension of the importation of dried beans from Nigeria was as a result of over 50 rejections of the commodity in the Eu­ropean market. According to Amato, the rejection was traced to the overdose of “un­authorized pesticide, dichlovos,” used in the preservation and processing of the dried beans in Nigeria.

These bans raise serious concerns over the direction of the nation’s economy when viewed against the backdrop of the down­ward trend in the oil price in the internation­al market. Since last year, the price of oil, the mainstay of the nation’s economy, has con­tinued to plummet. This thus re-enforces the calls by the organized private sector (OPS) for the urgent need to diversify the nation’s economy. The OPS specifically, called for the re-invigoration of the agriculture sector, which used to be the cash cow of the nation’s economy before oil took the front seat.

In fairness to the government, proactive measures have been taken to upgrade the non-oil sector especially the agriculture. The immediate past administration did quite re­markably a lot in this regard and which the present regime of President Muhammadu Buhari has acknowledged and promised to improve on.

However, the real issue now is how to make the Nigerian agricultural products acceptable in the international market. It is against this backdrop that the recent concerns raised by the media, the National Assembly and lately the Federal Executive, which recently inau­gurated an inter-agency committee charged with achieving zero rejection of Nigeria food products, can be appreciated. The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) is a member of the committee.

Given its mandate, it is the responsibil­ity of SON to save the country from these frequent embarrassments by the nation’s in­ternational trade partners. SON should drive the policy of Made-in-Nigeria for the World (MINFOW) by ensuring that all the products leaving the shores of this country meet the required international standards. Anything short of this will be unacceptable.

As stated in the foregone paragraphs, the EU is not in a hurry to remove the ban on the dried beans even in 2016 unless it sees suffi­cient guarantees on the issues raised regard­ing the European food safety regulations and the commitment to consistently follow the regulations. It is, therefore, the duty of the SON to ensure that the Nigerian dried beans and other Nigerian banned products, re-enter the European market and other parts of the world.

Also, according to media reports, the EU ban of the Nigerian products is largely on account of the nation’s long-standing quality infrastructure deficit. According to analysts, it is also for this reason that Nigeria could not maximize the window provided AGOA provided by the United States Government to give Africa the opportunity to access the American market.

What this means is that Nigeria must up­grade her quality infrastructure, whose com­ponents I gathered, include standards, testing labs, metrology, certification, accreditation and legislation. For instance, it takes metrol­ogy to develop standards and testing/mea­surement devices. It takes testing to discover overdose of a chemical. It takes standards to know the pesticide that is authorized and un­authorized. It takes certification and accredi­tation to separate the reliable laboratories and professionals from the- not –so- reliable. It also takes legislation to establish the administra­tion that harmonizes the disparate technical regulatory bodies in the standardization sys­tem. SON must as a matter of urgency ensure that all these are in place.

SON Director General, Dr. Joseph Odumo­du, was recently reported as saying that the agency is doing something to address all these issues. In fact, he stressed the need for Nation­al Quality Infrastructure (NQI), adding that this would put a halt to disgraceful threats such as the EU ban of the Nigerian products.
According to him, this involved bringing up dilapidated laboratories to world class so that they can be accredited and then having an accredited lab for each product in which Nigeria has comparative advantage or strate­gic interest. That means having at least 19 ac­credited laboratories in the near future. Only accredited labs are internationally trusted for valid test reports (scientific proofs of quality).

According to Odumodu, SON Food Tech­nology Labs have won accreditation for both biological testing and chemical testing while 10 others are already undergoing accredita­tion tests. Thus, what this translates to is that products certified in Nigeria within its com­petences are acceptable without further test­ing anywhere in the world.
Odumodu also said that quality being a matter of measurement of accuracy; metrol­ogy is witnessing a massive build-up.

The metrology upgrade started with the upgrade of the metrology unit to a well-equipped department with two mobile units for calibration at distant sites and with staff that have been trained in some of the world’s renowned national metrology institutes. He must act fast.

Price of Benny Seeds Drops in Jigawa

Benny seeds

The price of Benny seeds, also known as Sesame seeds, has dropped in major markets in Jigawa due to low patronage of the produce. Sesame seeds are a staple in Nigeria and are core ingredients of baby foods.

According to reports from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the price has dropped by about 50 percent at the Hadejia and Gujungu markets since the commencement of the harvest season.The price of the commodity now sells at ₦10, 500, as against ₦20, 000 last season.

Traders at the market attributed the situation to increase in the supply of the produce from the farms, amid low demand. A trader at the market, Alhaji Shehu Malammadori, said prices would further go down due to lack of buyers.

“The produce sold at ₦20, 000 per bag last year, due to high demand and good marketing arrangements adopted by the previous government in the state.We have in stock more than 3, 000 bags of the produce, but there are no buyers,’’ he said.
Alhaji Sale Harka, Chairman, Hadejia Farmers’ Association, said the decrease in prices has exposed farmers to losses and is discouraging farmers, thereby making Benny seeds cultivation less attractive.

INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, AGRICULTURE AND CHALLENGES OF ILLITERACY

agricultural sector

The effectiveness of data in the agricultural sector can never be over stated. This is due to its relevance and suitability to the 21^st century global agricultural trend. The validity of data and its usefulness in decision making, innovation and positive impact in the sector leaves no doubt in an objective mind.

While the low literacy level of farmers continues to pose a challenge to the awareness level and growth of the sector, the lack of access to information has been decried by stakeholders.

For any country to maximize its agricultural productivity and guarantee food security, access to information and awareness programs on agricultural practices is necessary in ensuring food security. Accessible information on modern agricultural technology and its usage will enable improved cultivation, harvest and storage, which will reduce famine and improve the nation’s all round health and wealth.

However, there is much room for improvement on farmers’ information literacy. All media channels should be explored to create awareness in local languages, to encourage understanding and implementation of ideas and to execute programs in the easiest ways possible. This calls for a well equipped farm community hall, where farmers could meet and be addressed on their information needs.

Since most farmers are not literate, adult evening education sessions could be organised for them to boost their literacy levels, and enable them to be able to read and write. Thenceforth, they will be able to address their needs through reading agricultural magazines, newspaper columns on agriculture, and relevant online materials, and be able to make concrete decisions on issues such as the use of pesticides and manure, right on time and as appropriate.

HarvestPlus Distributes Vitamin A Cassava Stems to 700,000 Farmers

vitamin A cassava

An international agro-based organisation, HarvestPlus Nigeria, on Saturday, December 12 said it distributed vitamin A cassava stems to no fewer than 700, 000 farmers in 25 states in the country in 2015.

The HarvestPlus Country Manager, Dr. Paul Ilona, who disclosed this in Ibadan at a news conference, said the farmers received the cassava stems and planted them.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that HarvestPlus is an international organisation leading a global effort to improve nutrition, by developing and disseminating staple food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals.It also aims at providing global leadership in bio-fortification evidence and technology.Ilona said the beneficiary farmers cut across 25 states in the country, including Oyo, Imo and Benue states.
He noted that the organisation owned 6,000 hectares of land on which it planned to plant vitamin A cassava with 300 points of sales, as part of its objective to get Nigerians nourished with Vitamin-fortified staple foods and crops.

“We estimate that up to 3 million Nigerians now have access to vitamin A cassava,’’ the country manager said.

Ilona emphasised that part of the major essential nutrients for the body are zinc, iron and vitamin A, saying that the organisation focused on those nutrients in the process of bio-fortification.

“Our food-based approach relies on familiar staple foods that people already eat regularly, and that can be part of other efforts to improve nutrition, such as dietary diversification,” he said.

The country manager explained that the organisation uses the natural breeding process, adding that its products are natural and not genetically modified.

“We have 4, 350 varieties of vitamin A cassava and none of them is genetically modified, so people are free to consume them.We have a lot of products from vitamin A cassava like the vitamin A cassava moimoi, fortified with beans and the cassava custard, which is good for children.

“Some others are the cassava leaf tea and flour and vitamin A yellow fufu/garri, which is natural, without additional oil added to it during processing. They are all in the market,” he said.

Ilona said that HarvestPlus was creating awareness about its mission through the print and electronic media – radio and television.

“In the bid to let people know about these products, we have partnered with Hollywood stars and produced four movies called: Yellow Cassava, Dada Oni Paki, AkpuEbi and Sunkani.

“We hope to produce new varieties of vitamin A cassava, maize, iron bean, zinc rice, and so on, to reach more farmers and people next year and beyond,” the country manager added. (NAN)

Climate Change Depleting Soil Nutrients – Expert

climate change

Mr David Emmanuel, an expert in agriculture and environment, has warned that climate change is depleting the soil nutrients needed for the cultivation of high quality food crops.
Emmanuel made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday 15^th December 2015.

According to him, it is important for stakeholders to take concrete steps towards ensuring that Nigerian families are able to produce quality crops in the future.

“Taking a look at global warming, Africa as a continent isn’t prepared for the disasters ahead. “Like in Africa, desertification is one problem. Others are gas flaring and cutting down trees. “By so doing, the sun rays become a direct plague to the soil. For example, you cannot compare the tomato you ate 25 years ago to what is being produced now. “We are living on gun powder as far as global warming is concerned”.
According to Emmanuel, the increased awareness on the importance of planting trees around homes and in the cities will go a long way to curb the increasing danger of global warming.

“The first thing is orientation from primary schools to tertiary institutions, so that every family and every child can grow a tree.

“By growing a tree, we will produce more oxygen in the atmosphere, and by producing more oxygen, we will prevent the sun rays from touching the earth directly.

“And at the same time we will make stringent laws that will restrain big industries, most especially in the southern region, from flaring gases.”

Stakeholders lament stagnancy of agriculture in Benue State

Food Basket of the Nation

The dwindling agricultural fortunes of Benue State has been decried by a cross section of stakeholders.
The state held sway several years ago with its bountiful harvests, earning the slogan “Food Basket of the Nation”. However, the state, which is also endowed with lots of mineral resources, is now a shadow of its old self.

Reports reveal that several attempts by government and non-governmental agencies to initiate programmes to stimulate the agricultural, solid minerals and tourism sectors to improve the economy of the state have not yielded substantial fruit.

Despite the establishment of the Agricultural Training Centre, Mbatie in Burutu, and the College of Agriculture, Yandev in Gboko local government area, the state has not maximized its agricultural potentials.
Lamenting this situation was the former Registrar of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engr. Felix Atume, who said the major cause of the rot is bad roads.

“Rural access promotes agriculture, health, education, security, social interaction and general economic development. Unfortunately, in many states of the federation, the rural areas are inaccessible, especially during the rainy season. Farmers in these areas cannot bring their farm produce to the markets. The rural areas thus become isolated, fuelling the cycle of poverty. They cannot get health facilities because they cannot be reached. Their children cannot go to good schools because they cannot be accessed”.

INSECURITY AS A THREAT TO AGRIC MARKETING IN NORTHERN NIGERIA

Nigeria, a giant in agricultural business may not be in her best of state, in the agro produce distribution network at the moment. The sympathetic state of some crisis thorn regions of the country has skyrocketed prices of goods and commodities, and has even made an emergency scarcity of some basic produce, in areas where they are needed most.

Ever since the insurgency in the North East of Nigeria began several years ago, there has been a sharp decline in the agricultural revenue of states that where known for most crop produce. For example, the once bubbly green fields in Borno, which were synonymous with large scale production of tomatoes, onions, carrots and other fresh produce, are in a comatose state. Several of the villages that supplied these produce toother parts of the country have either become war zones or have been wiped away, with many of the once enterprising farmers hiding as refugees and struggling to feed themselves and their families. A trip to some regions to buy fresh produce in bulk would only amount to an attempt at suicide. This situation, according to Mallam Ibrahim Ahmad, a farmer and native of Bama in Borno State, is responsible for the high cost of fresh produce at markets around the country, especially in Lagos State.



“I used to be based in my village in Bama, until the insurgents attacked us one early morning and swept the whole village. Those that were lucky escaped. They carted away most of our properties, including money. My own farm, which is not too far from my house, was an escape route for them. “As I speak with you, I am currently riding okada(motor cycle) to make ends meet, as I still feel it’s unsafe to go back home”.

Despite the efforts by the government in calming the troubled North East, a mass exodus of big investors from there, especially Western expatriates has, been witnessed. So far, Nigeria’s economy appears to be shaky, especially as the year draws to an end. Stocks have dipped since the crisis got to its peak, though Western companies have not announced plans for a mass exodus.

According to Ernst & Young, more than $21 billion of foreign direct investment was attracted into Nigeria in 2013, up 28% from the year before. The country has attracted the most foreign direct investment in sub-Saharan Africa since 2007. The current security situation has dealt a heavy blow on the nation’s GDP, which is now $490 billion.A trader who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity decried the high handedness of security operatives on highways, especially the military.



“As long distance travelers, we always cover our heads and noses against the cold. This kind of dressing has been labeled as ‘Boko Haramic’, because of their similar appearance. When these soldiers sight us on trucks with our goods, they cork their guns and position and make us come down from our vehicles. Sometimes, we spend the whole day in detention, even when they know we are just long distance farm produce marketers. They ransack our trucks and scatter them, in the guise of searching for hidden arms inside our baskets.In the process, we lose bags of produce and spend hours or almost a day in detention, especially if we don’t meet their financial demands. Imagine keeping tomatoes in the sun for hours and taking them to the market when they have started to rot from the heat. It’s terrible.”

A cross border source also revealed a sharp decline in trans-border trade of agricultural produce, especially into countries like Cameroon, Chad and Niger. Even when these countries need the produce from these terror-plagued areas, they prefer to buy from very expensive sources, to prevent infiltration by terrorists.

Tomato Association Executives Set to Revitalize Sector

Tomato Association Executives

There are serious indications that succour has come for the once comatose tomato industry, which has been one of the most neglected value-chains in the agricultural sub-sector of the Nigerian economy.

Reason: Tomato Growers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria have just elected their new national executives, who will steer the ship of the association for the next four years.

The newly elected President of the association is now Alhaji Abdullahi Ringim, while the newly-elected National Publicity Secretary is the Publisher and Chief Executive Officer of AgroNigeria, Mr. Richard-Mark Mbaram.

Speaking during his opening remarks, Ringim said: “For a long time, agriculture has been neglected and Nigeria has remained a net importer of tomato. As at last three years, statistics showed that Nigeria imported $16 billion worth of tomato.

“What people do not even realise is that there is no single tomato processing industry in Nigeria. Wherever you see tomato, either in can or sachet, they are all imported. Most people are of the view that Gino produces tomato in Nigeria, but the fact is that they can tomato, not produce it,” he said.  

 

He went further by saying “the only tomato processing company that has the capacity of processing 1200 metric tons per day, is the one being installed in Kano State by the Dangote Group. That also has no canning line, but only processing. The second is our own company in Dadinkowa which has the capacity of producing 600 metric tons, but with a canning line.

“I used the word canning because they hardly take out local tomato to process and sell. All they do is import tomato paste, and then can in Nigeria. Now, this is where our challenge lies, and it is a big challenge for the tomato farmers, either from the Gworonyo or Dadinkowa cultivation stretch, who strive to produce tomato, through thick and thin with little or no governmental support”.

Ringim condemned the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to restrict importers from using the Nigeria Forex market to source funds for importation of some products; saying there are two dimensions to it. The good part, he said, is that it will help those with capacity to produce tomatoes in Nigeria do more, but hinted that with the lack of adequate production, the problem will be compounded because people who import tomatoes through the port or airports will start smuggling them in.

He nevertheless assured members of the association that he will discharge his responsibilities with an open mind, making sure that all members are carried along through consultations with other stakeholders; while reaching out to those outside the country also.

According to him, the government has not technically banned the importation of tomatoes “but it has said that as importers of tomatoes, they are not adding value to the farmers, so they are to access their Forex from the autonomous markets, it is good because it now puts less constraint on our foreign reserves,” he said.

Quickly stepping into his responsibility as the voice and image-maker of the association, Mbaram corroborated the stance of his president by stating that tomato is a very essential food ingredient that is highly consumed by nearly everybody- old and young – and as such, the government should give the sector the necessary support to become self-sufficient in its production and even go a step further to promote its export.

With a reassuring voice that indicates determination to work, he said: “It is all about advocacy, and telling the stories of the realities in the sector. The Executive Secretary of FACAN, Alhaji Akin Gbadamosi applauded the members for their display of maturity and urged that they should cooperate to ensure the revitalization of the sub-sector.