FG Seeks State Governments’ Support To Improve Agricultural Production

The federal government has called on state governments to support its efforts in improving agricultural production in the country.

The minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh made this known during his meeting with members of the Cotton Ginners Association of Nigeria led by the President, Alhaji Salmanu Abdullahi in his office on Thursday, January 22, 2016.

Ogbeh said "the call for support on state governments was necessary because more investments and innovations would be needed to reposition the country's agricultural sector as an alternative to crude oil.

In the words of the minister, he said "We have to get back to business, thank God oil is finished. The Ministry has no land, all we need is to give the way and the ministry will drive the campaign among the state governors".

Ogbeh who expressed displeasure at the tragedy that had befallen cotton production in the country noted that tree crops like cocoa, palm oil and rubber among others had hitherto formed major players in the economic growth of Nigeria. He said the yield of 300 kg of cotton per hectare is very low; stressing that, the use of biotechnology would be introduced to improve agricultural production in the country.

He stated that the present administration would make agricultural practices an all year round operations with the provision of improved irrigation facilities in all states of the federation.

The minister disclosed the intent of the ministry of convening a National Council on Agriculture to brainstorm with State Governors and other stakeholders on the way forward for the nation's agricultural sector.

Earlier, the president of the Cotton Ginners Association of Nigeria, Alhaji Salmanu Abdullahi who led the delegation explained that the association which is made up of cotton ginning processors, cotton producers, merchants and cotton exporters is the main link between cotton peasant farmers and end-users of cotton products locally and internationally.

The president lamented that as a result of the decline in cotton production in the country, only 10 out of the 52 ginneries installed by the association were operational and produced below their installed capacities of 20- 30 per cent .

He noted that African countries such as Republic of Benin, Burkina Faso and Tanzania depended sorely on cotton production to sustain their foreign exchange and Nigeria has huge capacity to produce more than local demands for cotton as well as export to other parts of the world if properly harnessed.

Abdullahi said members of the association have both indigenous entrepreneurs and foreign investors who had made huge investments in the cotton industry; he called on the federal government to fast-track the revival of cotton and textile industries in Nigeria for its economic growth.

Source Leadership.ng

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Rural Farmers In FCT Beg FG For Land Allocation

Rural farmers in the federal capital territory (FCT) have begged the federal government for land allocations to enable them embark on massive production of food.

The farmers made the demand recently in Abuja, during Avian Influenza (AI) sensitisation campaign and interactive session with rural farmers in Jikwoyi Phase 4, Karu local government area of the FCT, organised by the African Centre for Food, Agriculture and Sustainable Development AFRI-CASD

The farmers, among other challenges, bitterly complained on non-availability of land as a major constraint to farmers in the FCT.

Speaking on behalf of the farmers, a Former Deputy Director Pest Control at the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Joseph Olorunda affirmed that, to embark on a large scale farming, which will be beneficial to the country, there is need for the government to support farmers on acquisition of land for this purpose.

According to him, most of the land used for farming in the nation's capital is either on lease or borrowed.

Earlier, the executive director, Afri-CASD, Mr Bamidele Adanikin, expressed dissatisfactions over the challenges often faced by Nigerian farmers despite the importance of Agriculture to reviving the country's economy.

He explained that not only are farmers at the mercy of buyers of farm produces, but are often faced with post-harvest losses in terms of perishable produces.

Adanikin stressed the need for the establishment of agriculture commodity marketing board by the government, so as to reward the labour of farmers.

While speaking on the FG's free meal scheme for schools, the Executive Director, urged the Federal Government to develop a policy that will ensure that food commodities are gotten directly from local farmers.

He said, food commodities such as Rice, Garri, Fishes among others should be purchased directly from local farmers rather than importing these from other countries.

His words;"since government unveiled plans to embark on free meal for schools, which also reflected in the 2016 budget, government should ensure school proprietors, buy food commodities directly from the farmers. Rice, Garri, Fishes for instance, should be purchased directly from the local farmers rather than patronising importers of Rice from Malaysia, among other rice exporting nations.

Source Credits ::::Leaadership.ng

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N/Delta: Chevron, IITA partner to train 40 youths in agriculture

A female farmer

Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL)and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan, had concluded arrangement to train 40 youths from the Niger Delta region in agriculture.

Mr Deji Haastrup, General Manager, Government and Public Affairs of Chevron, disclosed this on Thursday in Warri at an event to kick-start the programme.

Haastrup said that the youths would be trained on aquaculture, cassava, plantain, banana production and processing.

He said the programme tagged ''Agropreneurship'' would offer an opportunity for large scale employment leading to self-reliance.

"The pilot programme incorporates young people from the Egbema-Gbaramatu Communities Development Foundation and the Itsekiri Regional Development Committee.

"Other parties that are collaborating with CNL and IITA are the Delta Government and the Foundation for Partnership Initiatives in the Niger Delta (PIND)," he said.

Haastrup said the current programme would gulp about N188million.

He said that CNL would continue to support the people of Niger Delta with a view to making life meaningful for them.

Mrs Clementina Arubi, representative of the General Manager, NNPC-NAPIMS, stressed the need for economic diversification through other ventures, especially agriculture rather than over-dependence on oil.

Also, Mr Michael Johnny, Chairman Egbema-Gbaramatu Communities Development Foundation, in his remarks, commend the effort of the parties that organised the agricultural programme.

He, however, solicited for scholarship for the people as part of the initiatives to widen their horizon.

Source Credits ::: PM News

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Nigeria Loses $1.2bn Daily To Oil Thieves – Prof Eshett

The former deputy vice chancellor, University of Science and Technology, Owerri, Prof Ebong Thomas Eshett has disclosed that Nigeria was losing about 400,000 barrels per day to oil thieves and vandals which is approximately $1.2 billion.

This is even as he called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the ailing power sector saying that steady power supply had remained impossible in Nigeria since 1960.
He made this revelation in Abuja yesterday during the 10th anniversary celebration of “African Icon of Our Generation Award,” organised by Accolade Communications Limited, Lagos in collaboration with International Centre for Comparative Leadership for Africans and Blacks in Diaspora.

In his presentation titled, Reforming, Restructuring and Re-Positioning Nigeria for True Greatness and Sustainable Economic Development, he advocated for the review of jumbo salaries paid to legislators and other public office holders and channel the excess monies into projects that would alleviate poverty and create employment for the masses.

Eshett who was the deputy chairman of 2009 Agriculture and Food Security Thematic Group of Vision 20:2020, urged the federal government to urgently re-visit and implement the recommendations made by the group adding that the committee members should be co-opted into the implementation team.

According to him, the unfortunate relegation of agriculture to the background, unbalanced distribution of developmental projects across the geo-political zones, economic marginalisation of some sections of the country are deeply responsible for retarding growth in the country.

He lamented that billions of dollars were periodically smuggled out of Nigeria and stacked away in foreign banks noting that the ill-gotten monies are used to purchase expensive landed property or to establish businesses abroad that would help in boosting the economy of foreign countries at the detriment of Nigeria economy.

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D’banj Speaks On New Album, Agriculture and Marriage

Let’s start with celebrating your birthday – 35 years – how does that make you feel?
To be 35 and for what God is doing in my own life, I feel so happy. If I can remember this my first birthday I have celebrated. I am not used to celebrating, except for people who throw me surprise birthdays. Every day is like Christmas for us, every day is like birthday for us. When it’s come to my own kind of brand, what I do for a living, I have fun.

I get paid for what people do to relax. So you have a long whole semester in school, you want to go on break, you look forward to the Koko Consult, look forward to this entertainment show, that is how we get our money. I have been doing that for over a decade now. So my kind of nature has not made it possible for us to sit down and enjoy. In doing that now So much has happened in 10 years, 11 years since I started in the music industry. I released Tongolo when I was 24, now I am 35.

Tongolo was your first official song…
Yes, before that was Mobolowowon, which was in the same album. In short, it was done at the same time. Mobolowowon was accepted by the UK people because of the story. So, when we came to Nigeria, we thought it was the Mobolowowon that would be accepted but then it was Tongolo that was accepted by the Nigerians.

Do you feel fulfilled with what you have achieved at 35? Are these the goals you set out for yourself and how do you measure your success?
What God has done is tremendous and it’s beyond my wildest dreams even though some have not materialised. The main one is marriage. I would have thought that I would have had a child before 30. I always wanted a child before 30. I wanted to make sure that the foundation was very strong and the direction in which we were going because as you said as a child you crawl, you walk. So I wanted to make sure I pass all those places work-wise and focus on my family. Apart from that one, the other thing is the Grammys. I think Grammy is already in the plan.
I didn’t know I will meet Kanye West. I was dreaming, I dreamt that I want to go to places and hear my song among white people. I have dreamt to chart across the world and all that has happened. I have dreamt to perform in the front of thousands of people on a global stage and all that has happened as months ago I was on a global stage.

What are the new goals you are setting for yourself and what are the things you used to do and hope to discontinue?
For me, it is not about the age I have been exposed to a lot of things much larger, things much higher than my age. Since the earlier time I have known the brand, I have been taught to give what belong to Caesar to Caesar. That’s why when some people meet me they said you are so playful outside but calm inside and that’s because the showbiz knows when to give it up. Because it’s showbiz, I won’t say I have grown out of anything. My music and lifestyle revolves with my age with time. I think it’s just happened that I find myself in the last two years in the more corporate side of things in the more humanitarian side of things, more giving back in the more standing as a brand because I have been in the more business side of things.

Let’s talk about the tenth anniversary album and its promotion.
This year I had thought that by the first six months, I would have touched everywhere. We have Dubai, London, American, Switzerland, DC. I just wanted to touch everywhere but then the global show in April 2 and more importantly the plan I had for the album, the 10^th anniversary album, was to plan and promote the singles within the first six months.

So one of the songs that was not scheduled to come out leaked last year- Feeling the Ni**a- which I am glad we released because when it was released a lot of people got confused saying it wasn’t mine.
Officially, that was not supposed to be the first single from the 10^th anniversary but because of what happened the song is everywhere. So, I see my people and they are saying give us more and I see that taste. That proved something to me that my fans are still very hungry. Some people are thinking that Dbanj is famzing now he doesn’t even sing again because the brand is so active. It is good that we had that feeling filled because that made me  restructure the album.

A lot of people have criticised how you are promoting the album.
Most people… I think you need to understand this depends on the stage. The good thing about it is that I am looking at it globally. The box is beyond Nigeria alone. You know, if you are global you need to think of the others but I am thinking of Nigeria, Africa because a lot of interviews have been lined up. We will be able to go everywhere because more importantly, I am partnering with people. I cannot talk about them due to confidential purposes. We will have serious promotions that will involve the my fans. 

Is there any international artist on the album apart from Akon?
There is more than one; I won’t mention them, let (fans) go and buy the album. The album comes out in September – D’Banj, The Epic Journey. The EP (was) like an introduction to the entire album

How many songs will you have on the album?
I don’t know but if left for me I will do 10, 11. I have so much fans right now that we are even pressured to release a double album in September. When we were touring, especially outside Africa, a whole lot of people knew Oliver Twist, Fall In Love, Igwe, Olurun Ma Je, even when they don’t even know that you are the one that released them. So why not re-release your greatest hits so we can know that it’s for the global world and for Africa. September; I don’t know, but the album, ten minimum songs and the greatest hits and luckily, for me it’s might be a visual. Most of the music they said they want has a video; Igwe has a video, Olorun Ma Je has a video.

Let’s talk about the artists on your label: Tonto and 2Kriss; what do you have for them?
There were a lot of people that were biased about my comeback. I knew there were a lot of misconception for not being around for that last one and the half years; people not having the right people to speak to had misinterpreted or miscommunicated my actions, my record.
K-switch has already inherited that. Right now, I am telling one record label to come and take K-switch because people just victimise the guy cos he’s D’banj’s brother. But we are working on. For the rest, I didn’t want them to be affected by the same thing. Tonto and (2Kriss) dropped singles so we could see how the people would to react to it. While we are doing that, we are clearing the grounds for D’banj for the fact that people had a lot of speculations, people want to talk so let us make sure that the air is settled. Now, I have done what I need to do and the whole world has seen that we are not in any competition with anyone.

So you won’t sign new artists?

No, not for now. I can never say never because a lot of things happen. Some people said you didn’t sign Oriste Femi, sign him na. There is no need because globally record labels are dying most importantly what you should have is distribution. Distribution, the right organisation to take care and manage a brand that is what am building on. My empire is based on that and I own one of the biggest distribution companies; I even distribute for people In Nigeria. We are planning to expand globally. Abroad, the people that distribute are the people that sell, manage and brand development. That is what my company is doing even for Oriste Femi even though he is not signed to my label. Once that is done in Africa, that is what we are working on.

You said Don Jazzy was going to work on your 10^th anniversary album…
It’s a present continuous tense. It’s been done. You have to first find the songs of Don Jazzy that no one has heard that we even have before. I will love a Don Jazzy track on it. It might be one or two but it will be there if it’s a good work. But I don’t know if it’s going to be a very new one; we will have to go to the studio and do one now.

So, you have not done new ones?
No.

But you have songs produced by Don Jazzy that can be on this album?
Not yet.

Why agriculture; why not IT, hotels or something else?
I believe that nothing is coincidental in life so when I approached my people to do something they agreed. I have always known that i am here for a course, I am here for a purpose; I am a chosen lucky person by God that knows that things should happen the way they should happen.  My timing was different everything was different and they told me about it, they told me this is what we want to do and they said every time there is a course we look for youths and you are a successful youth.
If 60% of the farmers we have are small scale farmers and this is what they contribute to the world produce other than the big people and it has been proven by my research that the amount of irregular cultivated land available in the world in the next future is available in Africa. There is need for us to focus on it and let our youth know about it because right now, everybody wants to be a musician, footballer, an IT person, social media or media. Then when we have 5000 youths and we can take it to all the African presidents -“increase the budget of agricultural. You said you will do this at the African union.” All the presidents came together and they said they would  put 10% of our annual budget into it. We had over 2.something million youths so in four months we had created a lot that our own president our own minister of agriculture everybody were interested.

I am so successful and these are the things that make me say God has given me a voice. So this was what I went to talk about in the World Bank meeting. I went last year and I spoke for seven minutes and it was how youths should change and address possible change in agriculture so that people can believe in themselves; and lucky for us, the brand name has been a name for us. So, we have different Koko products. Last year was the perfect time for me to go into it and when I presented it to Dangote, he said, “Why garri? Nobody has thought of it.” So I knew I was on the right path.

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‘Nigeria Spends $1.5bn Annually on Importation of Tomato Products’

 

 

To benefit from new high-yield tomato seeds

 

By George Okoh in Makurdi

Director General and CEO of the Raw Material and Research and Development Council (RMRDC) Dr. Husaini Ibrahim, has revealed that Nigeria spends around $1.5 billion annually on tomato products importation from China and other parts of the world.

Ibrahim said such imports were unsustainable following the economic downturn befalling the country, and added that the country can reverse the trend with the introduction of improved seeds that yield more in dry season farming.

Also, to address the problem of acute shortage of tomato vegetables and boost Nigeria foreign currency earning, the council introduced improved and certified high yielding tomato seeds to various Growers Associations in the country.

Ibrahim, represented by a Consultant with RMRDC, Dr. Usman Argungu Hassan, disclosed these yesterday while addressing farmers in Lafia, and said the essence of introducing the improved seeds is to boost its production in the country.

“In Nigeria in spite of all the comparative advantage the country has in all year round tomato production, we are largely dependent on importation of tomato paste and other tomato products from China and other exporting countries, which is unacceptable”, he said.

According to Ibrahim, the council has developed a robust monitoring and evaluating plan in conjunction with the Nasarawa state government to ensure productivity in crop production.

Earlier, while welcoming the DG to the event, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Agriculture Nasarawa State, Mr. Naphthali Dachor commended the council for researching and improving the tomato seed, which is reportedly resistant to diseases and pest.

He advised famers in the state to go into dry season farming using irrigation technique for bountiful harvest. He disclosed that during dry season crops like tomato yield twice as much as it does during the raining season.

Dachor also called on the council to assist farmers in the state by setting up a tomato production factory in order to check wastage of produce.

Responding on behalf of farmers, Mr. Ali Adamu said with the introduction of the new seeds, farmers in the state will increase their efforts and hope for a bountiful yield in March 2016.

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Nigerian Catfish Farmers Can Save The Nigerian Economy, But Does Our Govt Care?

Developing nations of the world depend mainly on the primary sectors of the economy which basically are mining and agriculture.
The situation in Nigeria is not different, only that the majority of Nigeria’s working population depends on agriculture more than mining. Agriculture is the most important sector of Nigeria’s economy, and research shows that about 70% of Nigeria’s labour force is engaged in agriculture.

The agricultural sector in Nigeria is mainly dominated by the aged (50+ and retirees), but a sector that is appealing to Nigerian youths is the catfish farming sector. The reasons for this are not far-fetched:

• It is easy to set up a catfish farm compared to other sectors of agriculture
• It is less strenuous than other types of agriculture
• It can be done on part-time basis with returns guaranteed; it isn’t unusual to find people involved with catfish farming in addition to full time jobs
• You can recoup your capital and interest within a short time-frame; typically between 3 – 6 months
• There’s readily available market for catfish produce

The sector offering opportunities

Since the early nineties, people have been going into catfish farming increasing awareness about catfish, and many Nigerians now see it as a substitute to imported fish.

The self-employment that has been the outcry of the Nigerian government can never be actualized in other sectors of the economy except the agricultural sector, catfish farming in particular. Hence, many unemployed youths have embraced this opportunity to be self-employed in this sector.

In our findings, we discovered that there are over 13 different areas that Nigerians are gainfully employed in the catfish farming sector. These include: 1) pond construction, 2) breeding, 3) feed milling, 4) selling of input, 5) marketing of fresh fish, 6) setting up of fish processing factory, 7) importation, 8) marketing of floating feed, 9) repairing of implements (e.g. pumping machines), 10) consultancy services, 11) work opportunities for farm attendants, 12) transportation and logistics, 13) harvesting.

It will be folly for any reasonable government to neglect a sector that provides so many opportunities for the unemployed, which is why Nigerian farmers are crying for a saviour at this critical moment.

Until recent times, Nigerian catfish farmers have been able to overcome their numerous challenges and thrive. They are now beset with so many challenges that are threatening the industry, and unless the Nigerian government comes in, the once promising industry has a gloomy future.

Some of the challenges in Nigeria’s fish farming sector that need urgent intervention from the government

• One of the major challenges of the moment is the low quality of imported inputs (raw materials), some of which include fish meal (72%, 68% and 65%), soya meal, methionine, lysine and other minor ingredients.

A recent informal survey conducted between January and July this year shows that imported materials are not yielding as much as locally available materials which have not been available due to the Nigeria’s internal Boko Haram crisis. This was further aggravated when the border was closed during the 2015 elections.
Imported fish feeds are not exempt, and a 2012 study of imported floating fish feeds revealed that the actual proximate composition of fish feeds, when analyzed in the lab, was inferior to what was declared by the companies producing the feeds. Four brands were analyzed and fish feed sold by one of the brands, Adolf Calyx, contained just 25.89% crude protein while the company declared 42% crude protein on their label. To the unsuspecting farmer, this discrepancy can have catastrophic effects.

• Even some of the locally sourced ingredients have been adulterated. For example, there has not been pure GNC for a long time now. What is sold as GNC is either blended with Bern seed, rice meal, shea butter, or other less proteinous ingredients.

In fact, findings of an informal survey of catfish farmers in various parts of southwest Nigeria, show a good majority of them are now running at a loss since the first half of this year, and the increasing unavailability of ingredients and degradation of the quality of available ingredients is playing no mean feat in this.
Bearing in mind that some of these people took loans from commercial banks with high interest rates above 20%, it makes no sense to continue the business if it is unprofitable, and this is leading to an exodus in the catfish farming sector.

• The fish breeders have not been helping the situation in any way. As a result of increase in demand for fingerlings and juveniles, many breeders now use inferior broodstock to breed for innocent farmers. Some even do in-breeding, bearing in mind that the quality of fingerlings and juveniles depends on the parent stock. Little wonder farmers are not getting results like before. The size that can be attained in six months before now may not be attained in eight months. Due to this, many farmers have been unable to recoup their capital within a reasonable period of time.
• The current structure of the market for catfish is not helping the situation in any way. There are few individuals that dictate the pace of this business instead of the force of demand and supply. Many economists may argue with this fact, but what should a farmer do when middlemen purchase on credit and refuse to pay? In fact, it isn’t uncommon for few individuals, especially middlemen, to meet and fix the price of the outputs.

In an ideal economy, the price of inputs should determine the price of outputs but this is not the case with the catfish farming industry in Nigeria. The price of the output is often not in agreement with the price of input. A farmer could raise his fishes when the price of inputs are sky high only to sell when the price of outputs has dropped, often resulting in a loss, and nothing is being done to check this.
To sustain the current government policy banning importation of certain items that include fish products, the Nigerian government must do something to save this sector of the economy.

Proposed solutions

1. The Nigerian government should make use of existing institutional frameworks saddled with the responsibility of regulating and standardizing inputs and raw materials. For example, bodies like the Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) and NAFDAC should be proactive at ensuring the quality of inputs entering the country and produced in the country, to ensure that the stated quality are in accordance with what is declared.

2. Research institutes should be established, or empowered, to produce quality broodstock and make them widely available to local breeders to use nationwide. When establishing these institutes, the government should consider areas with is a high concentration of catfish farmers. This will ensure the availability of their produce to the breeders and farmers.

3. The government should be involved in marketing and distribution of the products of the outputs. This can be achieved through price boards and other regulations and controls to ensure stability in catfish production and also the availability of these products all year round.

Conclusion

If the catfish farming sector is ignored and subsequently collapses, the Nigerian government will be dealing a major blow to the agricultural sector that currently employs the highest number of the Nigerian populace. Therefore, all hands must be on deck to ensure the sustainability of this emerging industry.

Bamidele Onibalusi

This article was contributed by Bamidele Onibalusi, with massive input from the veteran of the Nigerian catfish farming industry, Abiodun Eniola Elusoji. Mr Onibalusi is a blogger and freelance writer who has been featured in Forbes, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Digital Journal, and the Guardian. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.

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