Cassava Substitution Saves Nigeria ₦200 Billion Annually

The government’s policy on wheat importation has started yielding tremendous financial benefits as the Federal Government is saving ₦200 billion yearly from the 20 percent cassava substitution for wheat in bread making.
This was recently revealed by the Federal Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina at the inauguration of the Oamsal Cassava Flour Mill in Ayede Ekiti in Ekiti State.
The Minister stated that the agricultural transformation of the Federal Government was to add value to the Agric sector and support Nigerian farmers, as well as the 36 cassava bread bakers in the country so far in achieving their dreams.
Adesina while speaking promised to provide ₦1 million each to 35 Small and Medium Enterprises for infrastructure development, adding that the sum of 3.5 billion had so far been expended on the upgrading of facilities for small and medium scale enterprises to boost the economy and encourage entrepreneurs.
Commenting further he added that the FG is in partnership with research institutes, universities of agriculture and state governments on cassava plantation, as well as the designation of 5,000 hectares of land for cassava plantation to control the price and propel the bakers of cassava bread.
He afterwards enjoined Nigerians to eat more of cassava bread.

Stakeholders Target Agric Development In Schools

Buoyed by the need to rekindle the interest of youths in agribusiness, stakeholders in the Nigerian agricultural sector have teamed up to brainstorm on ways to sustain agricultural development in secondary schools.

At a two day meeting which recently held in Abuja, representatives from the federal and states ministry of agriculture including members of the Farmers Association gathered to discuss the need to make the agric sector appealing to youths.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Schools Agriculture Programme, Dr. Baraka Sani noted that the meeting was aimed at initiating ideas on the final implementation of the agricultural programmes in schools. She said it was necessary to give the youth proper orientation about agriculture.

In her words, “this is a real business set up because we want to change the perception of the students about agriculture, to see the good side of it and to see that indeed you can make money practicing as a farmer and as an agribusiness person’’.

Dr. Baraka revealed that about 850 student agriculture clubs are expected to be established with 22, 000 beneficiaries of the clubs to be equipped with vital skills for life.

According to her, “the President wants to make sure that this time around Nigeria is not left behind in the scheme of the agriculture club which promotes entrepreneurship globally”.

While rounding up the meeting, Dr. Baraka asserted that the students will be allowed to feature in horticulture, aquaculture, poultry and apiculture for honey production among others as an avenue to create decent jobs for youth and reduce poverty.

FG to Promote Modernized Agriculture with Launch of Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise

The gathered momentum of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda has no plans to wane, as another milestone was achieved in Nigerian agriculture with the recent flag-off today at Sheda, Federal Capital Territory of the pioneer Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise.
The inaugural event which was geared towards modernizing the agric sector had in attendance key policy makers led by President Jonathan GCFR, who was ably represented by Vice President Namadi Sambo, GCON, alongside other notable Agriculture stakeholders.
The Federal Minister of Agriculture Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, while addressing the audience outlined the expanding private sector investment in agriculture across the nation which according to him is the beginning of a new dawn being experienced by small holder farmers who are increasingly contributing to the decline in our national food import bill from ₦1.1 trillion ($6.9 billion) in 2009 to ₦684.7 billion ($4.35 billion) by December 2013, and which is still in a declining state.
He noted that despite current achievement and available potential, low level of mechanization in Nigerian agriculture has continued to serve as a huge challenge towards advancing the sector, as the high cost of land clearing is a major disincentive for the expansion of cultivated area, especially in the southern parts of the country due to the dense vegetation; while the high cost of mechanization, from plowing to harvesting, poses great challenges to farmers across the country.
In his speech he highlighted that the number of tractors per 100 square kilometers in Nigeria is less than 10, in comparison to over 728 in the UK, 257 in the USA, 200 in India, 130 in Brazil, 200 and 125 in the Philippines. Therefore productivity per area of land and productivity for labor in the agriculture sector of these countries are much higher than Nigeria.
In his own words he had this to say on mechanized farming, “Nigeria must, as a matter of national priority and urgency, fully mechanize the agricultural sector. Hoes and cutlasses do not reflect a modern agricultural system; they reflect suffering. As we change this, we must also change the model of achieving rapid mechanization in Nigeria. We must aggressively privatize the commercialization of agricultural machineries in Nigeria.”
Further speaking on the changes in the ministry, Dr. Adesina commented, “I wish to state clearly that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development no longer buys and distributes tractors, as has been the practice for decades. The Ministry now supports the private sector to drive the mechanization of Nigeria’s agriculture.”
The Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs), driven by the private sector, will provide access to affordable agricultural mechanization services for farmers.

How AFAN plans to mobilise farmers groups’

National President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Architect Kabiru Ibrahim, in this interview, says that his association is mobilising the over 30 million Nigerian farmers into a single formidable group. Excerpts:

Nigerian farmers are not properly coordinated. What is AFAN doing to raise awareness among them?  
So we are raising a lot of awareness. We are toeing 

the line of the transformation agenda of this administration and we are doing agribusiness. So we are waking people up to pick agriculture as a business. We are talking with all financial institutions, even development associations, international financial institutions, the World Bank and FAO. I told you we are even partnering with the biotechnology agency. We are working assiduously to make farmers come together as one, without looking at your religion, race or gender. We want all the farmers to come under one umbrella. We are not going to monopolise the knowledge of anything, as farmers we are all equal. What we are doing as leaders is to provide service. We are not paid any salaries, we are not going to monopolise anything that comes either from government, banks, or some grants.
How do you intend to address the age long allegations of leaders diverting grains?
When I was the president of poultry farmers association of Nigeria, there was a year I got 24, 000 metric tonnes of grains from the strategic reserve. I did not approve for myself a single grain. I gave the farmers. I believe that I cannot approve it for myself. The current president of the association allocated to me two truckloads of maize when he got allocation. I had no need for that, so I did not take it. We are going to replicate the same thing in AFAN. We are not going to take anything and keep it for ourselves; we will distribute to the farmers if anything comes to us. Every farmer in Nigeria is under AFAN. Being under AFAN means that they have a stake in AFAN and AFAN is their mouthpiece in agriculture. We will first of all work in such a way that government will be interested in what we do. But certainly we will not be another department in government or ministry of agriculture. We are an NGO and there is no law in Nigeria that says you must be our member. We will have to do something to make them become interested in what we do, that’s all. It is by our action that we will attract everybody and we will reduce rancour between our members.
The commodity association doesn’t seem to be flowing with AFAN.
When I was Vice President in charge of livestock and fisheries, I was selected as the person to talk to all commodities associations and bring them back into AFAN. We had a very useful meeting and everybody was ready to go and be part of AFAN. But some people who felt threatened kicked against that. Now that I am the president, I’m talking with them and even attending some of their meetings. The other day I went to the Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, the Groundnut Association was having a meeting there, I addressed them and they were very happy. All of these associations are members of our chapter in grassroots, at the local government, and states.
How many farmers do we have in Nigeria?
I am compiling a compendium of all farmers in Nigeria. I believe by the time we finish, we would have no less than 30 million farmers in Nigeria. If all those 30 million farmers are talking with the same voice, and we all accept to pay a certain token, for registration as farmers, if 30 million brings N200 each, if you collect that in one pool, how much is that? Do we really need government to help us publicise what we want to publicise if we have that kind of money? So if you give us time you will hear about us. I didn’t tell you I was the president of AFAN, but you came to me. I don’t know where you heard that I was the president and you are here today. If you see that plague there (pointing at the table), Obafemi Awolowo University gave me. I couldn’t go but they sent it to me and it was brought to me in this hotel today. That’s why I’m displaying it here. So I am not aware of this noncooperation among farmers in this dispensation. But previously, we made government the centrepiece of our association. I kept cautioning people that you don’t have to do that. I was president of poultry farmers between 2008 and 2012, there was no time I said we were part of any government. We were doing good works and government appreciated what we were doing and they were helping us in their own way and we appreciated it. If this government helps us in any way, we would appreciate it but we will not antagonise government in any way. Because who is government? The people in government are they not farmers? Majority of them are farmers. And if they are not now, tomorrow they will become farmers. So, is in their interest to support us. So we are not quarrelling with anybody. Every farmer you see in Nigeria today is our own. We are all farmers. We have one common denominator-farming. We can only do something that can add value to agriculture. Anybody who comes with anything else is not one of us. We have no animosity towards anybody, and this is the way to go. We will have a very strong farmers’ association if we do this.[SOURCE: DAILY TRUST]

3-hectares moringa farm can generate N5m annually’

Meet Oluwadara Adekunle, a 22-year-old graduate of engineering, who wants to generate N5m annually from her moringa farm. She is still doing her NYSC in Abuja. Daily Trust caught up with her recently where she was exhibiting her product.

As an engineer, what prompted you into agriculture?
Personally, I feel agriculture is a way of life. The fact that we eat we should be able to farm as well. And also looking at the production I am into at the moment which is moringa Oleifera, aside its nutritional benefits it is also an antioxidant plant. The seed when processed into oil can be used as bio-fuel. That is what actually caught my interest in the moringa plant.
Do you have a moringa farm?
Yes I do.
Where?
In Kaduna.
Is that where you process the product?
Yes.
How is the market?
Generally, the demand is high and people are getting to know about the product, although much awareness is still needed because people still come to ask questions like: what is it all about? So the awareness is increasing and it is making the market good.
How much do you make from this farm?
Although I have just started, I am trying to do an estimate of three hectares of moringa farm. It can generate above N5 million if well marketed, both the seeds and the leaves.
Averagely how much do you make from the farm?
I make about N15, 000 a month.
Do you also intend to go into other crops?
I could expand to cassava and the likes. But for now, it’s moringa and all the chain of processing.
Do you supply your products to pharmaceutical stores?
Yes I do. I have met some of them and I told them about what I do. I also met some pharmaceutical stores where my moringa products are being sold at the moment.
What sort of assistance would you want from government?
I would like government to create the awareness because moringa is very nutritious and should be used in school feeding programme to tackle malnutrition. That will increase the usage and expand the market.[SOURCE: DAILY TRUST]

Smallholder farmers lament neglect

A small scale farmer, Bayo Arogundade, has complained of lack of access to market information, finance, hybrid seed and inputs capable of enhancing production, adding that the government has neglected farmers.

Arogundade, who manage an 800-bird poultry farm at Oko-Oba area of Agege in Lagos, maintained that nobody cared about smallholder farmers who, he said, were rendered incapable of  making sufficient production.
He mentioned one of the challenges facing smallholder farmers as limited incentives to produce more than what is needed for their own livelihoods, adding: “This is primarily caused by the limited access to the inputs, support services, markets and credit, which would enable us to increase our production and sales volumes.”
He complained that most of the government’s intervention funds for the farmers and agribusiness operators were not accessible by the real players in the business as the funds were usually diverted to other things by those at the helm of the scheme.
Arogundade disclosed that even those who benefitted from the funds went through rigorous processes and received insufficient amounts that failed to boost their businesses.
Another farmer who has a small vegetable farm at Oko-Oba, Boladotun Agbaje, said he has severally tried to grow his business but lack of access to funds undermined his efforts.
He said accessing facilities was either too cumbersome or given on man-know-man basis.
Continuing, he said: “Government needs to properly monitor all the agric enhancement programmes embarked upon to make sure that the right people who really need these interventions are the ones befitting. A situation whereby everything is portrayed in the media as if the grassroots farmers are now having access to improved farming tools and grants is not too good when in the real sense we are still at the level we have been operating for decades.”[SOURCE: DAILY TRUST]

“Organic Agriculture, Capable of Feeding the Whole Nation” – Professor Adeoye

With the ongoing crusade to ensure food security in Africa, the National President – Association of Organic Agriculture Practitioners in Nigeria (NOAN), Professor Gideon Olajire Adeoye has called on farmers and stakeholders in Nigeria to embrace organic agriculture based on its capability to feed the nation with proper implementation and sustenance.
Adeoye, at a recently held meeting tagged “Mainstreaming Ecological Organic Agriculture into National Policy Strategies and Programmes in Africa” at the NOAN Secretariat, University of Ibadan, said “with sustainable organic agriculture, there can be an improvement in the quality of urban and rural livelihoods. We can manipulate the environment without destroying it and through that, waste generation and recycling can be done to suit our organics need.”

Further commenting on agriculture in Africa, “there is a problem of food security across Africa and the main issue now is that man, animals and environmental health is threatened as a result of the adoption of conventional agricultural system where the use of chemicals, insecticides and even fertilizers have poisoned our lands and by extension foods produced.”
While applauding the Federal Government for various initiatives and policy implementation, Adeoye reiterated the fact that small holder farmers who are predominantly producing for the Nigerian populace would continue to receive training until the entire country goes organic.
“Government can do a lot by sustaining the organic agriculture initiative and create more awareness so that more youths, women and farmers- alike can be part of the revolution” he added.
During his acceptance speech, the newly elected Chairman National Steering Committee of Ecological Organic Agriculture – EOA in Nigeria Professor Victor Adegboye Togun said: “Large scale crop production is possible through organic farming with bumper harvest to show for it on a yearly basis.”
He thereafter called on government’s collaborations on the initiative especially now that researchers, large scale agricultural entities and higher institutions of learning in Nigeria are keying into it.