How herdsmen, late-rains hampered agric output in 2016

Despite bumper harvest recorded in major crops, output for 2016 planting season was hampered by prolonged attacks of rampaging herdsmen, changing rainfall patterns, along with pest invasion.

The prolong herdsmen attacks and pest invasion impeded farmers productivity. Farmlands were destroyed and industrial supply of agro raw materials to industries that feeds on them was obstructed.

The agric sector grew in the third quarter of 2016 by 4.454 percent and was majorly driven by crop production. Despite the growth, experts say the sector would have recorded a higher growth rate if herdsmen attacks and pest infestation were not recorded.

“Herdsmen attacks had implications for the agricultural sector and employment generation. It was a major risk to the growth of the sector,” said Muda Yusuf, director -general, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“It is also threatened raw materials for industries. The agric sector provides the raw materials that feed industries, especially the food and beverage industries in a period of FX shortage,” said Yusuf.

The herdsmen left a lot of farmlands abandoned in areas mostly volatile to their attacks, as farmers’ flee for fear of life.

“Crop production and farmers’ productivity reduced and in turn cut down profits, thereby affecting livelihoods of farmers,” said Micheal Oluwole Ajala, professor of Seed Technology, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB).

Ajala said added that government needed to create grazing areas to address the issues to ensure that the sector diversify the country’s economy and revenue.

Nigeria has an estimated 19 million heads of cattle, valued at over N1.9 trillion.

Another key issue that limited crop production in the year was the late onset of rain.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had rather gloom projections at the beginning of the year that the rainfall pattern for 2016 would pose a great risk to farmers across the country.

The adverse weather condition was predicted to affect not just crop production, but also fish production, expected to be adversely affected as a result of warmer-than-normal conditions, especially in the coastal parts of the country.

There were delayed rainfall in the early part of the year and it prevented some farmers from participating in the first planting season, experts say.

“I did not farm this year because the rains did not fall when it was supposed to. The weather has been changing and most of us that farms rice in Itoga area in Badagry did not farm this year,” said Ibrahim Iroko, a farmer that farms five hectare of rice in Itoga.

Kabiru Ibrahim, president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), said “the climate change is an issue confronting us. In 2016, we experienced late rainfalls and the changing rainfall patterns, which affected farmers’ productivity.”

There was invasion of ‘tuta absoluta’ on fresh tomatoes and ‘army worm’ on maize crop at the early part of the year.

The invasion reduced locally available fresh tomato in the market, and forced consumers to buy puree and pastes which were relatively cheaper. It also made sellers import the commodity from neighbouring countries in order to meet the high demand.

Maize production also suffered some setback as the armyworm outbreak saw farmers recording a lot of loss and drop in industrial supply to industries that use maize as raw material especially the food and beverage industry.

Also, there was bird flu, reported at the beginning of the year, but then, it was not a fresh outbreak, rather one which was a ‘carry over’ from 2015. It was recorded in at least 24 states including the FCT and claimed damages in several billions of naira from the destruction of millions of birds.

 

Josephine Okojie &Caleb Ojewale