• Tuesday, March 19, 2024
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BusinessDay

Seven things Buhari needs to fix in agriculture over the next 4-years (3)

Buhari-FEC-meeting

The last three of seven things President Buhari needs to fix in agriculture over the next four years are discussed today. While there are several issues requiring attention in the sector, the seven identified if solved, will go a long way in repositioning the sector for economic prosperity.

Fixing poor yields through quality inputs

Farm yield in Nigeria is reputed to be among the lowest in the world, and while a number of factors contribute to this, the quality of inputs, particularly seeds contribute significantly to it.

Even when Nigerian farmers are hardworking, they may continually have little to show for it (yield wise), unless this hard work is complemented with the right seeds (and other quality inputs).

As Nigeria’s agricultural development is increasingly becoming a subject of interest, it is attracting the attention of both local and foreign players who want to cash in on the renewed diversification rhetoric. However, if poor farm yield is what potential investors will either have to show for their investments, or perhaps, what limits them from getting enough raw materials for production, then the journey to agricultural development may be longer than thought.

Frans Ojielu, global financial advisor, ICMG Commodities, told BusinessDay, the availability of quality seeds is critical to agricultural productivity. This is a critical input and all efforts must be on deck to ensure the availability. The yield per hectare is bolstered by the quality of seeds. The time to maturity is also affected by the types and quality of seeds used which directly affect the economics and cash flow available to agri-businesses.

The importance of good seeds is important, not only for the economic wellbeing of the farmers, but also for food security. The problem of seed in Nigeria is multifaceted, with two notable elements. The first borders on dubious seed dealers, who sell fake seeds, at times ordinary grains, to unsuspecting farmers as hybrid. This experience discourages many farmers who have used such seeds from making a repeat purchase. The second; most smallholder farmers (responsible for 80 percent of output) are too poor to afford good seeds. This has to be fixed if agricultural output in Nigeria will improve.

Expanding agricultural development beyond rice

Nigeria has given significant attention to rice production in recent years, but this has to be extended to other areas of agriculture; crops and animals, in order for productivity to really improve.

The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme Guidelines published by the Development Finance Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria in December 2016, indicated agricultural commodities to be covered as; Cereals (Rice, Maize, wheat etc.); Cotton; Roots and Tubers (Cassava, Potatoes, Yam, Ginger etc.). Others were Sugarcane; Tree crops (Oil palm, Cocoa, Rubber etc.); Legumes (Soybean, Sesame seed, Cowpea etc.); Tomato; Livestock (Fish, Poultry, Ruminants etc.). At present, the program has covered only few of these so far, and especially rice.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Nigeria’s rice production reached 7 million tonnes (4.2 million tonnes, milled basis) in 2017, up 12 per cent from 6.3 million tonnes (3.8 million tonnes, milled basis) in 2015. The growth according to FAO, was encouraged by high local prices and inputs assistance programmes under the country’s self-sufficiency drive. Curiously, the 4.2 million tonnes milled rice in 2017, is 2.1 million tonnes below Nigeria’s 6.3 million tonne annual demand, noted in the Agriculture Promotion Policy document of 2016. By 2017, demand surely would have even increased, indicating local rice production might still be far from being adequate, even though 2018 data is not yet available.

While rice has unarguably gotten much attention, same cannot be said of so many other crops, and this needs to change in the coming years. Other commodities continue to be imported or smuggled in, as local production remains inadequate.

Access to market and functional commodity exchange

As experts in the agricultural value chain have told BusinessDay, a private sector driven commodity exchange system is expected to eliminate many problems in the sector, where post-harvest losses are as high as 40 per cent for some commodities. There are also frequent gluts in the market for different commodities, leading to price instability, and in cases when prices crash, there is very little income for farmers. Invariably, it is discouraging for potential investors who do not consider the Nigerian sphere viable enough on account of its volatility and uncertainties.

“That is the only way the farmer will get value for his or her produce. A commodity exchange is the vehicle that the farmer needs to get real value for his or her produce,” said Kabriru Ibrahim, president, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).

A commodity exchange system brings transparency in prices, ability to plan, capacity to borrow more easily from financial institutions and ability to provide farming production estimates.

 

CALEB OJEWALE