COMMENT 13
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ThursdayOl November 2012
What the imminent rice revolution means for Nigerians
ot.s. Ill. syndicarcd .:oI~ , a>-foInb of the Youth Comoruum fof Propas and ~ 0( 1M prupm ~k1r\hr:I~lncubMor ~I
fOf S...tamabk.oo RIDI
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hcricevaluer::hllinisone of the eight value chains largeted fOT lransformalion and filII-scale exploitation under the Agricultural Tmn~rom,alion Agenda (ATA). lhls Is because rice is produced aU IlCfOS!I the I1Of1h Ind south of the country, and ~I Nigeria imports aOOuI2.000,000 Innnes or rice Pf'1 annum - spending N356 billion on impoTu and earning the title of the second largest ri~ Imponer in the world In IIghl of this. the plan Is In have Jl!pli1ced Impone<! brown rice wilh locally-produced hrown rice by nett )'t"lIr. And by 2015, Ihe Nigerian gtn.'ertlmenl plans to ban all rice Imporl5 and bl!(;ome selfsuffide.nl. llae rice Implementation action plan willln\'Ulve the establl5hmenl or ImprO'lt'Olent - wheTe Ihe 011115 already ells! - of seventeen rice mill, across the country. 10 states like Edo and Taraba, which have a comparilive advanlage in rlee production, the milling capacily of rice ....in be Increased to ensUie thai rice 15stone-fret'_ 1 n fllCl, in Taraba. following a pallnersl'tip _ith the fedefllt min15lry and Dominion FanM, $40 million i. already making ils way Into the legion \-ia ria produclion lhe site of tnlnsformation Is
AYOD EJI AREO ArltO wrOle /n from Lagos he year 2012 has been a ~ry tough )-'ear ror Nigeria, its people and their leaders Indeed A combinallon of control · lable and uncontrollable catastrophes has Illk.en place, leading 10 an oUlcry of Ihe people against Ihe governmenl. While some have called for Ihe breakup of the counUYiJnd manyothen for a sov· e("('igo nalional conference. others have blamed Presldentlonalhan'$ Incompelence, with only a vel}' minute ponlon of the population saying Ihill Ihe problems al Ihis momenl are beyond Ihe conuol of the president. EVen If Ive could exonerale Presldent lollathan of any wrong doing In the way that he hrmdled Ihe Issues of nood and Dol«> Ilamm (which Is nOI Ihe case, any· way), w.! cannot but mise serious quesllons on Ihe: way he and hb cabinet have handled Ihose things which are fully under Lilelrconnol. The manifeslaLioru of Ihe gross Incompelenee, lack of sincerity lind arrogance of Jonathan and his cabinet cannot be fully listed - from the Bakassi appeal to the rubsldy issue, and most recently. Ihe 20 I J Budget. which is my focus
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beside the Taraba RI~r, allowing il to enjoy full irrlp;ation (irriga. lion faclll!i~ have also been sel up in Sokolo. Niger, Kogi, Kwara. Adama......,. ligawa, F.do. Anlmbra. Enugu, Bayel58, Oyo, and Ogun State!l). A Illnall porllon (10 percent) of the land In Thf1lrn. will be man· aged by Dominion Farms Lui. Ihe lOp inveslor In the stale. Thb POItion wilt be used for commen::lal as welJ all edueatJollId purposes. 1oleanwhlle, the bulk of the land (90 perunl) will go 10 farmers In the stale who will Operllie as contr.K:t rarmer~, creilting uyer 15.000 Jobs from which the youlhs stand 10 beneJit m05t In eighteen months, the apKled turnover is 300,000 MT of rtce, enabling Ntgeria 10 irnmedhuely slilsh lIS Impo"' by 15 percent Wilh the new mlIls III Ebony!, Kebbi and Niger already In opention, lind the H mlDs largeted 10 be t$labU.med before 20 I 5, Ihere is hope thai expected ourpul will be reachetL lhe comblncil OUtpul for the curreO! mill! Is 900,000 lonncs ufmllled rice. which Is 1000 complemented by 420,000 tonnt'S
following Ih~ establishment of the additional mills.. Dominion farms Ltd Is cmnmi!· 10010 tnllnlng 1.200 students II year In agricuilore, Some student! 'hill be trained in Kenya for m mOllth~ on rice processing. Irrigation systems. farm machinery ope ralioll, team building. eiC. In faet. fifty students have already begun this el:erclse.. Upon finishing their respeclllIe CUUfS ..
With the new miUs in Ebonyi, Kebbi and Niger already in o perati on, and th e 14 mills ta rgeted to be es tablished before 2015, th ere is hope th at expected Olltpllt will be reached
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Ihe Sllltients will be inlegrdtetl Into Ihe Taraba Farm, either u supervisnry / managerial person · nel or "s independent fllrmerll/ entrepreneurs with conlract lands, which they can use 101 commercial
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Even Ihou)th we havemanyagrl. cuiturallnstJlutJons helll In Nigeria where youlhs can receive trainiog. it Isimponanl for the pioneers (n well as some IIgricullllr1lllacadem · ks) 10 be ~ 10 bdt pf3ctlces lind lechnh]ues in olher parlli of Ihe coollneol and form partnerships wilh like-minded commerclill 'anners. lilis lnIinlng should Ihen be tnmsplanled to our own InstilU' tions so thai more graduale!l &om Nigerian institution." a.n be directly lI~rbed inlothlZe Imnlfonniltion farms. Mnving a slep funhet. thlll Is the time for our Instillltions 10 lilan worldng wilh rice farmels, giving SllItlen" Ihe practical knowledge Ihey will 11m for Ihe field work.. Moreovel, eft""ns sh.ould be made 10 ensure thalagrlcuhural knowJ~tfge Is complemeoted wllh. let:hnlCIII bu~lne5!l knowledge 50 Ihat OUT graduates fire not only able 10 thrive 15 fllrmen bUI are able 10 maDmi~ oulpm and productivity, becoming model enl«'pre:neurs.. This is also the lime for lIlure llrivale sector companies to ~ their Investment p7~ on rice farming and Invesl _ like Dominion Farms hIlS tlone - In Ihis enlerprl~ worldng wilh federal and Slale governments 10 lend their e:zpenise where needed while benefillin8 Immensely from Ihe Mgricu!tuf1IIl economy. lUfor Ihe SIMle govemmenl$ anti minislries, it 15 hoped thai they would double Iheir Ulenslon i1nd supervisory efforts to ensure that Ihe effect 01 govcmmem policie!lare .naxhni.red and no areas or communities lue letifaUow
For agricultural ,;raduarcs wtth skills in rice farming IhinkinS of whal to do, II has becume reallydeaf the rlc:r revolutionary er.a has he-guo IU rice mills and irrlgtllkm facilltJf!:'I are being K1 up In ria· producing stales, we would need youn~ ener getic. innovative ynmhs to see the Income opportunlly and gel lhem selves Involved, u1timlltely con!fib uling 10 the closure of the Import gap.. lheliioriesofCilllneroonian I'll lienee Atilll and to lalawian OUlondi ChabvllIa, /l.desope Samuel. and the scores of other young Nigerian IgriCUItUral enlrepreneu~. which I have Ih!ned 00 this col umn. are. leslamenl lothelmme,"" polential younft people have 10 see any dn!am 10 fntitlon. It i.5 my hope \h;n more imd more people - such M Ihe fllle5 with whom f hRye Intr-r.acted ovel lhe pasl month, who hDve ~ne to the drawtnR hoard. come lip with a btl$ineM plan, and fife now mitking Iht!lr way 10 the fanns In sel ul.theu own entr-rpri~ - will keep abfNS( of Ihe developmellts In the SKlor and Iakt: advantage of the exciting opportllllllie5 10 launch thell OWII careers.. As Ihe revolution starts SW'Ieqling the nation, the dream of walking into a re:5laumnt or market and knowing Ihat the rice you are eatillG 01 buyIng Is nOI from lhailand bur fmm 11uaba, or th'lI our own people Ire tilling our soib. keeping us ~U fed and conSe1luently reaping their well deserved reward.~; or lliat our g0vernment 15 maldng ~mart fin.nclill choices and $pendlng money in areas where ilis most needed seems more amllllore IIIIainable. Wilhour elforu and tled}Qtlon. wecan mAke II come I" passby2015
Food security, import duty and 2013 Budget in Lids piece. Afler losing over 2 million hectares of ria plimlutlonsin ad dition to sel-'eml mllllonsofheCl· ares of lubers. frult~ and mallY olher locally produced slaple 10 Ihe floods ItCfOSS the counuy, one e;m only expecllhat Ihe harvesl next yenr ma)' nOi be as buoyant as Ihat ohhe previousyear.1hisls bad enough for a country of O\-'er 160 million people which has 110 clear agricultural masler plan, and suffers [rom fOI}{l Insecurity. These facts are: compounded by new revelalions Ihal maJorlly of our food reserves are already under-Slocked while many are emllty due to diversion of grnlns. amongsl olher comll'1 activities. Whnt f expecled from Ihe president was 10 PUI Sleps In place 10 aven a food shortage and Ihe attendanl rise in food prices which would lead 10 mal · nutrition of women and children, Ihereby negarive.ly alleeling Ihe right against maternal and child monality. When I heard thaI 10 percenl imporl dUly and 100 pen:enl levy will be applied to both brown and polished rice. I was 5urprlsed because common
sen~ stipulates that If Ihe harvesl or locally produced food crops is poor. Imponed rice i.5 always what consume" filII bock on. It mUSI be emphaSised 10 our leaders that whal is needed 10 develop our local agriculture and food processing indu~tl}' 1.5 nOI increasing tarUfs because protecllve measures are only useful whenlhere Is somelhing 10 be protected. When Ihe coS! of economically prolectil-'e measures is more than !.he gain, such measures should be dl.5CiJrd ed Lookingat the small proportion local rice aceouulS for out of the tolal rice consumption, lucreaslng lani!s onlhe major staple NlgeriMS consume ror carbohydrate intake at a point In time when food security Is low is a slep in the wrong dlrec:lion. I could go on criticising. bUll would also say Ihllil am .surprised at the low level of aUention Ihls issue received. While people lauded the zero dUiyon aircmft parIS Imporled inlo thecounuy, no one really came out to speak ror Ihe larger portion of Nigerian peoplewhoe81 ricebul have never gol near the airport or dreaml of flying. Taking Into con.5lderallon the government's Ilnnouncemenl thai
it would sponsor and eneoumge dry wason fanning. I canTlOl but laugh beeause if there I., nOI yel adequate eleclrlcity to light our bUlbs. will Ihere be enough 10 power irrigation PUllltnCOll."llanlIy? It Is so funny Ihat tht' Federal Govemme-III is mak.lng such an announce.ment when thele is no reflection of such a programme In the budgrt And ~n iltheR" i!l, how will these funds and materl· als gel to the remOle meas where farming Is mostJy done? Are con ~ lracts going 10 be awalded 10 build Irrigation channels in places where Ihey n~ exisled? lhe so-called Irrigation farming being planned by the FG to alleviale food .silOrt.. age (consider1ng Ihe governmelll budgetary pcrfonnance nf about 40 IJCR:em In the PM! Rnd IInlore.5ec-n challenges) Is already a failure.. The way 10 forestaJi the ri.5k of food shonage, in my view. 15 10 Icmpomrily reduce Import duty on food, as a short· lerm solulion. which will enable us avoid any negalive effect Ihe noods mighl bring. Meanwhile, In Ihe long lerm. thcgovemment should crcale a maSler plnn for agricu.lltlre which should include a reform
of the laud policy Ihat will mab land acqui.sition le5lI difficult and cumbersome.. nK' inclusion of the research agencies and ar:ademla will make such II master plan more wOlkable. espe-c:iaily If tht' slate and local go\-TfIlmenl~ are pul OIl the fore-front of ilS imple menial Ion. In addition 10 Ihis. low Interesl financing oplion. guaranlt'ed mark~1 and slorage facilities should be provided by Ihe creallon of food distrihulion boards which are prlvatc .5e"Clnr based with soong public regula lion and assistance. These are among lhe measures Iha! have made many countries in thewe<;t lind even Ihe likes of South Africa agricultuml powerhouses.. Finally, I mll.5t say Ihal aparl from provision of finnnce for subsidies and con5lruction of ill fm.s1ruClure and research. rhe FG should nol try 10 gel into d.irect in volve.nlelll with agriculture, as ex· perlence from Ihe pa.51 FADAMA and many olher progliJmme.s showlhal mOS1 ofthi5moneymds up in privale hands.. Smd
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