DAIl,Y T RUST
Monday, June 4, 2012
Agriculture: 'North's most potent t 01 for poverty eradication' WHA:r " ,I~ do you lhink agrkultul co can play in aileri1tinn powrty in northun Nigma'
As the current administration celebrates its one year in office, Chief Audu Ogbe. former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Honorary Adviser on Agriculture to President Olusegun Obasanjo speaks to Daily Trust on the state of agriculture in northern Nigeria and other issues hindering agriculture from contributing to poverty alleviation and job creation in the country. Excerpts:
Afl;ricdlllrt Is northern Nignia's loost .Y1lilabk 1001 for poveny eradication. Qu-. m"ltly me since the Mginnlng 0{ time, it hem the highest nnplo)'ft" of labour whkh is why today WE are still f«ding in this cot ntry; we arc: Iftding on the charity and subsidy of thIS pt'lSlll farmm btause if they were to al6I their labour nobody 011\ buy IOod. h Is the greatat opportunity that !he north and many parts of this country ~ for creating jobs and a11cvt11ing pavaty. In ~pH e .".the: ..... opportunities that agricultWY proTkks, il l:5 still not on tbe priority 1i:5t of most northern p«nOn. •• ,1ITb it JO? Thl! Is lhew sidtoflhts whole business.1:Iecame while we aU talk abc '\l1 the ncussity lOr bccomingsdfsuff'Jdent in food produc.tio", Nigeria is cutTmtly spmding N20 billion annually impOl ting food That then makn U5llaughablc society in the eye 0( the reA world. At thc kda.tl kl-"d at last tbmo is mlphatlS on agriculture now as the government 5ttmS to be: 5enOU! ly conunittrd to il bul if thue is no corrcspooding an rict f rrom tM IIllles it would appear as if most peopk. the poIitk d elue in this country gcocrally igno~ agriculture anddcsp!.es It. But thtydo IlOthinf;.somcdon't cYm bother talking arout it. We are importing rice, wheJl. sugar, milk, fnut ~Ik:e (t'rKC!ntl'1lte and 50 on, I low ~ we going to makt' the govt:rnOl'S dlanga It is ddlkull for anybody 10 comprl or adYbt' liM' &' wnnon, thty are Vttf busy and if thl."lnitia!M to proTOOlc ngricuhure is not from lhcm mdividually, sorntlimes It '" III hi." v:lremdy dillkult to try and pu5h It. Many of us haw tried bcfOf"C; .lome of them hal'!: re:spoodcd while others hit' ~It raid sulfKicnt attention to it. II is worrying for" 1ns1arn::r i' tllC Federal GO\'emmcnt is lalltingabout stopping tht 1mpol' allon 0( riccby 201 50 that means we nlUst produce6 minIOn to ISo( ria to fctd !hiscoontry. "l"knorthoccupies 16 per U"ll {> igmU landmass so there is a bigger opportunity mrlU 10 I sc up and ITIC'Ct iMchalkngrofNigcrill and say we can dclk~ r Ute ria.sugar, mllk,and wheal Unforturwdy not much oIne Illm is paid to It. Be}'ondthat thtfarmcrshavctobc as.siskd t. d.J what they IlllYC 10 do. Land has 10 be prq»nd. improvnf seed ha\'e 10 be provided and nlOfl' 1nICtOf!i tm.... lo he brot.lgll in because thq arc too apcmtYC for the a\'ftagc funncr. &m·ofthc~f1( ' rsarcworkmghardonagnculture
butlht-ya"e not dealing wIth thl."scctOl'cnough anJ thiS ITlll}'
. fred effi rt 10 meet our IarJd in r;cc prodlKtioo a.s "'~ wiD l>c Un:lNt tc meet our rice production targd 0£6 million by 201!', We m.J!l Ctllllvate a mlntmumofl million hcctarcsof bnd to po odJ tel." ~y rice. Go\~rnmcntl5alreadybringing in 100n.:t IT Illsthallutw: tMQradtyof producing 100 10000JICf d.ywhich rream IO,OOOtOfl.5of paddynupcrday. lf "'.... don't havcthc 2 milll()!1 hmares under cultivation wcwiD not haYe Ihcpltdd ... ri'~e 10 "'crt govemmmt sci target. You can look.81 OChn'aren IIkt hccf, it appears tht population of cows in the country iJ OIllhcdcdine and CtltTently ~ havconlyabout 12 millicmalrd thislw rewhcd in low milkproducoon.lfyou compare, Klr figures 10 BflI7.iI, Br.a.il ha5 about 200 milllOr'l cows; our P'!pUiatkln is not far fmm each other. We at"I." not producinl~ enough of an)-tlttng; today weare importing IOod from RrulL l>rodocmg sugar aklne has the potential ol mal:. tng jobs.. I la~rng sugar aJonc in Brazil engages ITIO£C than one mlllit,n people. that b Juslto teD you the kind ~ opportunil~ tt at agriculture can provk\oc in tcnns of job c:rcation and poverl)' aIIcvialian. TaUdr, about faci1.itic5 that the FcdcraJ Gcn-crnmmt is rnaldns.""ilable to cncouragr apicuhWT. ~ rMK'than brmen Ltkinl adnntagc of these facilities' Iam at n. d that lOmCof whllt is goingOll is DOl vrryheahhy. 'There is a ... cry t.d disparity in the dOOuncmenl cl agric credit, Of tbe 200 billion oommen::iaI-garic ~I scheme I don't think lhOlt farmen in north haw: aa::esscd up to 15 JICf c.mt. For I~of Wi who even applied. inspiltof aU the work weare tr)lng to do, we wa-c refused the loan 011 the ground thal. we ar:! rolitk:a.lly apo!Icd penoos.. This 1pcrsonaby proteor;l~ to tiM' eBN Governor bUI he: said hc d idn't ~ such dlrcc:hw:. N:rw almost 80 pet' (enl olllte acdit hu gone 10 poultry fj,rrncrs.. From a b;mktts point of view, il i.1 under· Slandabll." that poultry farm brings in quid tumovI:f bul the poultry illd!lSlry iuclf will not survh'e for- long iflhcrc is no 1ni1lze. gll'lndnul.SO)"lI beilns,and Nipianswill not livc 011 chkkrn 110 'It, ~ eat }"'llm, catsa\'a. we consume sorghum,
role agricultun!: an play; it b not buying and sdling. it is no! petrokum or oil and gas. It Is a very pccu1iu business,
5U' what
.tomI." ~ you gain other times you lose. During the ~Jo en you 5Cf'VCd
CHIEF AuduO g beh ~.
wheat CW'n tree crops mango. 0fiI.IlgeS. palm U\'CS.. 11tc whtlk of the acdJt scheme has gone into poultry f..ums. that Is fairbutlhcTc Is the problem with imriemmtation of polka I think .. amin Icvd of expnts group is nccdcd to sit and dccidl." ""hat 'lhoukI be aJloalcd 10 whal~ 1«IOf rathtt than allow jusl one .tegmcnt to utili7.!! what tM whole sector shouId~. Righi now in most lItates there are no tracton. land pn:paralion for farming is becommg mon!' expensive. buslllCS!l anywhere from Zaria 10 Kaduna. Abu';", Kogi and Kwara. it ta.ke.\ nothing less lhan half a million nail'1l to dear one h«tarc ofland. So who IS going to rrepa.rl." this land for us: 10 movcmachlnes into? Pcalianl fl rmen, till dominate farmingactmtics in the north, llow can go ... em~nl encourage them t This is prccisdy what I'm saying. you haVf' 10 help them dcartheland.makcmorcmachincsavailablt.andthepcasant fanner ill doing his bc:st.. he b trying bul whllt he produces is hardly enough 10 laU him fOr thrft months but he must sdI it ofT lo pa.)' school fm and to m«t his pcnorW daily necd5, sohecan'tdomuch. J mean Ifthcpca5llnl farmcnin IndiaClll fctd 1.2 biUm people lhen whaI arc _ doing ha'e. So ~ Clll
as HODOrV'J' Admcron agriaU~ ""hal weft you advising on and has the 5iloation chanp! There an two things here; J was oncol thosf' who pmhed b outright plaan'!en olban on muin hems under thcObaAI1jo rqpmc. 1think we ......'e nearly 42 hcmsoffthe import list asa resull . the nain stabilized at N11710. dollar but today it is N 153, we cannot go on foolHhly importing the W'6f we arc doing becaUl'iC we arc kiDing the kxaI currmq and discour· aging local production denying our youths jobs. 11tc ..iIOk cassava initiatiw: wu mine and iflodlly we have kept 10 it, we would have JOOC &.r than wtJcrf' _ are now. Even thoogh there ~ limitations. the cost of production b still very high. dectridly is an is.sucand it Is getting WUfSI.". partnll'i arcgctting older and il is not likely tlwt you can get tllf' youngrr gcnent. lion to go and UK hoc: and cullasscs. 10day we havc ca.55lVII glut all OVtt the coun try, ""hal isthcwa), out? ThcglUI iscausat by IhI."faCl that machint'l'}'docs not exist ~ fOf inducing the cassava for the klnd offloor that i! m high demand But QlSS;lV1. can be Ul'iC for a lot of other things apart from brtad: ~can maU Indusulal starch. glues and CVCD beer and nuts. Cassav.. has a lot of potmtials. il is used £or maldng Ajinomotoand most ofthl."scasoningsforlOOp. and il iIoalso used for maJrJng magi cubes. CassaYoI has a \01 of vaIuc In tht> \"'llIuechain btll ~ for producing those Ihings are no! chap. thf'yarc usuaIIY$lainlm 51ed machines. The banks arc not also helping mailers as I.hc intl!'ft:$l fiIIle (or loans will not allowagricultUn' 10 grow in lhecountry. A ~ liIl rrogrammc need to be plIlln pI:acc becaUl'iC faflllC'ni hayc no SC'CUnty to offtt and many arc willing to go into commercial farmlllg but
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President GoodLuck Jo nat han is cdebnling one year in office, docs the avk5«l.0r haveaf\ythi ng 10 cdebrate? Well )'a. at least governmenl ~tcnOon is focusing on agri' culture, govcmmcnl emphasis 15 noticed. the mtnlSl.c'rof agri.
culture is very proKIivc. hardworking but a lot ITlOf"I." Iw to hi." done. 11lc job is 50 big and detailed !hat "''e are orrty JUSI beginning the fiB! few Slep$. Rutlherc is rGSOIl 10 be hopt. fuL Theonlythlng I want loadvtSC Is that policyTmkcn must abo be in regular contacl with f.umcn on tilC fIckIlo know I!XlIctiywtw.lhc probIcmsand obstada are in the way offood productIon ni1tlonwkle. Fmllil.er is oncissue Ihat kecpsaffming food production, howdo you think gol'UT1 mOll should handle iu procu rementand distribut io n? The current agriculture ministu has totall)' willxlnwn from fcrtili7.Cf pun1wcs and IT ilia good Idea. ld the prmte sector handk it but i;O\~nmmt needs to walch t1'1t quality and quant ity offertili7.et" being brought in because \'tt¥ soon propIe will load bags with Il.5hcs and ddivu 10 unswpccting fa.nnI!'fs. lltc Q1Wity of rertUIur ttltcring the country is not good enough but bcskk tlwl, OIpIlk ff'I1iIizer is somcthiDg wean produce..
We must cultivate a minimum of2 million hectares ofland to produce paddy rice. Government is already bringing in 100 rice mills that have the capacity of producing 100 tons per day which means 10,000 tons of paddy rice per day. If we don't have the 2 million hectares under cultivation we will not have the paddy rice to meet government set target.