DAILY TRUST
Tuesday, August 16.201 1
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Growing Nigeria's cocoa indust ByTlnafLllauan COCOA is onl! of Ih~ Igricullural commQdilles Ihal have a high income @meralion value fur Nigeria, lnlhe 196Os, cocoa WH In the same league of cash cmps like COllon and groundnul, It ,JlilJ remains one of the most aclive ca.sh commodiries thaI Nigeria stiU trndes in the Internltional nluktt thouGh at a lower le,-d comparrd to its glory days in the
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The oommodity once accounted for 16 percent o(global cocoa bul has since losllhal posi, tion bccllwe of the downward spirnl o( agriculture due to rean; o( neglil5cncl!. Grndually, as Nigeria loses grip In cocoa production and cocoa markel, its neighbour. Ghana was gaining and hu evenlually emerged as one orlhe most comprtiU\"e cocoa markels in Africa. Slakeholders in the industry said it is onlr ,", hen the country is able tn e5tabUsh a well coordinaled marketing slructure for the cnmrnoditr an(1 boost pro-
ducllon and processing that the country would be able 10 rise from its ashes 10 the height il has fallen from - a leading cocoa produdng country in the continent A member oflhe Cocoa Processors AS5ociatlon of Nigeria (COPAN), Mr. Akin Olusuyl had expressed opUmism thatlhe revival of cocoa to Its glory days Is at1ainableonly if a well-coordlnaled m.arktlingboard Is in place and fanners an' takm seriously in go\"C'mment a(falrs. In one of hls commenu: on tire revival of markeling boards earlier this year. Akin said government must show seriousness o( purpose by Invoh'ing experts In the seclor to be: al the helm of affairs. ~I recommend thatlflhe Federal Government intends thai the boards should work, they mus l gel players in the market who understand lhe dynamia of tiro: board and an run il as an enterprise detnmlned to IChlC\'C mulls.. "It should not be given to the political boys as pa)'back or as politial appointment b«ausc that would surely ruin tile
boards," he advised. Newly appointed MInister of Agricultwe and Rural De\'eloprilenl. Dr, Akim.-uml Adeslna has made a number o( pronouncements on gove.rnment's I"CI.dlnt'S5 to turn around the fortunes of agricultu re for Ihe benefit of farmmand the Nigerian populace At a rccml forum on c:ocoa. the mi:".Qer saki he is ready to revoIUIIoniu: the S«tor Ind crops like cocoa. cw:ava, sorghum, OODls and tomatoes are sume fA 1M aops that arcbeing targeted for !he grtm
revolution in 1M sector. While r!ddl.ng questions from rq>Ortm.. the minister said he 15
weil aware of the many challenges rildng agriculture in the country but promised that he should be held accou ntable 10 his words th:Jt they wooId twn agriculture around Ind make il a business that \.vuld am good income 10 F.ume1S and make the country food suifJdcnL "'We "'allt to get back the intern.r~ market (Of"cuooa bystructuringaurinsiitulionSpmonna~
and productivilY.
"Wc "vuld maJuo agriculture work for our famlCfS especially women fatma'$ because they con-
slitute a larger share of the farm Ing population and contribute 10 the home if IhC')' arc empowtted. M
hcsaid..
It n':mairu to be seen if tile
nlinisler would malch his wotds with action and also "make Igricullure ....'Urk for the )'UUl.h" by gro\\ing tile much menliontd ,':tIue ch:tin de\'ClupmenL
IFAD supports FG's agric IHowto make transformation agenda with $75m agriculture THE I nt~matiorral Fund for Agricultural OevdOprner11 (lFAO), said it has formally endorsed the agrlcultllral transformation agenda of Nigeria tluough ti,e Frocral Minislry of Agriculture I nd Rural Ik\'dopment and Is supporting it with S7S million. PresJdrnl oflFAn, Dr. Kana)'U Nwanle who ,.jsiled the Ministry )-e5lerday uphlncd that IFAO has al ~r5 bern In thr forefront of agricultural transformat io n globally Ihroogh slrcngtllening of the value chalo 10 create weahh. employment opportunities and generatr Income, He said Il'AD is proposing Ihe mOne)' to support the agticulIUra.l transFomlation agenda u( the Nigerian g'lvernmenl to Ihe agricultural IIllluechaln (Otcomprehensiye agrlcuhura.l devdopment in the counlry, He said: ~Nigeria :lIId IFAO ha\'e been coUt.boraUng on agricultural de\"Ci'1pmenl In three kry areas which are Conrmunity-Based Agricultural and Rural Dc\'elopmenl Programme (CHAROP); Ihe CommunityBil5Cd Natural Pc:sources Marlagement Programme (CBNRMP); and the Rural Finan« Instltulion BuUdlng Prognmme(RUFIN,:' He said the;nognmmcs were jointly ~ecult:'d by Nlgerta Ind IFAD with tht lalll!r contribut· ing S85 millio., and lire fonner paying S 115 mUlion counterpllrt funding. Th~ agric lI,inister. Dr, Akin · wu1ll1 Adr:5in~ said Nigeria as
profitable in Nigeria' B, Irbb Ahm~d
menl Ihe largest donor to IFAD programmes. is read)· 10 pay Ihe 9th replenishmen t amounting to SIOI million between October and December 2011. He said: ~Nigeria Is ready 10 niH-the agricuh unl ProdUCllyllY of small holder farmers through the Nigeria lncenU\'e-bued Risk Sharing Ag ricultural lending (N IRSAl) jusllike 8nUl. China. India and Thailand which invest heavU)' on agriculture not only to put food 011 the table bUI to create wealth, jobs and increase Income:'
MlnislerofState for Agricultu re and Rural DrveJopment, Dr, Bukar Tijani said that Ihe Impact of! FAD's programmu is felt globI IIYIs they reached the poorest or the poor In all nooks and crannies of the world. raising incomes and helping millions of poot people to corneoul of po\'Crly. HI! explained Ihat the IfAD technical assilllince being ulcnded 10 Nigeria doveta il. Inlo Vision 20-2020 IS it concerns agricultural value drain whic h is th t helit practices approach.
STANniC lOTe Bank Pic has outlined measures thai would mm agricu lture profitable in Nigeria. The bank saki access to agricultural Inputs. marke t Ilnkagcs. technical support 5C'rvices as \veU as access to finandal services through valuechain financing Ite factOf3 tha t could lead 10 the rc\'h'al and growth of NIgeria's liling agricullure 5«lor, Agriculturalscctor is currenlly fadng numerous challenges such as high transaction C05IS and high risk: skJlIsand t«hnological gaps; lack of reliable finandal information about smallholder agriculture. among others, ~Value chain financing wUJ easun:: the fiow or financing within the agricultural sector. acroS5 all value chain ,cIOrs, thereby getting agricultural products to lire mlrket: Head of Agricultural Banking. Stanbic ISTC Bank, lacques Ta,lor said_ A stalrmml from the bank said that Tarlor said that dtvelopment and proper coordination of the country's (ood production chain comprising Input suppliers. primary producers. storage. logistics and processors. among others. will reduce risk. IUract financing and new Inyestments which will make the country's ilgticultwe SKlor competitive
and commercially viable, HI! said the agrlcu!turals«tor in Nigeria has the polenllai to rapidly jumpstart «onomic growth and pove.rty reducUon. positioning the counlry as tile food basket of the ""otld, given the lvailabilityof vast portions of arable land, and Ihe (aa that ab~n 70 percent ofilsO\"er 140 million people arc Inmlvrd In fanning. He said capacity building fnr lenders. risk reducllon through )'idd and price insurance and value chain approach 10 agriculturll lending from commodities to products will Iddress Ihe rislu an d capacity bottlrnecks along tire agricu ltural and financing .... Iue dlalns, which Ire stining the eltlslence of a demand-d riven market. said: "Aglicu hural He finan ce is .... Iue ch ain finance; It reqUires understanding oflhe interdependency or businesses along the value chain which is as important IS unders lan ding the sl!ctor you are nnaneln g. "For instance. lack of usable collatrral OIakes lradillonal le nding products inappropriate (or smallholders. thus Stanbic L8TC Bank's lending model uses a funding struclule Ihlt includes parlne.ring with key pla)'ers In Ihe ajriculture ,'alue chairr , high profi e (oundatlons and NGO's who assilit lmal1holders with operational m anageOl en t.~