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Nigerinn Tribune 4 October, 20 11
Tuesd~y,
., m<lrkcts for farm products,trnnsport infrastructure to move prod ucts £rom the frums. low uptake from processors and marke ters; farmers cannot be tmsled to mllke rnOlle'\' iUld repay 10ims. In short. rmny of Nigeri~'s agricultural'value chains have missing links. Farmers are not recei\'ing the right quantitY and quality of inpuls. For I!.'(ample, Ihe ann ual IlC.'l'd for high-}'ielding seed is one million tons per annum but the country currentl y produces just 8,()(XI lons per annum, less than one per cenl of Ihe nation's needs. Not onl y Ihat. fertil iser gets 10 faml ers 100 l<tte in the production cycle and is poor in quality, having bren diluted owing tosharp practices in the fertilisersupply dlain. Many supply dlains have no local p~rs and mMy f;llmletS do not have a nearby rustomeror off-taker for their outpu t. TIlete has been. therefore, a vicious drcle of low Imding bec<lusc the risks and los.-;es are too high. Neverthelcss. if thecounl::rycantr;msfonnitsagrirultural sector, Nigeria can produce more food lu feed itself, lower the cost of food imports. and ev('ll become a nlil;or food exporter and a breadbMkel for the whole of West Africa. Agriculture can genera te add itional g row th and employment. We estimate that by increasing yield and acreage, production enn gTOW a massive 160 per cent by 2030. rising from 99 biUiorl United States of Amerk;;l dolliU"S in 2010 to 2S6 billion dollarS ill 2030. Can Nigeria get out of the wood? Yes we can make it. In fa cl, we are making some progress. TIU! only thing is tI'!.lt Nigeria l1Iusl nrsl tackle
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is your a:i'sessmMt of "gne'l/lural sector of the country?
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Well ag riculture plays II,e most detemunant long-tenn IUle in the Nigerian economy, accounting for 40 per cent o f the Gross Domestic Product (GOP) and providing 60 pe! cent of employment. Indeed, agriculture bellies the "eril"blc growth reservcs to dri ve N igeria's economic gteatress. N igeria's arable land remains grossly u nderutilised with onlr 32 million hectares or 46 per cent of its arable land u nd~ r cultivation. Close 1090 per cent of Ihis is acrountecl for br households with less than two hectares l1llder (]'(IPpin8 ·,'; Ih fann sua rimging from 05 hectares • Mr. Paul Eluhaiwc, Director, Development Finance in soulhem Nig£ ria 10 four hectares in Ihe north. Department CBN inpuL.. suppl y 10 (amlers has also ' iT'==--;::-:=:c;'CC::-'CC-;;;;;;;n7:c-.-,C:-;;;;. . .-;':-::-",",. .T -:-:,~ . . • J1XJ9 T,·' CB.'~'has some major dlallenges. WemuSl leam 10 do tlling:> been abysmally bw and of poor quality. rrom ~on ill to JUlY , 'Ie ~.... differently if wean!: 10e:xped a resul t tll.lt is historically d ifferent. Fertiliser cons'Jmption in Nigfria, .released estimatedat7kgoerhectare, is ooeoltll(! 1';". 159L--L!"';",,~--.,IeurpQ{133indi'Vl'duaJs/ Can you shed more lig ht on the much lowest in Sub.. r-a haran Africa (SSA), LV LJ'::Ut:U&...u.U.~.u1dU1 t.1Jced about Commercial Agriculture Credit while less tlwl ll) per cent land is under p~.vate PIUIllOters and 26 Scheme (CACS) lind its impact on lite nation 's irrigation. N igeri Ul farmers have limited _~_'-::""~a!!J;'~~gj~~dUN'{11~.OQJb~illiiJ· 7M'OIImjea~druL~':' 8gricuimral development? access ~o cred it w ith lending to As part of its dC'·elaplll('fltal role. tile CeJltral Bank agricultu re. reprEsenting a pallIy 1.4 per ren t of aggregate pmctices to 1.1Ck of processing facilitKs. of Nigeria (CBN) in col1aboratKJIl with the fulernl Ministry" lending. far bela' v lhe 6 per cent in Kenya ;md 18 per cent What do you haw 10 say about !he aop and liVf!Slixlt: of Agriculture and Rural [)e\·e!opment, established tile in Brazil. pmductionsecfotsofthenation'sagrirulturalSl!dor? Commerdal Agriru lturn l Credit Scheme (CACS) for It is eslimale. lthat there is one extension 1V0rket;: per In li vestock production, local supplies h3\'e been _ promOting rommerci.,l l'Igrlcu1!ural en terprises in Nigeria. 15,(XX) farm how:eholds in Nigeria, compared to the FoOO inadequate with an estimated 30 per cellt of livestock scheme is being funded through the issuance of N200 imd Agrirulture iftganisatlOfl (FAD) best practice eslimatc slaughtered imported from ncis~hbollring counlries. TIle billion Federal Govemment of Nigeria bond for seven year uf one 10 5(0.100') fann households. lllCre are aboul 30,OCXl daily animal protein intake per head per day is currentl}' tenure and fio.lted by the Debt Management O(ficc (DMO~ Ir.tdors (Of 14 million farm hOllschol(is in Nigeria. In lemlS es tima ted a l 10 g r;"lmmes compa red 10 the FAD It is also 10 comrlement o ther special initiati,·es of of agriculhlrnl plOcessing. Nigeria lQS(!5a significant value recommended 36 grammes. the Ccnt ral Bank 0 Nigeria in provid ing fun ding fo r ofbetweffi 15 to '10 percent of its post·harvest output duc Also, for the lenders, it has been a nightmare. With agriculture such as the Agrimlttlr.ll Cretlit Guarantee to factors rangil.g £rom poor or non.-existent roads. poor disrupted val ue chaillS lacking co\ICr for weather risks, Schem e (ACeS) w hi ch is mos tl y fo r s mall sca le farmers, Interest Draw .. back Scheme, Agricu ltura l C redit Support Scheme(ACSS), ('Ic. The scheme is a sub-component Ornle Federal Governmenl of Nigeria Commercial Agricullure Developmenl Progra mme Je l asta llng " T h e InCident oc " The co mm ittee will He said that fi ve cui- (CAD P) being anchored by the Federal Min istry of r1 oo~ has de c urr e d l as t F r iday a lso make reco mme n .. ver ts re lllfo rced b y th e Agriculture and RUn'll Development. What are the obl·ectives of the scheme? strovecl assorted w h en the RIver Rima datlOns on h ow to as- s tate government, we re Thc objectives o f tIe scheme ind ude, to fas l track farm produ~ ·vorth onc w hi ch traverses the sist the v ic t i ms and des troyed by the fl ood . d evelopment of Ihe ag ricultural sector o f the Nigeria bill io n naira ; n Sila me e ntir e loca l gove rn " k h r T he c h a irman tol d I see t e s upp o rt 0 ·NAN that the dam - ealllomy by providing cretlit facilities to commercial ag ricultural enterprises at single digit int erest rate; to Loca l Govern ment area men t a rea was inun .. both the s tate and Fedof Soko toStatf·, saylii the dat e d and it ovc r eral G ove rnm e nts , " a ged culv e rts had cu t e nh ance n ati onal food securit y by increasing food off Silam e tow n, head supply and effecting lower agricultur;"ll produce and C hairman, Al'laji Man i fl ood ed its banks: · he Mai s hinko said . quarte rs o f the cou ncil product prices, thereb), promoting low food inflation; Maishinko. s aid . Meanw h i le, th e to reduce the cosl of credit in agri rultu ral production Maishinko told Ihe The c hairm a n at .. cha irman sa id that the from seve ral to wns an d 10 enable farmers exploit the poh; ntials of the sector; to News Asencv of Nigeria trib uted th e cau se of counci l h ad earmarked vi llages in the area. increase o utpu t, genera Ie e m ployment, dive rsif}' the H e c ritici sed so m e revenue base, inCreil5e foreign exchangc eantings and (NAN)iIlSillme,Sokoto, recent £load disaster in N2 .5 million for th e recen tl )' that the pro- th e area to climate purch ase of 50 ca n oes . res id e nl s of flood .. provide inpUI fur industri al secto r on il Sllslainilble prone vill a ges fo r rc .. basis . dl! ce aHec l ~ d incl uded c hnn ge. · The c "no es, to b~ From inception in 2009 to July 20 11 , the CBN has rice, mill e t, beans, onMais hinko said the purcha se d in Ya uri , fu s in g t o re locate to ion s, sweel pot at oes, cou n c il had · cons ti .. Ke bbi State, will be di s- oth e r a re a s after Ih e released the sum of NI33.65 billion for disbursement 10 159 bencficiari es made up of 133 ind ivid uals / p ri vate pepper, to m i.' toes a nd tu ted a -- h ig h · pow .. tributed to victims o f 20 10 fl ood di saste r. Mai s hin ko com .. promoters and 26stale governments thai accessed N I.O guinea corn f;lrms. ered· · co mmittee to as .. flood di saster in the af .. billiull each. I-I e said thai more sess th e re m o t e a nd fected tow n s and vil ~ m end ed Ihe decision o f How can farmers access the scheme? the s t ate g6·\fe rnme nt Ihan 60.000 (;lTTlle rS in i mm e diate causes o f la ges:' h c sa id . According to the guidelines, applicants that meet to build 1.000 h ouses the pre-qualificalion criteria are required to deposit" the area were affected . . the fl ood . Maishinko sa id the " Over SO per ce nt of " So m e houses were ca noes 1V0u id assis t in at the cos t of N3.7 bi l.. minimum of 20 percent o f the amo un l required, as th e peo p le of S ilallle d estro yed b y the flood , th e t r anspo rt ation of lion for vic tims of the equity contribution w ith the participating b.lnks; and meet ..,11 the conditions precedent to loon disbu rsem~nt local gover n 'TIe nt are but the actua l numbe r p eo ple and agricul- 2010 fl ooding that ral'by the participaHng banks. As al the end of J ~ I )', 20 11 , either hrmen o r fi sh - I w ill be asce rla ined by tur a l pro du ce across age d Goronyo, Gada the number of stale governments participating in the a nd Silam e loca l gov- scheme has risen to twenty si)( (26). e rmen a nd they were ! t he committee. the loca l government. ernme nts. ,, 11 "Hecte...!.
2011 tI the sum ofN133.65billionfordisbursement
stare governments that
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'Flood destroys £armproduce worth Nlbn'
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