THE GUARDIAN, Sunday, October 16, 2011
FIlIm Marlim ~ rNl\lja Buruu CHef)
-Imporlod NOElIr ($620lJ) Food In 2007-2010 • In 2010, Spent N632b On Wheat, N356b On Rice, N217b On Sugar, N97b On Fish pont About NllJiliion PCI' Dqy 011 Rice Alone • Produces 500,000 Tons Of Rice, Consumes 2.5mTons
<lre ind cations that the Jona than administration has much more to wony aoout than I h~ deadly 801co Haram ilmbush, remov;>l of contro\~1 petroleum sullsldy and f:dlllic Identity aisis simply classined as federa l ch.racterdiallenges in power ~haring that h.1V~ emerged as an albatross for the six-month-old admi nistration. Typical in the p!llity, political stories have always oorupiJ~l lo domlnat!' the from pages Mimlkoexposition: "the food insecurity and prime time Tlews, thus pushing to tfle background cr1tbi issues about \\ny the court- aspt'Ct" In fts prope:rcontext. Again, last Monday; October 10, 2011, Mam trv'sKOoomyis in mOl"l'danger than we think. Nigeria organised a Media Forum (Editors' And this is wha~ has happt'nrd to the story of Roundtabre) to mark Ulis year's world Food Njg~rla's unrqx'ned, but deadly food impon Dayal the Bolton White HOleiln Grki 2, SCilndal. although the government has had Abuja, The Issueor"tll~ role of the media In occ.ulons to draw alten£lon to tlle remarkable promoting food security In Nigerla w was the de\"elopmenl. highlight oftJle discusslon_ On September~',20u, when t~est:ablishme m Amemlxrof the National Assembly. Nkoyo l?egan iI series 01 public relallons blitz, th rough Toyo{Cross PJver}and an International directhe Instrumentality of the Ftderal fxe(utlve 10ro(Mam, was there and she ~ke extertCoundl mem l~"S' media briefing to mark the Jonatllan AdmlIJistralion 100 days in offic~, the s[\,t:ly on tile unreported issue of land grab In Nigeria witilin the comext offood security Minlsterof Agric ulture and Rural De\oelopment, D~_ Akinwunmi Adesina, look his il1lhecoumry, Toyo,a deveiopmentS«tor activist, was, tum. untn recen tly. Nlj!pia's r:nvoy to Ethiopia. The doctoral gr Iduate of Purdue Uruverslty Vet, the issue of Tood Insecurity and Sc.1nand fomler vice Dresklent (Policy & dalous food Impon data that d"omlnatrd disI'3rmership~ at 11111' A111:mce for Creen cussion at the fOru m wem Into obscurity, Re\'Olution InJ\fica (AGRA), told the media especially In tJle print medla_ tilat food Impor.s had ~n one of tile most Speclnc3.1ly, the follolVl ng Is the food import critical challUlg'5ln Nigeria. SGl.ndalous data tilat has reportedly added to But tJle repone~ who covered tJle briefing. the wonying listof rresidentJonathan, who's could not put th~ data quett{! by the fonn~r FAO chief fn goocl COnlexl, to mm meaning [0 smanlng from the fallout of government's resolve to remove fuel subsld"y In January next tJlepopul"ce.. ~a r. In Ihe 50.1111e Vl!in, on SeJ)temlxr n, 20U, wh~ n Mlrnlko h.:ld this tosayoll agr1ru1rureand TlJeSun(newsp.l~rs) publldy pll'sentrd Its deOnitely food security In Nigeria: book. N~ria's(:Olden nook, at the Var'Adua "From Independence In 1960, Nigeria is ytt Centre in Abuja.lhe govemorof OndoState_ DT. .to sumlOunt Ule challenge of good gO\"er· Olusegun Mlmil:o, wllo gave a keynot~ nalla. Nothing demonstriltes tliisdalm betaddress, quOU'd extensively (rom the data [ertJlan the gnm realities of ournational Ufe. rclused by the rtlnister. "Ours Isa nation sitting on abundant natural Mlmiko told th~ captive audience that he had resources wi th fertile land but completelr called the agrla.'lture mlnlsterthe previous unable 10 feed Its citizens.. The MIn15ler o day(Sep4.ember 26) 10conOrm the scandalous IIgriculture, Dr_Aki nwunml Adesina. recently facts alld ngure.:'! on Nigeria's food Impon pronoted that: file. "Nigeria Is now one of the IaJiest. food CuriousJ}\ tJle J:oUtical aspect of Mimlko's imponers In theworld.Accoming to him, the presentatlon, "..hlch harped on alleged mis· food impon bill ofNlgerta In 2007-2010 was management of federalfsm, domina ted the N98 trilnon orS628 billion. In 2010 alone, front pages and prime £lme on rndio and teleNigeria spent N6]2 billion on Imponallon of vision_ I wheat, N3S6 billion on importation of rice Even thechldl-oostorUleevenl, n,eSun,dld (that means we spent NI blllion perday on not report the wOSIslgnlfkant aspect ofth~
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• Youth unemployment Is embarrassing. • Smallholder Tarmers COl\5titut~ 801 of all farm holdings; their production ~'Stem Is Ineffidem; thell' Is regul.lf ~hortf;]n in national domeslic production_ - r-ood Impen is thus a common feature. Only_Hope< - I\griculture Is a kry sector tJlat can affect maJor1tyofNig~r1ans..
Food S«urity Situation Food Securily Status: • TItis Isa fundamental agr1C\Jl tural objective in Nigeria: rice aJont'~ N217 blllion on sugar Importation - Households should ltaYr: access to goocJ and and with all the marine resources, nvers, lakes nulIititJus food for healthy living. ilnd creeks weare blessed \..1th, Nigeria spent -Population should ~ ~a l tJlY tocreate NCJ7 billion Importing fish: national \Yr:ahh. 'he simple calculation from the above is that Nigeria spends on the aYr:rnge N24.5 oil- .... f'undamental Issues of Food Securtty: lion yearly, wlllclt Is aboutS1GO billioll. lllis • Is Food Avallable7 - Domestic food production Is on the revelaLion Iscenainly unwhoresorn ~ If one increase but not enough to lOeet national considers that Nigeria has over 74 mha of food demand arnb~ lands and yeta net imponerof food as • Is Supply orFood Stable7 o£toda)t - Post llarvt:St losses are 2Q.4~ beGluse har~Is Is a cle.udeparture £rom Ule reality of vestin~ processing/slorage tcchnlques are Nigeria in tile 1960s when agrlrultur~ provided tile main source of employment, income ineffioent;as a res ult, supply Is unstable. • Do pe.opl~ havt Act:r.ss to food7 and foreign exchange umlngs for Nigeria_lhe adYr:nt of commercial oil -Access toadequate;llld nutri tious food is limited by low Income/povcny. because nutriexploitation In the mid 197050 no doubt, hertious foods are sometimes ~nsi\"e_ alded an ern of decay for agricultural output In Nigeria. "WbatIsFood ~ 1!kr7 - Food iMake and nutritional well being of "It is Interesting to nOll' that as a nalion today, we produce 500,000 IOnnes of rice many households are of relatiVl!ly 10\'" quality. and are affected by their low economic status.. whereas we consume 2.5 million tonnes. - The vu ln erabl ~and food Insecure ioclude the poor, smallholder f;lnners, dlildren, prt:gCIMIlARlYat Ule saki Mam forum In Abuja ..Jtut Monday, the following facts on Nigeria's flam \vomen, lactating mothers and the elderfood securitystarus emerged from the main lbout60.81 Nigeriaru are malnourished. presentation by a senior journalist, whoquoted copiously rro m Food and AgrIcultul"l' • Frevalent Dtffdency Di!N!l'5: - Iro n defiCiency, which arr~ physical capacOrganization (FA03 faer sheet on Nigeria: Ity,and In sevel"l'cases lead to dea th and sus• NIgeria has a Ian area or 98.3 million Ita; 74 ct'ptibUityto Infections.. mUllan ha Is good for farnllng; bUI less than hams being explored. - Protein Energy Malnutrition (f'£M). whkh causesgrowth failure in chlklren, and wclght • The popurado n InvolYr:d in (anning is 6o. loss In adults; relations hip exIsU bel\\1!en PEM 70~ and inrectlons like measles, diarrhoea, • Agrtculrure's contribution toGOP isalso 41.5%. whooping cough, tuberculoslS,a nd malaria. -VitamlnA.de:fldency, whldl fights mist'• OutJlut of food per ca.plta Is among the least ance to infections.. In SSA(South Sahara Aliica). -Obesity, which is on the increase, affects • Crops, Uvestodcand fish ha\"e potrn£lals for providing food and nutrition. more of urban d\\"elJers; and results £rom Imbalanced nutrition. Hype n eruion. dialxtes Emftrglllg P9J11dOlC mellitus, and carulO\'ilscUlar diseases acoompanyil. • Vet, there is th~t or hunger and poverty; • Problem of the vulnerable and insccu70Xofthe population live on less than NIOO (S 0.7)pt'r da){ COtmtfUtD ON Po\GE 13 W
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TIlE GUJ\llOW,I, Sunday, October 16, 2011
SUNDAYMAGAZlNE
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__ Nigeria's Food Ga$s~va 'tuber: .: __ ._ .._. . '. ____ .~ __ .. Importation Hi(rl . IllCOInc Po1l'nt ial Thrown O V<"Thod rd
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rltycan be addu~!'~~ by r~udngpoveltlt acc~ibi1lt1'of ho.mholds roadequaleand nutritious lood alilhe lime. • U nOlhlng is done about Lhe shortfc1IIs, it may soo~r tJ lJn exprct:~ btcome too InlJi. cate to manage.
-"PO'" " Nigeria is a net bod impaner.
• FOOd e:cpon tTilde was betwoeen 0.04m and 035m dUl1ng 1993-2001.
~~FOOdJ'l"odu ctionforlncrrased
- Food production mustgrowcoflSlstendy well abOve deml.f"d to briilge shortfalls.
n BlDES. on October4, 20U, au National J.}5takeholders' \Vorkshop on ~Iollmenl or Aquacu l tu~V.alue dlaln, the A~culru~ foollnlster <llso mu:rated thal Nigena spent about NIOO billion on the impon:alion of rlOlen flSh In 101(1. While lamenting the shortfall or flSh supply in theoounI ry. he noted that the ~umated annual fish deman d Is about1.66 million itS agalnstlhe annual domestic production of aboul 0.78 millior.givinga demand-supply gap of about 1.8 million mctrictoru.. The minister. rep~nt~ by lhe Penmnent Sccre:tiIryln the ministry. Or. Ezekiel O}"emom~ disclos"!'d th,u Nigeria itnlJOlts ~r 780,000 metric tons of frozen fish annu<llly from Europe, Latill America and the Eastern (ountrlu He regrrtt~ tha t.theshortf.all
ROM the peasant fanne.r'sJ)Osition, all cassa· va (ould do and has ~n Oing Is provide sustenance for the: family from its pnxluru lIkegarri, 'a{un, (ufu and abdcha (tapioca) When the.re Is 01 bumper harvest and the fannerflas mo~ than enough, the prlces of the proc~sed products sem to the local mar· kers crash to lhe palm of discouragemelllthe~a rter.l h e (uitivation is pur In limbo for fear of labour wi thout commensurate
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income. Perhaps, .after about two seasons of staying aWilY from consistent cultivalion, the prices go up itS a result of sc.1rcity, then they return. Even wilh this fitful production, th e count·ry ranks among th e top three biggest casSilva p roducers In [he wor ld. of course this cannol go without the outstanding work that has ~n done by the Intemational lnrutute of Tropical Agricu lture (IrrA), lbadan in boosting production of the tuber. However, In 2001 the Obasanjo ad m inistration took a Step tha[would have turned around fortunl.'l of the fanner and nauon If the policy on lhe oopwasSlIstil ined. The president at the UrnI' Connulated a policy
policy Inconsistencies would not k~p the projectanoaL CASSAVA Is j>eriShable as Its moisture (On· that would commercia lise cassava produclentls very hl~l (between GO and 70 per tion and lake it beyond local consumption. cent) and difllcult to preserve without adeIn 2001 the production was about 34 mil· quate techno logy. This has ope n~ it up to lion metric tons (MY) and increOised to 37.9 being expioltedby middleme n who buy milliol: MT In 2001. An ave:ra&,: yield of 10.83 cheap and have: the ability to process to MT per hectare was employed in the cultivaother intermediate orena producu that lion of 3.t25 million hectares. attract better prices and income. BuOyed by the h uge production o f the tuber. Only recently, NI$erla's Agriculture miniS· the0b.1s..1njoadminlStTation aimed at mak· ter, Dr.Akillwunml Adcslnil proj' ectsthat ing the crop an export commodity with a fanners em earn up to $450 mj lion view to generating fiV(' billion NOilra annually. (N675bn) under the cassava tra nsfonnatl on Aside the primary p roducts from the ruber, agenda. To achieve th is, the ministerSOlid the p lan is to make a number of va l ue...add~ government would pm In pl.a(e a Market Items as secondary products t hat ;ue able to and Trade Development Corporation OIttract forel!;n exchange to the cou ntry. fMlOC)ln the value dlain of cassava mar· These a re ChIPS, pellets, nour, adheslvn, alco- ketlng to e nsure an dfKtl ve market dlain. hol, and starch tha i are vital raw materi.als In the plan, ove:r 1..2 million jobs are expettneeded in industrial production In food and ed to be creotted both on and off fann. NO\v, fenllndustries OImong others. an IncreOl.scd produ(tMty lJ.1sed on 12.5 tons To re.alise lhis objective:, there WilS lIe~ to per heaare under the inftlath'e, seems to deve lop the domestic muket lhal would give a new bite. Hopefully, 'a new generation pla(e a greater demand on the produ({, of c.aSsaVil farmers, oriented towards com· diversify its use and create nationa l policies mercial prOlluction and farm business' that win enil'IOce cassava deve lopment. The would fly the new flag of President government at the time sought to do this but 10nOithan's revamped focus on the tuber.
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Agric Minister Promises Change Ity~~
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According to Adesillo.lo, the mnsfonnatioo agenda calls forurgeted Intl'n"l!nUons to In(rea.secllklenq and prolitability along dle value-added (halns of
thar,Uileed,dlerewili beadWW! within ash:lrttime Heundl'nlCOl"Cd hlsc:onfidw.'ellyllstingthe;ums in th~(rops. \vhk.tl hehasbroughtaOO.rtD"l'leIrmwnrlon. p.tttku- On rice, he saki. -our 11m b.1n1e Is [0 make NIgeria larlyilttheln5tJtWooalle\,u majcI"!Rpt!la:nlDwls se.lf.suffident In rice production wllhi n four years. dr~dtlrmintstlyintosb:regkm.radt CUrrenUy we Import 500,000 Mr of brown rice from tDbeheadedbvadbutol: outlilde the counll)l. \\'e wi ll redu("C this [0 zero by 2013 and ~ will shift to domestia.lly producro , havecanfed outrrujorlnsdtulionaJ (hang~ Involving transformational poliCies and organlsa· brown rice. This ;llone wlll save w N50 billion curre ntlybeJngspent Importing bl"O\vn rice.." tional changes in pIaa-." Before nO'o'o\ he said, no 'T1{l:World rood 5'.lll1mlt Of 1996 deOned The seconil bayttle. said tile mlnJter .sv.riI1 focus on .!. food security as ais tlng ·when all people at one has done this:"1am decenmllslng tile endre assn .... NIgeria Is the largest producer oC assava in of agriculture There will be six ~11iI! ministry all Uml!S ha~ a((e-s to sufficient.Si!..re, nutridirectOR to~ the programmes" and i1npJe- the world with J4 million Mf but oonlributes zero tious food to malnt,,-In II he.1lthy and active mentation wiD be done witJi stltts on the grnunc.i penentin tenns or value OIdded in dobal trade. "1M: life. ~ -"loci tile mlnistTywUl monitorwhat Is being "'~11 fQCU50n at.lting new-end usesTorCilSSilVil~. Commonly, LheroiCeplorfood srcurity Is done.The mlnISlt'rcontinued: "OUr third area of battle Is defined as filCl udin~ boLh physi~1 and ecoKlrghum totrilrufonn the nonJleaSland nonJl west. Atlhe weekend, the minister told T1l eGu.mli.1n nomiCilCCess to fooii lhat ml'(!tli people's of the prt':!!denllal retrcatwhere-the prlvates«- Currentl)( woJ'kls,ua n advanced state to re l ~~ new dietary needsasw"C!1 as their food prere~nces. tor said this 15 the best II\alean happen toagriall. hl~·yleld[n&. solldtum hybrids in 20U, whl(h wUl In many(ount:ries. heah•.h problems related ture. We have done a lot of consultation wllh the r.use the yield of fanners by five times from less than LO dietary excess all'an ever.j~lng l.h~at. people. We are already ImplemenUng the pro05 ton per hecta~ (lu) to 1.5 tons per ha~. In fact. mainutritioll OInd foodborn edlarrhoea ~nmu" being talked aboUL On maize, the/m inister, he disclosed that wotit Is have become double burden. The government, through the tr.msfonnation going on -to re.ich a total of 100,000 ranners In u Food s«urlty Is bullton tJlI~ pi\l;trs; ;!gt'lIda.looks forward mgenerating -over 3.5 mil· sUtes. Each folnntf" 15 being targeted to produce on • rued awfJ!bllity: !:ufficient quantities of lion Jobs !"rom the rtce. C;U5;lva, sorghum, cocoa 3h.aofland,thwa total of600,000 hawill bemvef!d food avallable on a ':onslslmt basis. and ootton value (hairu, wltJl rruny more lobs to In lhe firstyeuand ~ need a total or 12, 000 meu1c • fOcdaccess: hi!.\'trg sufficient resources to come from other\'aJue ch.alns tha.t will be(omplet- tons of certified Improved seeds for lOll. We envisage obelin appropnatr: fOods for a nutJidousdieL ed soon~slilted themlnller. Headded that~.P!'o" thatabout .. ometrlctonsoCfoundadOOSl!'eclswiUbe gnmme will provide over )OObiliion NaIia (USll ha~ from our fiekis In Mokwa, Zaria, Funtua • Food l!..ceapprel!l late use based on kllowledge of basic nutn~on and cart'. as ....'1'11 asade- billion) or addition<li income in the hOImis of and Sam.lrab this month.~. Nigerla.n fanners.~ Adeslna sIad. "Cotton will be given attenUon "in the quateW"ater and sallitalion.
tion. He 51.1[00 lhati!.n (st1mat~ 10 million NlgeriansO)uld be acti~ly engaged in the upstream and downstnam 0I1"eaS of fishcri~ operatio ns. whim could also provide raw matenals for the ar imal feeds induSU)l.
oonh tilS( anti north W"C:it,~ he saki. ~ding Ihat the "tnnsfonnallon plans will In(l'ease e..T])Orts ~n fold frem 20,000 MTto 140,000 MT by 1015, enabling Nlgerta to ~Inlt.s le.ading position In WestMrkiJ.1111s wUl be a<:hlevt'd through adoptio n or new Im prO\ord varlelles of cotton, Improvement In quality and fe\itaUsation or the cononginnl!ries-. To In(~ase cCN:Q;l producUvilY. he no(m, "wI!\vill dev"Clop tailored cocoa fert.iliscrblends to r.Jpidly Impl"lM!:ylelds from 300kg per ha to sookg per ha. We will ~lse new fillandng from lhe GlPltal markets to revitalise the ~ 5ecIOf. The mnsronnalion of the CO((JOl sect.orwlil (reate 360,000 jobsby20t5~.
And on Bsllet)\ he s.aJd, -me fish mnsronnation agenda plans to Inmase .annual fish production from thecummt production ofO.i8M ~rr[(lJ.oM MT in ordt'rto adlleve sdr 5UITiCIerK)' In fish production and supply by the ~ar lOtS. Th15: win be achiem:I through fish farm estate de\""Clopment; fish seeds and reed mill ~Iopment: fish pen and a.geculru~development and fish pon..tJar· vest managt'mentand marketing progmnmes". With r"CSpectto llvestocksub-sector,tfle mininer Indicated tllat -the IIV1':Stock transfonn;arion progtOIrnme plans toamlf'\""C self ruffidency in me~ t and Ii\~ production by lOIS thmu2h Invest· menlln the livestock \aluernaln on the following programmes promoting large K~!e Ih'eStoci( fanning In five geo«ologlcal zones of oompalr live; upgrade of loa! b~ tJlroUgh selt'CtfVe b~ing ~nd arondal insemlnadon: expandln! hau:hery aJ»dty to achiev"C haldllng oT 25 ml lion day old" chicks, (broilen and 1a}WS per week by lOIS); Cll"panston of sm.allholder and perturban rattelllngschemes; ronlJOl ortr;msboundary anlrTlOll disUses and 1n0NSe vacdnation roy. erage from cumnt35 t095 percenl by20tS."