,TIlE GlJARDIAN, The5daJ< <ktDber 16, 2012
Agriculture holds the key to employment, poverty alleviation, says Hargrave Inion hilS continued [0 ~ w~ have to Ond much mo~ producuYr w.I)'5 to grow our food. for Inmnel!, about sulty per cent of tom,Hoes grown In Nigeria today art wuted before they ~r get to the nun:eL Th~ rei In trucks coming down from the nonhem
Richalll Harg9 ve is the Managing Director of Di'~ngoff Nigeria, an agribusiness t~at seeks to revolu-
tionise smail-SIlale agricuhural production in
sates while bcingsenl to the urban centers
He spoke with
ilnd ('owns. In Kenya now, th~ art uponlng tomatoes. Nigeria can be able to do so. We must seekan effective means to .,ddms this.. Howcan this mod be a~7 Following the ourstanding success In Kenya, started fn 2009, by our siSler company, Amlran, we can an nounce thilt DizengoH
iOUl11alists retllnt111 on the revolutionyouths' par-
, Femi
Nigeria have adapted. developed, tested and mtasunbly proven the errKliveness of olD InnovatJve Intrgrated solution - In fact ill completely new approach 路 sullilble a(rem Afrla to grow tomato crops. dram'lliCillly InCrtaslng yfdds 75-fold. on iI per hecLu~ iMsls., following comrletion of our Ph;ue 11 Trlab. The tradltlona melh ods or growing dCroSS Mrica, In olXn fleldJ under cc-, :':: _C-i:_~"ln, including Nigeria, north until now, produced ha~[ ,n~n_" five and 5evt'n tonnes pt'r
""in terms of farming
dnd not ~he old style farming with hoe. We n~ to@l.':llheminto mechanise:d fanning ;lind dis.) encourage them. Do you thlnk Nigeria's rurre.nl food prod ucd on Glpadty Is sustaiJW)it:7 Currenlly. It Is not. Nigeria Imports OVt.'r 90 percent of the food It consuml.':S. Nlgerid Is the largest netlmponer of rice In the world and the fact Is that It Cdn grow its own lice ir olllyit is committed (0 (tie m()\'e. the world Is running out of land dnd wat"r. The popu--
middle class Incomes. d~tially hig her thdn avallabl~ to t he m before. The kit brings the growing of to ma toes ~ to the urban centTeS of consumption. elimina ting the utr.ton:llROllry hig h costs of W<lSte and distribution from north to south. 11HoR' Is little point In uy; ng tOHKOUr.l~OUTyouth back Into fumi ng If ~ annat offer t hMl re.tl opporTU n lti~ to itCh ~ much g:re.aler pros~rity In thelrl~ dnd en ~on a susta ined day In/day o ut ~is all year rou nd, year afie:r )'tar. Wby did the compmy decide to focus on to mato product: rather t:hao cassava o r o ther agr1c produce7 We CilIlH' to Nigeria because it Is a ma.rlr:et wi th .such an impor. tant pan of thdr culture and diet. Many Nlgeriaru that I knowedt tomatoes. Most of the tom,Hoes are e~~tk:, either coming from the nonhem stat~ 01" they get it in urn: tllal a.R' Imponed from DbCes like China. We wanl to get NI~ru InvoIvro In the production of thei r lann produce and by jpving fanners .I lot of opponunitles. To a[hll!Vt' thl~.you have 10 give the fmner the le<:hnology, and the tools. Nigeria Is regard路 ed as the least mKhanlsal rannlng natioll In the world despite 11$ landmass.. We use this opponunlty to bring more tr.1ctors into Nigtria and try to gel more 5ui:J5istl.'n[1.' farmers to begin to product tomatOE'~, melon, cucumtier in a way they Gin earn at Jedst NIOO, 000 a month.. M. (he. moment. the average farmer earns about HlB, 000 month, wnich is not enough to build an enterprise.. This is the tKhrloiogy age.. We .Ire working with state ~~n{S vt'ry closely to ensure that me: rdrm .. rcan mKh路 anisr llis operations. Whal b i Is that with this radically new have proven mOSl or all _:CCC::--':":::_";:::
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