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Stakeholders plan elimination of child labour in artisanal m ining Page 25
Revamping agricultural s ector for viable returns GRlaJLTURE in Nigeria has noseboth in fillme and fortune ~Ince the d iscovfty of crud!! oil in comme-rclal quantity
Acdived
in 01oib!ri, Bavel~a State. The attendllnl issues - clamour ror'~ deal by the communities bellring crude on. the rise of mililani groups and most recently, the amnesty programme _
'''it
lIlI! commCln kno J.l!edge. Wh ite the manageB of the nation's wealth IIrl! busy attending 10 these challenges lhe lIgricultural sect<>r has been relega ted to the background Today. Nigeria"s farming populat ion is last ~ hrinkJng due to ladcof interest in the sect.)!'"
inCOl'15istent
I
,?I11erent administrations In Nigeria have.lntroduced various agricultural Inll/allves, hoping to achieve desired goals. OMOBOlAJl SOU\GBADE writes on some of the faclors Impeding 'heir success and whal Ihe new admlnlstrdllon can do to reposll/o"
the sector.
~ most Nigerians and poor or
~\If mmenl policies.
Agricultural
p.-adices hi!lve ~me um!l1 tractive owing 10 the reliaflCe on crude farming implements.
FlITm holdiogs.ar>l small. and the lack 01 access to aedil by ltie fr.... Ihal are \Yilling 10 farm , amidst oIhS'T (~hll!lenges. have hindered, in 110
5mC'l11 WlIy. the 9 owth of this M!Ctor in
~I
times. The a gric;ultllTat sectOl'" is s\rategk for the co ulll1\'s food 5ecurity. employment generation . ~Ye.:l1th aeation and poverty reduction. as (M'f 60 per cen t of the country's labour fo rce Me ~ngaged In the sector. Ironically. o ve r the las120yeiu1. agriculture's value adb.!d pel capita kat rise" by 12S$ Ihan one per ~I am>ually with the resultant effect 01 rising food a'ld laW mllierials import bills and decih'ing ie":el of lood sufficiency To ~rse the- ~. e lilperts say lheJe is the need to 1<dJe !or"'u! of Its major challenges. Induding 1,:)\\1 productivity. poor lechnology. archaic cultural pradicn. low research and development t OO under路financing 01 the sector in its entile value chain. According k' information obtained from the Central &Ink o f Nigeria's website. funding level in lhe agr1 ~ul tural sector stands at lIbcut two per cm t lite lotlli lendiog o f banks. as again~t six pt!r (en t in a counh,l1ike l<enya. Some 0 1 Itw reasons athibutable for Ihe low funding irxlude lack of undentanding of the sector. pem>ived high ri5ks. comp!ex CTftIit assessment Pf'Xt1sse$ocedure a~ high trarLqclion COSI s.. Addles5ing !hese issues. the CBN came up with lnno'llltive approach. hence the introduction I 01 the Nigeria Incmtive-8a5ed Risk Managil!nlent System for Agricultural Lending. Speaking en the initialive. lhe Head Corpolate Nfa i". Mr. Muhammed Abdullahi. said that st;kf'koIde rs would soon meet to discuss the modalities for distributing and assessing the hmd. I\ccording to him. with the new investment ~ n for the sector. the CBN in tends to 'athleve lnaeased lending to the agriclIl!ural
or
the pIe5entlevel of food import by 50 per cent by 2013. It also said it would encourage U.e re habil itation or lI li exlsting irrigation facilities and review end develop an agricultural land policy that wiD addfE':5'j; the problems of soil fertil ity by 2011. According 10 the new investment blueprint. the Federal GovemrTl{'nt also plans to derive 50 per cent of the nation's foreign exchange earnings Ih rough agrD-ftports by 2013 , as weD as reduce the current level of food import by 90 per cent in 2020. Industry expert says that. recording (I success in any lIgficuttul"lll initiative of the governmmt wou ld require sincerity on the part 01 the govemment. especially in the area of continuous (Xmsislency policy. The Chairman, Rice Farmers Association Nigeria. [.,goo Chapler. Mr.
"Government Is polltlcislng farming In Nigeria. They should come out with clear policies. We only see these policies In newspapers "
tectOf. from 1 " per cent to 5e\.路e n per cenl. the tolal bank lending withl" 10 yean. In adell' Ion, he said lhe project would IIbso1w: the tanks of the need lor endleM lind lIOI umincus SlIbsidies 10 Ihe agricultural oedm. Findings llso revealed Ihllt the sector faced the tx..lbtelTl$ of polley and funding incon!istency as well as ineiOcieocy in the Impiementati(m or various 'progTammes lIimed 111 boosting find security. Ellorts to redren th~ undel5Cored Ihe Federnl Gove 'nmen!"s recent plans to reduce
'0
or
Segun Alho. said
all hi!lnds must be o n desk lind farmers should be given the opportunity to practise what was obtainable elsewhere. He said, " Eighly per tertt of Nigerian farmE'l$ life still Pfodudng less than requiml. FOf example. Nigeria needs five minion metrlc tonnesor rice , and the current production is pUt a12.S metric tonnes. which makes impOrtation of the remaining inevitable. ~ He urged the government 10 provide an enabling envlronmenl for farmers 10 practise. According to him. farmers woUld be able
to come out with good initiatives. jf tM environment is right. "Government is politid~lng farming in Nigeria. TI.ey should come out with dear policies. We only see these policies in newspaPErs. The NUl," Rice Fund. said to be managed by the Bank of Indusl!y, which is rTl{'ant to em))O\vef the m illers in the area o f working capital and purchase 01 equ ipmen t. is yet 10 be accessed by any farmer. ~ he adde~ He also explained the National Agricbusiness AgrD-allled Developmenl IniUalive. set up recently. was a1so being awaited. especially in terms of mo&lilies and PE rformance. Athoadded. "'They ask2rl us to submit some papers; we are waiting for them to give us their own side ci the paper, as the Pfocesson, prodUceB and marketers or rice hKI met. ~ l\lso commmting. the Ptaident. National Assoclalion Dlambers o f Commerce. Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Dr. Herbert A.IaYi. said the agricultuml sector could employ a minion people, If the infrastructural facilities were pul in place. Ajayi .5i!Iid. MI don' t think the visions of lhe Federaf Government should be difficult for us to achieve. because there are various crops tha t can earn NigeriZl more revenue. " the governmenl ensures thai funds are well directed. good road net\AioJk is pUt In place. electricity and o lher lnc::en tives are made avai!eble to the people going Into agriculture. then agrictiIture would be brought back 10 the
good
~d
dayo:
He added thllt then! should be mechanisation and commerdalisi!lHon of agriculturaJ processes, from irriglItion-aided pilln ting down 10 harvest. According to him,
the!e are the l,I,'ays to repositiun lIgfkulture as Niger\a's chief revenue earner. According to the Ptniden t. lagosChi!lmber 01 Commerce and Industry. Otunba Femi Deru, reviving agriculture enlilib the facl that Nigerians must first recognise: that they must be able to feed themselves. Deru urged the government to review the laM lJ5e Act 50 that cooperative5 and corporate farmers cou ld have 3CCes5 to 路 "tISeabie land. He added Ihat universities of agriculture must IelIn towards more practical teaching m odes. so lhillt grlIduates would 001 just be knowledgeable theoretically. DeN said, "We have everything; the land. climate and rain . So, I see no reason we cannot revive the agricultural !eCtor. Most of the lands are fertile lOf different types of crops. ~ In the area o r inadequate funding o f the sedor, he said funds from the government might not be Ule most imporu,nt thing. According 10 him. the government has no business in business. MThey should provide the right atmosphere where funding will be made accessible to corpont te farmers through agricultural blinks. '1\ is when we have big commercial enterprise in fanning that we can talk of more revenue from agriculture because it is the 'big time' fllITTleB thai wiU employ the small lanners. ~ he advised. He added, "Our lenning must a!so be mechanised. For eumple. the 'Ofadll' rlee is not popular today becalL~ it has not been brought to the commi!rcial leveL The processes IIoA! done by h3nd5. But If we hew machinE'!; in place, it can toe produced in larger quantity and even eJoIporIm ~