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MONDAY-JULY 182011
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Exploring lifeline in small-s cale farming
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BIGlaira
Begin s with
Small Kobo ITH agricultu ral land in developed countries shrinking because of u rban expansion, food production is being seen <15 a entlcal resource which Africa can supply 10 the wodd.
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South The East succns Asia of 3Mthe India green deally revolutions shows that in
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from the gro·..uth point of view. ol>POrtunilies !!Xlst in Africa' s agricultural sector.
This. however. presents a huge rnll1 ke l for farmers in Nigeria. \I,; lh small-scale farmers. no doubt, having a 101 10 benefit in ., situation
whel"'l! thl!fl! is a favourable operilling environment According 10 the Head. Agricultural Banking.
Sianbic IBTe Bank PIc. Mr JacQues Taylor. the cost of producing food In Finl World countries is
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extremely high and land is scarce: but on the other hand. sub-Saharan Africa . has I!!nounous n",lural. _..,...::::;::::-_~ _ _ _, physical ",nc! human • Tay'a ,. polenlial He s.,~'S Ihe conlinl!!nt uses less Ihan 25 per Cl!!n\ o f Its arable 1"'00 and less Iha n 14 per Cl!!nt of thl!! irrigation potl!!ntial. and Nigeria alone has a l<:md are ... of 98.3million hl!!clares. WIth 7<1 million heclares good for farmmg : yet hCllf of its i'llabll!! la nd has 110t bel!!n exploi ted to produce 001)5 and livestock to stem the th reat of hunger and povt!fty through efficienl production ~'§Iem The Inlernatio nal Food Policy Research Inslitule. in its Nigeria Strategy Support Programme document, says that the a'''el'age smallholder farmer in Nigeria does not have acceS5 to surt'icie:>nl fe:>I'lilisef for one hectare He adds thClI Ullsing yields requ irc:>s CI combination o f education th rough I!Xlen:;ion services. access to appropriatl!! and timely inpuls as well as access to nnance to purchase:> inputs. Sp'l'aking on foreign aids. Taylor notes that the focus of the donor community has 5hifted away from food aid and is now fowsed o n dc:>Veloping small farmers and eslabllshing food secunly. -ll'l! stage is being set for food production in Africa to gain momenl1ml Africa's smCl!1 farmers are unique in Ihat
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Ihey generally have access to land that is free (commull1lll y held) or can be used at a relativE'ly low cost. TIlis free! low COSI land provides farmers with a significantly lo...",er COSt structure. In addition small farmers have the critical mass required to establish processing or other faci lities to support their ac tivities. ~ he explains. For him. o ne of the challenges in financing the sector is to ensure:> increased erfiClencies are rea1i!.ed at c:>Very step, which he saJ,'5 S tanbic IBTC Bank. for instance, applied in its lending model. Thl!! ...gric fillanclng expert says. "'This structure provides an innovative fu nding structure that includes partnering key pl... yers III the:> agnculture value chain . high profile fo undations aod non-governmenlal o rganisations that <:I ssist with o pe-Taho nal management TIle provision o f fit1ance is importanl. but It Is only o ne of the constraints lacing small-scale fanning ill Nigeria and across Africa "Also importa nt is the prOVision 01 a system throu gh wh ich small fannE'rs can improve:> erficiendes in all areas. IIlcluding accessing inputs. improving yields. marke t linkage:>s. infrastructure d evetopment and skills transll!!r Taylor u rges small-scale fa rmers to ta p into the recent alliance bE'tween the Central Bank o f Nigeria and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, a fund 101 small Africa's smaliholdl!!l farmers to wh ich S tandard Bank Group, the parent company of Stanbic IBTC
He adds. "The lending stru cture makes use o f a coope-rative mechanism that includes linkages to form al markets tha t prOVide m immum price guarantees (thus mitigating pricl!! fi sk). indu des weather index insurance (to mltigale climate risk) as well as training a nd mentorship "The cooperattve structure a!lows farmers to consolid ate their bargaining power wh ich reduc~ input costs and contribu tes to economies of scale in terms o f outpul and market access. ~ The CBN's newagric policy. which ~ks to CUi N630bn food imporl bill. is one move that is expe-cted 10 bc:>tle:>r Ihe fortunes of farmers in the country The CBN Governor, Mr Lamldo s..,nusl. says that Nigeria imports soml! N165bn worth of v..heal; NlOSb n VJOrth of fish . spends N75bn on rice and N60bn on sugar importation annua lly. The apex bank. through the Nlgel la's Lnce nt lvebased Risk Shaling System for Agricultural Lending. which has bC"f!'n estimated to gulp about N77 _5bn for its implementatio n. had pledged 115 commltml!!nt to deriskin g agri culture in o rder to motiv"le banks to unlock Ihe enormous financial resourcn fo r the sector through increased lending. The CBN also ex plall1slhatlhe initiati ve IS expected to generate an addihonal N<l65bn (S3bnj of bank lending within len years to mcre...§(! agricultural lending from the currl!!n t 1 4 per cenl 10 seven per cent. Aside this, Sanusi says it is C. .. also expected 10 reduce banks' break-c:>Ven interest 10 borrowers fro m 7 .5 to 10 5 pe-r cent. among "The first project that we undertook in this area was between 2003 other e)(pectCltions and 2007 and it was al the cos! of N20 million and ~'e collaborated With the government o f the wilh the Can&clian Inlernational Development Agency. day already implementing several ~ Last year. \.\Ie undertook a small one, which lasted for only six programmes aimed at promotmg months and cost us aboul 50.000 Canadian DoDlIB:' the NeE best practices in agricultural ExKUlive Director said. development. including FAOAMA Usang said tile organisation was luorking hard in persuading forest II I and o thers being implemented communities In the state to protect and preserve thl!! E'nvironment for by the Federal Ministry o f ful\Jre generations Agricu lture. farmers should get ~We ITy to lei them know the importance o f preseTVing the closer to the relevant authofilies environment for the benefit 01 mankind. to know how they can fil in " nd ~We also intnxluce them to a!!emalive means of livelihood within subsequenUy benefit from the the !lame environment," he said. schemes
St~tm~j'ffi-1l.4IID'd!t1!llML~J.roll:t llliJ' Ii' NGO to spend N50m on C'River ecosystem '
--'HE Nig'!ria Coalioon for EnvironmenL a non-governmental organisation. has said that it has commenced work on a projed thai lVll! pro\l!Ct the mangrove ecosystem In parI5 of Cross River. The ExKUtive Oileclo r of the roalition. Mr. Edin lJsCIng. mlKlE: the disclosure to the News Age"cy of Nigeria, in Calabar on Suoday. He said the project. named ~Integraled ~1angrove Forest Management Programme~. is estimated tocos! N50m and being executed in collaboration with Concern Univet5<l1. an international dono r agency Usang said work on the project which began In 2CN)9 was expected to be completed in 20 13 He !laid the mangrove prolRdion project was o ne of IhE' numerous Plojects the NGO had underl<lken In the a rea in collaboration with donor agenciE's to protect the forest.
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available for lending for three years. Involving coun tries, like Ghana, Uganda. Tam.ania and MOVlmbique also This. he explain!. wi11 Cllso deepe-n access to nnance which is a major COllStH"nl to unlocking Ihe:> potential of agricultural SMEs 111 the COUnlry
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• Identify yoW' choice area of farming • Belong to a cooperative group • Approach relevant authorities • Exploring available loan facilities will help
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