THISDAY, Vol. 17, No. 6154, Page 31
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Q BusinessWORLD agric Agric: Partnering US to Make Kwara Africa's Leader Crusoe Osagje reviews the recent partnership with the United States and other steps being takeii by Kwara State to establish itself as the undisputed leader of Africa's new green revolution Agric and Lasting Devi
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hird President of the US. Thomas Jefferson, once said, "1 think our government-, will remain virtuous for many centuries; as long as they are chiefly agricultural,". A US Congressman in the 19th Century. William Jennings Bryan, appeared U> concur b\g the following: "Burn down your cine,
and leave our farms, and your alies will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in Ihe streets of every city in the country." With leaders that thought like this in the 18th and 19th century, it is easy to understand how the United States tumetl out to be the world's strongest and wealthiest inacoupleofcenturiesR>r the Governor of Kwara stale, Ahdulfaiah Ahmed, it is never loo late to take a cue from these great leaders and begin to plot how Kwara and Nigeria can emeige among the most formidable in Ihe world, through the instrumentality of the agricultural sector for which the country is blessed with potential beyond reckoning. After careful consideration, Ahmed came to the conclusion that the mosl sustainable path to economic development and prosperity of Kwara stale is through a properly coordinated green revolution. To achieve this, the governor identified ihe incontrovertible need for a master plan to transform the slate into an Agriculture Mega Ci<y. The objective, which he set out for this great plan in November 2011 were as follows: To make Kwara the major agriculture and agribusiness hub in West Africa; establish the slate as a major magnet of global agriculture investment; build the capacily of Kwara people in the practice of highly innovative and globally contemporary agriculture. It also seeks to create new jobs through massive agriculture processing to be engendered and establish depw and outlets for agricultural products and equipment.
US Partnership Setting his plan in motion last week, Ahmed said the stale is on its way lo becoming an agriculture driven economy, making global impact, through the implementation of the Kwara Agriculture Master I'lan (KAMP) in collaboration with United States Experts from Cornell University. The Governor noted this when he introduced the team of experts led by Prof. Ronnie Coffman of Ihe Cornell University New York who would work with other professors from Cornell, Kwara Stale University and the University of fllorin. Ahmed explained that with Ihe difficulties being faced by economies as they try to meet challenges of rising food need, it has become imperative lo develop the agricultural sector. "Today, we take another giant stride towards an agro trade economy, as we seek to meet me global demand for food through agriculture. We can never gel it wrong because we are heavily endowed with soil, sunshine and strong people." he said. Ahmed said that is necessary to shift from reliance on unpotts lo creating wealth for the nation and generating employment for the leeming youths. "Crude oil is not enough, we need lo put in place, a home grown economic drive through agriculture by feeding others," he saidAhmed said that KAMP is a five year development plan designed to transform Kwara state into an agricultural hub that will bring about the much desired economic growth. He also said that KAMP is borne out of a strong political will, driven by the passion foe success, noting that the programme will continue to improve on the efforts put into agricultural development by the last administration. He mentioned that the last administration did well to initiate the 'back (o farm' campaign and to resettle the 13 displaced Zimbabwean farmers, proving that it is possible to develop agriculture in Kwara. He also emphasised the need to adopt best practices whereby new methods are sought oui in order to see how others do things and possibly partner with them to domesticate these practices. He said that the learn of experts led by Professor; from Cornell University has the task of working out a unique master plan that will
â&#x20AC;˘Cows in Shonga farm, symbirl of agric revolution bnng about true agricultural growth so as to boost food production and gainful employment for the teeming young people of Kwara. The governor stressed that taking ihe demography of the slate info consideration, he observed that about 70 per cent of the stale's population was made up of youths and reasoned that agriculture will help to channel a future for the teeming youth population. He also charged the team to improve on what is on ground and develop a system of farmer compartmenialisation for nee, cassava, maize and sorghum in order to attain higher commercial levels for these crops. He noted that Kwara state is also strategically endowed with the Kwara terminal and river Niger, which serves as source for water needed to irrigate farms, stressing that by taking advantages of these, Ihe state will become a leader in food production in Nigeria. Also speaking at the briefing, the President, Chief Executive Officer of Bridge Education and Technology Institute, Dr. Adegboyega Somide, who was instrumental to bringing the Cornell University team of I'rofessors to the state, noted that it was important to continue reinventing in order to keep up with the pace of world development. Somide outlined the task before the team to include drawing up a plan that will make Kwara a centre of global agriculture investments, unleash the potential of the teeming youths in entrepreneurship and position the slate on the New York financial market. Also speaking, the leader of the team and International Prof, of Plant Breeding, Director of International I'rogrammes, Cornell University, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Prof. Ronnie Coffman, said that agriculture is truly the right choice for achieving economic growth. He added that there is a lot of evidence in tile world to prove that agriculture can impact positively on a country's economy, citing Brazil a country which they also partnered with and brought in businessmen as a good example of how agriculture can transform a poor economy into a wealthy economy He said that his team has made some research â&#x20AC;˘ breakthroughs in agriculture and stressed that researches needs to be encouraged. "As an educational institution, we note Ihe problems and
come up with solutions, that is what farmers need and that is what we are here to provide," he added. The Vice-Chance I lor of Kwara Slate University, Prof. Abdul Rasheed Na'Allah, who is the 4eader of uV Local team, said that the march for greatness in Kwara is continuing very strong and will bring [wide to all stakeholders, adding that the team is clear about the goal set by the Governor. "The plan underscores our context, vision and is clearly underlined by practicality," he said. The team, which is expected to draw up and submit a localised master plan lo Governor Ahmed by June 2012, comprises of Prof. Ronnie as team leader. Prof. Harold Van Es and Prof. Peter Gregory; all from Cornell University New York. The local numbers of the team me Prof. Na'Allah the V-C of KWASU. Prof. Oluleye Funsho also of KWASU, Prof. Moshood Belewu and Dr. O.F Adekola; both from University of Tlorin.
Overall Objective The Kwara State Government says it intends to continue with the promotion of commercial agriculture as well as provide Ihe enabling environment for peasant farmers and citizens to profitably engage in agriculrure beyond nÂťere subsistence fanning and put the mechanism in place for the promotion of all season farming At the moment, the state's substantial cultivable land represents 75 3 per cent of total land area or about 2.447,250 hectares. It is a gateway between northern and southern pans of the country which makes for easy accessibility to Lagos and Abuja. A report from the stale says Kwara's vegetation ii well-suited for the cultivation of a wide variety of food crops like yams, cassava, maize. be^ns, rice, and sugar cane. "Wide array of fruits and vegetables and tree crops such as jarropha, oil palm, cashew and cocoa - and thus presents a clear comparative advantage in agriculrure", Ihe report added. "There is the existence of a large expanse of graze-able land for animal husbandry and large volumes of surface and underground water for fishing and fish farming enterprises. There currently exists various agro-allied research insti-
tutes (ARMT1, -JCAM. NISPRl, Unilorin, KWASU etc) for research into agnc inpuis such agro-chemicals, farm implements, seed bagging and so on." the report staled. The stale has created the first base line data on its farmers to ideniif) Ihe actual population of its farmers and farming families. The results indicate a clear availability of dedicated farmers who of necessity have learnt to extract tile mosl from a small resource endowment and are eager to participate in the design and implementation of activities for improving the sector's prospects. The state has introduced various initiatives in the past eight years to boost agriculture and is reputed to have tlie foremost commercial agriculture programme in the country (modelled by the Shonga farms project).There is also the existence of generic improvement schemes fur local cattle, for use by dairy industry. Also the average crop yields, per hectare of maize, rice, soya beans, cassava, fish, dairy which are saleable crops are relatively impressive and far higher than national averages with potential still for rnore improvement. In addition to these milestones, a total of 60 irrigation sites have been identified lo support the creation of a culture of all season farming. However the farmers' access lo funding needs lo be improved on as the Rapid Response mechanism for processing of agricultural hind, which is critical for success, is slow. Also social capital, mainly in the form of cooperatives and other local organisations, is still at a nascent st.ige but must be encouraged as a major thrust of (.'ovemmem's focus on agriculture, if these farmtTs are expected lo leverage the various platforms currently being provided by the government. Kwara Slate Government says il is committed 10 the development jnd expansion of its agricultural potential in order to ensure food security for its citizens; and Iransfonnation of the agricultural sector from subsistence to commercial farming to support bolh export production and the generation of raw material for agro allied industries. It also pledged to ensure sustenance ot employment generation that would significant!; contribute to the internally generated revenue ot the state - as well as the socio economic empowerment of ihe citizenry.