India, Africa enter partnership to promote food security

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The India and Africa Partnership in Agriculture (IAPA) has made a debut with the mission to promote food security in their regions.

This partnership consists of Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), International Crops Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and International Agriculture Consulting Group (IACG) that will transform agriculture in Africa and significantly contribute to the global food security.

Director-General, ICAR, Dr. S. Ayyappan confirmed this to NaijaAgroNet in a press statement endorsed by IACG, revealing that the initiative would take forward the recommendations of the critical stakeholders in India Africa partnership in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and agribusiness sector for assisting African nations to realize the food and nutritional security in ways that are environmentally sustainable.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from Director-General, ICRISAT, Dr. William Dar that India is committed to the sustainable agriculture development of Africa under the South -South Initiative, emphasising, “The new platform will take on board various stake-holders and provide the Indian expertise and experiences to support African countries in finding solutions to their food, agriculture and development challenges."

IACG President, Dr. MJ Khan asserted that the collective strength of three powerful partners will be able to make substantial difference to the engagement of India with the African continent, while IACG will serve as effective delivery vehicle to execute the projects and programs of varied natures, whether sponsored by Government of India or other national and international organisations or the India’s corporate sector.

NaijaAgroNet gathered from Ms. Sumana Sarkar representing Exim Bank that over 16 lines of credit have been extended to African nations with $ 649 million, about N102.2 billion being the highest for East Africa followed by $150 million, about N23.6 billion for West Africa and $40 million ,N6.3 billion each for South and Central African nations. 

Mr. Julian Parr of CIP International pointed that in the Africa Indian partnership, learning has to be both ways, India needs to learn from Africa and at the same there is much that Africa needs to learn from innovation in technologies, practices, processes, institution building that has made India reach where it is now in the field of food and nutritional security and agribusiness development.

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We’re fixing hindrances in agric sector – Minister

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, has said his ministry focus is in fixing key issues that has hampered the performance of the agricultural sector with a view to unlocking the potential of Nigeria’s agriculture.

This, he also said would move the sector from its ignoble status as one of the largest food importers in the world to a food self- sufficient country, in addition to expanding into export.

Adesina disclosed this recently in Asaba to NaijaAgroNet, stressing that his ministry is doing this through the rapid transformation of agricultural value chains by treating agriculture as a money-making business and not as a charitable development project.

The ministry, he said, mustered the courage to break the jinx that for decades made successive governments corrupt in Nigeria through the procurement and distribution of fertilizers to rich and powerful politician farmers to the detriment of the private sector and genuine farmers.

“Corruption was incipient, as sand was mixed with fertilizers and sold to government, payments were made for fertilizers not supplied and subsidized fertilizers were resold back to government with a lot more sold off to neighbouring countries. To put it bluntly, government was not subsidizing farmers; instead it was subsidizing corruption. Farmers’ powerlessness worsened as high quality of seeds and fertilizers they need to raise their farm productivity were taken over by the elite, the rich and politically powerful.

“But we have changed all that. Within the first 90 days of this administration; we ended the forty year-old fertilizer sector racket and corruption. The old system of government buying and selling fertilizers was scrapped, and all fertilizer companies were required to sell directly to farmers and not government warehouses,” he said.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that the introduction of the Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) Electronic Wallet System which has seen over 3.4 million farmers receiving their subsidized inputs via the GES programme and Electronic Wallet Scheme has greatly improved the sector which now target close to five million farmers by the end of the dry season.

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Pix: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina

Oman reiterates support to enrich biodiversity

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The fifth meeting of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture ( ITPGRFA) kicked off at the Al Bustan Palace Hotel on Tuesday at Oman.

The opening ceremony of the meeting organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries was sponsored by His Highness Sayyid Shihab Bin Tariq Al Said, adviser to His Majesty the Sultan and continues till September 28.

His Excellency, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Dr Fuad Bin Jaafar Al Sajwani, said the Sultanate’s hosting of the meeting shows its support for efforts to enrich the state of biodiversity in general and genetic resources in particular, coming after the ministerial conference for the Near East and North Africa and a meeting of Donor Funds on the challenges of food security across the world.

The Director General of the Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development Ir. Haryono, speaking on behalf of the Indonesian minister of agriculture, stressed the importance of working together and pointed out that the genetic resources have become an integral part of the laws and regulation across the world which now faces climate challenges, draught and water scarcity.

 NaijaAgroNet  gathered that the Director General of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silvawas, delivered a recorded speech from the Organisation Headquarters in Rome, and pointed out that the treaty which is one of the most successful plays a vital role for food security by ensuring fair distribution.

NaijaAgroNet learnt from the meeting that  the Near East countries in Asia and Africa are among the richest in the world in terms of plant resources, yet  lack food security, suffer  from instability, climate changes, exhaustion of bio resources, such as soil and water, while the FAO efforts is on how to  secure food for nine billion people by 2050.

*With additional report from Oman News Agency

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EU, FAO partner to help six countries achieve MDG on hunger

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Less than two years before the deadline set to achieve international development goals, the European Union (EU) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have teamed up to reduce world hunger by assisting two million people in six countries with agricultural development activities worth nearly €60 million about N15.6 billion.

The funding comes from a €1 billion, about N259.4 billion EU initiative that aims to foster speedier progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

During a special event on the Millennium Development Goals at the UN General Assembly, FAO’s Director-General José Graziano da Silva said "So close to the deadline, when there is still so much to do, this good investment in agriculture will enable FAO to increase its efforts to eradicate hunger and do even more to help countries halve the proportion of hungry people by 2015."

Commenting on the development the EU Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs said "I find it unacceptable in the 21st century that some 870 million people are still going hungry and malnutrition is responsible for over 3 million child deaths annually. This funding underlines our commitment to stepping up our work on hunger and to meeting the MDGs.”

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the MDG-initiative promotes strong partnerships with the UN agencies, while the EU and FAO focus on agricultural development involving smallholder farmers and their families on improved nutrition in Burudi, Burkina Faso,Gambia , Haiti, Madagascar and Mozambique.

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Reasonable tariff set in Agric sector to protect local production-Minister

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The Federal Government introduction of reasonable tariff in the Agricultural sector is said to protect local production, despite the criticism on increased tariff and outright bans of certain food items Nigeria can produce.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Adewunmi Adesina made this clarification recently to the agriculture stakeholders and stressed that “while lower tariffs will benefit smaller West African economies dependent on imports, they will create major disincentives for local production in Nigeria, where we are trying to unlock the huge land, labour and demand potential to drive rapid agriculture and agribusiness growth.”

He lamented that  local production cannot be encouraged in a situation where there is unbridled dumping of cheap low-quality products on Nigerian markets as such a trend  would simply discourages the local farmers, increases rural poverty, and also increase unemployment.  

NaijaAgroNet  gathered from the minister that even though some are clamouring for the reduction in tariff and duty on the importation of crude palm oil, rice, sugar, fish and so on, it is right to   ensure that fiscal and trade policies are well aligned to further boost the ongoing transformation in the agricultural sector, while rapid gains are still being made.

“While rapid gains are being made, we must ensure that fiscal and trade policies are well aligned to further boost the ongoing transformation in the agricultural sector. Policies and institutional incentives must be sustained, and we must avoid policy reversals, which have scuttled many efforts in the past. Of particular concern is the issue of the Common External Tariff of the ECOWAS region,” he said.

NaijaAgroNet also learnt from Adesina that “Nigeria should protect its farmers from the effects of dumping of subsidized products smuggled daily into the country.  America does it. European Union does it. Nigeria should do the same.”

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BOA, Cassava farmers partner on mechanised farming

   

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association in Abuja has signed an agreement following the N3 billion set aside by the federal government to assist the farmers to acquire modern implements.

The Managing Director of the Bank, Dr Mohammed Santuraki, said the agreement was the outcome of the dialogue that had been ongoing between the bank and the farmers association.

Santuraki who was represented by Executive Director, Wholesale Finance of the bank, Mr Waziri Ahmadu, said both parties had agreed on modalities for the association to access the loan through mutual partnership.

“The bank has worked out appropriate loan processing procedures that will ensure smooth and timely packaging of loans, so long as applicants meet the bank’s requirement. The interest rate pegged at 12 per cent would be at the discretion of the Central Bank of Nigeria and Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending, he said.

NaijaAgroNet gathered that the bank has been in partnership with the bank since 2008 when it set aside N200 million for disbursement to its members to cultivate cassava, while the Flour Millers Association of Nigeria also established the Cassava Endowment Fund and domiciled it with the bank.

Earlier in his speech the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, commended the association for their dedication in its dealings on matters relating to agriculture and stressed that the signing of an agreement between the Bank of Agriculture and the Nigeria Cassava Growers Association in Abuja would enable farmers to access loan through the bank for mechanised farming in cassava.

The President of the association, Mr Segun Adewumi said it would cultivate one million hectares of cassava in the 2013 planting season and pledged the resolve of members of the association to repay the loan on schedule.

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Kaduna women, youths train on bull husbandry

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

A two-week training has been mapped out for the training of women and youths by Kaduna State in bull husbandry by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in collaboration with office of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and College of Agriculture and Animal Science in Kaduna

Funding for the training was from the MDGs office to provide skills in fattening of cattle for the women and youths in the state, as gathered by NaijaAgroNet.

Opening the training, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina represented by the Director of Planning, Research and Statistic in the Ministry, Umar Farouk Hussaini decried Nigerian's reliance on imported food, stressing that the training was part of Federal Government's desire to build the capacity of 8,000 youths and women in various agricultural fields including fishery, cassava production, animal husbandry and poultry.

"Whatever we are providing here is a starter pack to the participants as something they should use to get a take-off in their lives. At the end of the training, bulls and feeds among others will be distributed to the participants to start with and sell later on when they are fattened," he said,

Provost of College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Dr Balarabe Jahun informed NaijaAgroNet that Nigeria spends over $5.2 billion annually on food importation, which is equivalent to 48 per cent of the country's total gross income.

He lamented that if the citizens of any nation no matter how rich they may depends on food importation the country  will still remain in a poor state and that is the situation in Nigeria.

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Canada invests N469m in Nigeria vegetable research

  

Anthony NwakaeghoNaijaAgroNet

Canadian authorities have invested the sum of $2.9 million, about N469 million into the Nigerian research project for the “sustainable production and utilization of underutilized Nigerian vegetables.”

The research study according to NaijaAgroNet findings is funded by the International Department of Research Centre (IDRC) and Canadian International Food and Security Research Fund (CIFSRF) in collaboration with the University of Manitoba and Cape Breton University, all based in Canada.

Also, the research which commenced after the recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Osun State University, Osogbo, has been extended to Ondo, Ekiti and Oyo States respectively.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that the research is on six high premium underutilized vegetables that has nutritional value and abound in the South West Nigeria.

The essence of the research is to clearly define the agronomic practices, nutritional and economic value of the vegetables for the benefit of the farmers in Nigeria.

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Dansa votes N9.2m for energy food plant

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Dansa Group, a subsidiary of Dangote Group of the Companies has voted the sum of £36m about N9,183,250,000 billion for the establishment of Africa’s largest  energy food plant in Nigeria,

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina made this known toNaijaAgroNet in New York, stressing that the President, Dansa Group, Mr. Sanni Dangote, announced it at the meeting of a High Level World Advisory Group in New York.

The minister also said that the world leaders were excited about the country’s agricultural transformation agenda which is meant to diversify the nation’s economy.

“Already, Bill Gates is spending millions of dollars in Nigeria supporting this agenda, the African Development Bank is putting in $500m (N79, 655,500,000). So, this is about monitoring in Nigeria, giving it a push. Bill Gates said today that what Nigeria is doing in agriculture is extraordinary. And Kofi Annan said that what Nigeria is doing here makes it a leader in agriculture already in Africa; so, this is a further validation that Nigeria is on the right track,” he said.

Notable  world leaders  at the  meeting NaijaAgroNet learnt include the Chairman, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Mr. Bill Gates; a former United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan; President, International Fund for Agriculture Development, Dr. Kanayo Nwanze; and  President, African Development Bank, Dr. Donald Kaberuke.

 *With additional report from Punch

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RSPO builds capacity for stakeholders on palm oil

Anthony Nwakaegho/NaijaAgroNet

The Solidaridad West Africa and Proforest Initiative (UK) have consolidated on their alliance with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) by supporting an awareness raising and programme in a two-day Africa Roadshow event in Nigeria.

NaijaAgroNet learnt that RSPO which is the Nigeria National Interpretation Initiative organised the event to raise awareness and build capacity among key stakeholders on the best practices contained in the RSPO, in addition to creating an enabling environment for the uptake of the RSPO standard.

Major stakeholders in the palm oil supply chain that were present at the event included growers/millers, processors, manufacturers/end-users, associations and NGOs/environmentalists, financial sector, development agencies, state governments, federal ministries and government parastatals and so on.

In his welcome speech,the Facilitator, RSPO Initiative in Nigeria, Mr. FataiAfolablsaid the event was to create more awareness and build capacity among the stakeholders in the oil palm supply chain.

Afolabi noted that RSPOrequires oil palm producing countries to develop their respective National Interpretation of the RSPO principles and criteria, and if Nigeria would aspire to rise back to the number one position, it has to develop its oil palm industry on sustainable and globally acceptable principles.

He said that players in the consumption of oil palm products across the globe have set 2015 as deadline for investors in the agro-sector to have their products certify.

Currently, NaijaAgroNet gathered  RSPO is delivered via a set of eight principles and 37 criteria thatis subject to reviewing every five years, while Ms Audrey Versteengen and Mr. Isaac Abban-Mensan of Proforest and Dr. Harrie Hendricks of Solidaridad, conducted the capacity building programme for the stakeholders at the road show.

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