Agriculture has contributed immensely to the growth and development of the Nigerian economy. The sector has provided employment for over 70% of the population and it is one sector that the current administration seems to have a soft spot for. But this assumption has been largely criticized, prompting the organization of an agriculture festival under the theme ‘Agrifest” to under the showcase the actual achievement of the administration in the sector. JOHN OBA reports
The Agricultural sector in Nigeria is being transformed by commercialization at the small, medium and large-scale enterprise levels with the introduction of Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) an initiative of the ministry of agriculture aimed at revamping the sector and thus placing Nigeria as an agric giant in the world market and also help boost the economy. It is a government-enabled, private sector-drive approach where they identified 3 things the sector needs to back down which are: treating agriculture as a development project, funding isolated projects that do not grow the sector in a clear and measurable way, allowing the private sector to take the lead in investing in the sector
Analyzing the achievements in the sector so far, women from Zamfara state under the auspices of Zamfara Women Farmers, praised the government for its strive in the sector, saying this has lifted most women out of poverty promising that all women farmers in the state are ready to cast their vote for the president in the coming polls.
The leader of the Nigeria Investment Group(NIG), who also represents Rice Importers Association (RIA), Mr Tunde Onoeye lauded the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s policy on rice, revealing that the government’s rice policy has made an indigenous first in rice farming in Nigeria.
He said over $1.6 billion has been invested in the rice sector in the last four years.
On his part, the Chief Executive Officer, Ige Farms Limited, Pastor A. Ige, praised the efforts of the government in the fish sector, saying his farms have witness manifold transformation within the past two years that he got enlisted into the GES programme under ATA as his fishes have increased from 1000, to over 5000.
He said his farm has grown from mere fish farming into processing of his product, as they now package raw fishes for sale within the country and waiting for NAFDAc approval and registration, so the products could be exported to other countries.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwum Adesina, while reeling out the achievements in the sector, said the Agricultural Festival (AgriFest) was to celebrate the new dawn of agriculture in Nigeria under the watch and leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said top leaders of the business sector are investing massively in agriculture, adding that with the fall in the price of crude oil, agriculture has become the new oil for Nigeria.
“With your support we ended four decades of corruption in the fertilizer sector. Over the past three years, over 14 million farmers have received their subsidized seeds and fertilizers via e-wallets under the GES programme. Many of them are women, who never used to get subsidized fertilizers and seeds from government. You inspire us to grow our own food.
“Our agricultural transformation agenda has inspired the youth. The new generation of commercial farmers and agribusiness leaders, the Nagropreneurs, will further transform the agriculture sector. Just yesterday in my office, cheques worth N 123 million were given as grants to 27 young Nagropreneurs. We have opened a great future for them.”
The minister said over 14.5 million farmers have access to farm inputs at subsidized rate under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA).
Adesina said that ATA is a flagship programme of the federal government aimed at repositioning the sector and to produce 20 million tonnes of additional food by 2015.
The programme is being piloted by the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme, a technology through which registered farmers have access to farm input at subsudised rate via e-wallet.
The scheme is being expanded to include access to heavy farm machineries, loans, insurance and extension services.
The Agric Fest programme which was declared open by President Goodluck Jonathan was to appreciate and celebrate Mr President for the ongoing transformation in the sector Adesina said.
“We are today, over 25, 000 farmers and agri-bussineses across the 36 states and the FCT have come to celebrate a new dawn in Nigeria’s agriculture.
“Over the last four years, over 14 million farmers have received subsidised seeds and fertilizer under the GES scheme, many of whom are women who never get fertilizer or seeds from government.
“ATA has turned around the destinies of millions of farmers across the country with the fall in price of crude oil, agriculture has become the new oil for Nigeria’’, he said.
The minister said through the instrumentality of ATA, the federal government was able to effectively curb 40 years of corruption in the fertilizer subsector in 90 days.
He said the introduction of dry season farming by the President had changed the face of agriculture in the country.
Adesina said President Jonathan have faith in Nigerian farmers saying that his continuous support was reflecting clearly in the drop of food importation and inflation.
He said in the past three years, 21 million tonnes of food had been additional to national food supply saying that Nigeria was beginning to feed itself with pride.
Speaking at the event, President Goodluck Jonathan, said despite the devaluation of the Naira, food prices have been stable, and inflation is declining, due to the efforts of farmers in producing more food.
He however charged the farmers that they can do even more, and turn Nigeria into a net exporter of food which is one of the reasons the government is rapidly expanding irrigation facilities all across the country.
“For the first time ever, the Federal Government launched a National Dry Season Farming Program in 2012. This has changed the fortunes of farmers, especially all across the northern states of Nigeria. Farmers now produce food all year round. “Not only is food production rising rapidly, thousands of jobs are being created for the youth who now have quality jobs. Agriculture is now the lifeline for Nigeria. As crude oil prices decline, we must create new wealth from the richness of our soils, the vastness of our rivers and the abundance of our cheap labour. We will produce more, and we will industrialize the agricultural sector,” he said.
“To further boost your efforts to produce more food for our nation, I am pleased to announce here today the release of N26 billion naira towards the 2015 Dry Season Farming Programme.
The President applauded the financial sector for its contribution to agriculture transformation through adequate funding of stakeholders.
He also said that marine and palm sectors were being encouraged and that the target was to make Nigeria self-sufficient in palm oil production by 2016.
