Nigeria’s effort to be self-sufficient in rice production and also guarantee food security seems to be yielding result, JOHN OBA writes
Reeling out achievement Recently, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in Lagos at a media briefing, raised some dust when he reiterated the federal government’s commitment to achieving self-sufficiency in rice production by 2020. The Minister at the event said “the country has never been closer to self-sufficiency in rice, a national staple, than now” While reeling out the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari in scaling-up rice production in the country, Mohammed said “Within two years, rice importation from Thailand fell from 644,131 metric tons (in September 2015) to 20,000 metric tons (in September. 2017).
That is over 90 per cent drop. He said with the significant increased production in rice paddy, Nigeria’s rice import bill, hitherto at $1.65 billion annually, had dropped by over 90 per cent. The minister said that the nation’s current rice consumption is approximately 6 million metric tons. “In 2015, Nigeria produced 2.5million metric tons of milled rice. By 2017, it rose to 4million metric tonnes, leaving a gap of 2million metric tonnes. Our target is to fill that gap by 2020.” The minister added that in 2015, there were only 13 integrated rice mills and by 2017, the number had risen to 21.
Impact of FADAMA But in the centre of this achievement, is the efforts of FADAMA III AF domiciled in the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, saddled with the responsibility of ensuring exponential growth in rice, sorghum, cassava and horticulture production in the country. It would be recalled that Nigeria had requested for the World Bank support for its Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), which was adopted in 2011 to improve value chain of prioritised agricultural commodities. This monumental ATA intervention presented an opportunity for the World Bank to increase its development impact in the agricultural sector. Nigeria’s strides to self-sufficiency In Rice Production
The clamour for Nigeria to be self sufficient in rice production and at large guarantee food security seem to be yielding result, John Oba, write. Reeling out achievement Recently, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in Lagos at a media briefing, raised some dust when he reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to achieving self-sufficiency in rice production by 2020 He was reported to have said: “the country has never been closer to self-sufficiency in rice, a national staple, than now.” While reeling out the achievements of President Muhammadu Buhari in up-scaling rice production in the country, Mohammed said “Within two years, rice importation from Thailand fell from 644,131 metric tons (in September 2015) to 20,000 metric tons (in September. 2017).
That is over 90 per cent drop. He said with the significant increased production in rice paddy, Nigeria’s rice import bill, hitherto at 1.65 billion dollars annually, had dropped by over 90 per cent. The minister said that the nation’s current rice consumption is approximately 6 million metric tons of milled rice. “In 2015, Nigeria produced 2.5million metric tons of milled rice. By 2017, it rose to 4million metric tonnes, leaving a gap of 2million metric tonnes. Our target is to fi ll that gap by 2020.” The minister added that in 2015, there were only 13 integrated rice mills and by 2017, the number rose to 21. FADAMA impact But in the centre of this achievement, is the efforts of FADAMA III AF domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, saddled with the enormous responsibility of ensuring exponential growth in rice, sorghum, cassava and horticulture production in Nigeria.
It would be recalled be recalled that Nigeria had sort the World Bank assistance for its Agricultural Transformation Nigeria’s strides to self-sufficiency in rice production Nigeria’s effort to be self-sufficient in rice production and also guarantee food security seems to be yielding result, JOHN OBA writes Ogbeh Agenda (ATA), adopted in 2011 to improve value chain of prioritised agricultural commodities. This intervention presented an opportunity for the World Bank to increase its development impact in the agricultural sector.
“However, the need to shorten the constraint of time and other challenges of preparing a new project that would meet the urgency of the ATA, and in addition build on an existing well performing implementation arrangements of the World Bank supported Fadama III Project, gave birth to Fadama III additional financing (Fadama III AF). In pursuance of this and upon the request of the Federal Government, a sum of US$ 200 million was approved in June, 2013 as Additional Financing to Fadama III Project. The Project is expected to close by December 31, 2019”
Aims The central aim of the Additional Financing (AF) is to increase incomes for users of rural lands and water resources within FADAMA areas in a sustainable manner throughout the recipients’ territory. The additional financing is also designed to focus on improving farm productivity while increasing performance of clusters of farmers engaged in priority food staples namely rice, cassava, sorghum and horticulture in six selected states with high potentials.
In other words, the Additional Financing (AF) was targeted at up-scaling the impact made under Fadama III and will therefore support clusters of farmers in six selected States with comparative advantage and high potential to increase production of cassava, rice, sorghum and horticulture value chains and link them to organised markets including the Staple Crop Processing Zones [SCPZs] when established. It is also tailored to facilitate linkages between federation of producers and existing processors.
Participating states The selected States are Kogi, Anambra, Enugu, Niger, Kano and Lagos. Provision was also made for other States that expressed interest and met the criteria to participate in Fadama III AF that includes (Osun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, FCT, Adamawa, Bauchi, Ogun, Kebbi, Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa, Kaduna, Plateau, Ebonyi, Cross River, Benue, Katsina, Zamfara and Akwa Ibom).
The last six additional States of Cross-River, Zamfara, Katsina, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa were included to support the production of Cassava, Sorghum, Tomato and Rice value chains. Presently, the FADAMA 111 projects are being implemented in thirty one (31) states divided into Six Core States comprising: Anambra, Enugu (South Eastern Zone), Kano (North West Zone), Kogi and Niger States (North Central Zone) and Lagos (South Western Zone) of Nigeria.
However, the other twenty-six (26) States are production Cluster States from all the six geo-political zones of Nigeria based on expression of interest by Executive Governor of each participating State. Undoubtedly, the projects executed by FADAMA 111 have contributed immensely to the alleviation of poverty among the rural populace. With financing of $200 million, a new generation of business-oriented agropreneurs are emerging, giving farmers a new way to feed their families and earn an income, thereby creating a new lease of life for them.
It is helping Nigeria’s farmers to turn their agriculture skills into income-generating businesses For instance, no fewer than 7,000 rice producing families in Enugu State have been added to the clusters of rice producers in the State. Mr. Hillary Onyekwere, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer of Enugu State FADAMA Coordination Office, revealed this during the 8th World Bank/FGN Joint Supervision Mission meeting in the state. He said that the FADAMA office had also embarked on the construction of feeder roads in rice producing areas across the state so as to facilitate the transportation of the farmers’ produce to the markets.
Onyekwere said that the FADAMA III project had invested over N2.1 billion in the state since its inception, adding that the funds were well-utilised. He said the FADAMA III Additional Financing (AF) project had made tremendous progress in efforts to revamp the rice value chain in the state.
States successes report It is the same remarkable success story in Bauchi State, where 5, 000 farmers are participating in the FADAMA III AF. Dr Adetunji Oredipe, Task Team Leader, World Bank mission in Nigeria commended the feederal and the state government for supporting the project in Bauchi. Oredipe noted that the project was successful in the state and commended the farmers for embracing FADAMA. Lending his voice, Mr. Aliyu Kutigi, the State Project Coordinator, urged the farmers to embrace the gesture toward increasing their production and enhancing their income.
Also, Malam Ndatsu Fari, cluster chairman, Enuma farmers in Kuchita said that the project has impacted positively on the farmers and commended the federal and the state government and the World Bank for initiating it. Furthermore, Anambra State FADAMA III Addition Financing has been re-positioned to give hope, succour and sustainable means of livelihood to about 5000 genuine farmers in the state.
To ensure that the objective was achieved without hiccups, sensitisation meetings with rice production clusters and groups have been held across the eight participating Local Government Areas of Ayamelum, Awka North, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ihiala, Ogbaru, Orumba North and Orumba South, which are participating in the project. The State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, also gave impetus to the success of the programme by approving and paying the sum of N112 million as the state government’s counterpart cash contribution for 2015 and 2016. Determined to ensure that the available funds were judiciously applied to improve the wellbeing of farmers, FADAMA has provided the enabling environment for profitable agriculture by providing the necessary technical assistance to the farmers. In fact, FADAMA111 AF has proven to be the engine room for government to realise its agricultural dreams, especially in the areas of self-sufficiency in rice production. The state project coordinator of FADAMA 111AF, Mr. Patrick Egbue said the position it occupies in agricultural sector is key to achieving a remarkable objective, adding that it has continued to make its marks, following the glorious success of the parent project, Fadama III, which recorded many achievements in various agricultural upstream and downstream activities, including farming, animal husbandry, horticulture, apiary, confectionery, fi shery, market development, feeder roads, among others. The achievements, he said, gave birth to Fadama III Additional Financing. Indeed, the huge investment of the government in agriculture, through the Fadama III Project AF, could be seen on the faces of farmers in the state, as the hitherto tattered and disheveled looks of farmers have been turned into wealthy and cheerful ones based on their improved yields and income. Communications Officer for Anambra FADAMA Project, Mr. Nezianya Obinabo explained that over 2000 farmers have already enrolled for rice farming under the project and are already keying into the process of trying to realise Governor Obiano’s objective of ensuring food security in the state. He said: “The efforts of the state government to end importation of rice in Anambra State are being applauded across the length and breadth of the state.
The government is making serious efforts towards making Anambra State the fi rst among rice producing states in the country. Already, over 60 percent of the state’s population now enjoy Anambra Rice, a feat that was achieved through the unrelenting efforts of the State FADAMA Coordinating Office.” In all, the contribution of FADAMA III AF to the federal and state government’s development objectives and policy in terms of gross domestic product, food security, rural development and poverty reduction was analysed during the 8th Mission in December, 2017.
FAO intensifies campaign on Rinderpest re-emergence in Nigeria
Stories by John Oba A special awareness creation program to alert livestock farmers and pastoralists in Nigeria on the likely reemergence of Rinderpest, and what to do when signs of the devastating animal disease or other Transboundary Animal Diseases (TADs) are noticed on their livestock, has begun airing on radio stations across the country. A statement by FAO national communication officer, Mr David Karls Tsokar, said that the program sponsored by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), is part of support to Nigeria aims to raise awareness among pastoralists on the dangers of the disease which killed millions of animals before it was pronounced ro have been eradicated globally in 2011.
Rinderpest, a Transboundary Animal Disease (TAD), was stamped out but virus samples were kept by some institutions for research purposes. At an African regional conference in 2015, five (5) countries, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan, agreed that the Virus Containing Materials (VCM) kept in laboratories should either be destroyed or sent to the Pan African Veterinary Centre of the African Union (AUPANVAC) in Ethiopia for safekeeping. However, some laboratories in Universities and other research institutes retained the VCM.
Stakeholders are alleging it might have been reintroduced, either through accidental spillage or other human errors and there are fears that it might have spread to grazing areas. This awareness campaign began in 2017 during a Livestock stakeholders’ strategic communication meeting to keep participants abreast of latest situation and the need for early warning in the case of reemergence. The distribution of awareness-creation posters to livestock farmers across 18 states, three (3) each from the six (6) geopolitical regions of the country compliments the radio broadcast.
Also listening groups were delineated in the states, earlier this month to monitor the campaign, as the radio broadcast begun on the 27th/03/2018 and it is to run for six (6) weeks. FAO Country Representative in Nigeria and to ECOWAS Suff yan Koroma before the distribution said, the message to be broadcast on FRCN regional stations in Enugu, Ibadan and Kaduna in four (4) different languages (Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa and Fulfulde) contains information regarding the highly contagious epidemic animal diseases, rinderpest and TADs. “The intention is to keep the world and our country free from Rinderpest, and to protect our animals from other dangerous animal diseases. We have to be vigilant and to immediately alert veterinary services providers to prevent further spread of infections on our animals. The message will be broadcasted twice a week, Tuesday and Thursday morning and evening for six weeks to ensure effective penetration to the target audience”, Koroma said.
Livestock farmers are tasked to ensure that they report unusual behavior among their animals, as other known TADs like foot and mouth disease, contagious bovine, pleuropneumonia, lumpy skin disease, sheep and goat pox, peste des petits ruminants, African swine fever, rabies and brucellosis are equally as dangerous and needs to be tackled as soon as they are noticed. FAO in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development had sponsored some experts to destroy the remaining Rinderpest specimen kept in some university laboratories in Sokoto and Borno states.
The message will be closely monitored by the members of the listening groups identified in the states, which include federal/state veterinary and animal husbandry officials, members of relevant interest groups, cattle breeders, farmers and owners as well as female pastoralists.
