COVID-19 And Agribusiness In Nigeria (2)

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Setting perspectives at a re­cent stakeholders’ forum, President of the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), Dr. Agnes Ka­libata noted that the economies of many African countries are growing faster than anywhere else in the world – and agricul­ture, which accounts for a third of Africa’s GDP, is poised to be the next installment of the “Af­rica rising” narrative.

Indeed, the World Bank finds that poverty is down by 33 per cent in Ethiopia since 2000, and agri­cultural growth is the main driver.

In Rwanda, the bank attribut­ed 45 per cent of the country’s rapid poverty reduction to growth of the agriculture sector and associated industries and services.

With Nigeria struggling to manage its yearly food import bill of $22 billion due to insuffi­cient foreign exchange as well as neglect and low investments in the agricultural sector, the stake­holders warned of the looming crisis and consequences of hun­ger in the country, as they cited the Venezuelan example.

Besides, the stakeholders noted that despite efforts of in­vestors to improve agriculture’s contributions to the GDP, com­mercial banks are frustrating efforts to access funds under the Anchor programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), even as the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) explores a region­al Cabotage Act to aid market ac­cess and connectivity within the ECOWAS bloc.

Chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspapers, Prof. Wale Omole , emphasised the need for government to revisit agriculture as a business if the nation would be self-sufficient in food production.

According to him, hunger has serious consequences, as there is bound to be increase in crime rate without food availability.

“Food is security. It is indeed a national security issue. There are stories of how hungry citi­zens now steal pots of soup from the kitchen. This kind of crime is triggered by hunger. When there is hunger, there is bound to be an­ger, belligerence, aggression and robbery”, he added.

Emphasising the need for val­ue-addition, Omole said: “Pro­ducing raw materials alone can­not lead to wealth creation unless we do more value-creation busi­ness with our raw materials. We should consider how one compa­ny that manufactures chocolate, can earn seven times more than a whole country that farms and exports cocoa.”

Consul-General Consul-Gen­eral, South African Consulate, Darkey Ephraim Africa, noted that the continent is looking up to Nigeria and South Africa in us­ing their strength for the develop­ment of the continent, stressing the need for institutional cooper­ation between the two countries.

“We think that it is important to align investment in agricul­ture towards local economic de­velopment, particularly in rural areas. The flow of oil must not be allowed to trap us into a perpet­ual single commodity economy. The tragic story of Venezuela and our own economic dynamics must inspire in us, a new urgency to avoid the same fate that befell this rich oil state.

“The country, with more oil than anywhere else, is crum­bling, inviting more social and economic problems than any other time in its history. Nigeria must work hard to avoid that sce­nario. South Africa will always be there to ensure the success of Nigeria. Working together, we can achieve more for our coun­tries and Africa’s renaissance”, he added.

Member, Technical Commit­tee, British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF), Fatai Afolabi stated that the prob­lem with the agric sector is more of talk than implementation, not­ing that many Local Government Chairmen and their Councillors don’t know about food production in their environment as many of them concentrate on obtaining levies and taxes on the roads.

“Nigeria needs to produce more to cater for its needs. Im­port substitution is key to ending the $22 billion expended on food importation. We need to strength­en the domestic market before exporting, except in the case of special commodities. We cannot cheap chasing export aggressive­ly when the local demands have not been met”, he said.

Hassan Bello, Executive Sec­retary and Chief Executive Offi­cer, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), argued that exportation is crucial for survival of any country, adding that Nigeria has been having issues with its foreign exchange because many vessels leave Nigeria with empty containers.

He explained that the ability of a country to sell her products on the international market is a precondition for their survival in our present predominantly glo­balised trade environment.

According to him, trade pol­icy has in recent years, moved beyond mere support of export growth and attention is being paid to the creation of conducive enabling environment for sound logistics to facilitate the business of traders in both export and do­mestic markets.

“The more a country is able to produce and export to other countries, the more the country can satisfy its needs through for­eign exchange and increasing her investment domestically. This is because the inflow of foreign ex­change earnings from export be­comes available to service a num­ber of important and worth-while activities which have multiplier effects on the general public and the national economy”, he said.

Managing Director, Poultry International Company Limited, Mrs Yemisi Iranloye advocated in­creased support for farmers and investors in the out-grower scheme adding that government needs to incentivise activities in the agric sector for its contributions to the economy to be meaningful.

She noted that small-holder farmers are often ignored, yet the nation depends on them for food.

Worried by the inconsistency in the continent’s agricultural practice, especially in relation to investment in large-scale commer­cial farms, former Secretary-Gen­eral of the United Nations, Kofi Anan and other stakeholders have decried neglect of smallholder farmers, stating that more than 80 per cent of African agricultural production come from them.

According to the stakeholders, Africa’s smallholders are more than capable of feeding the conti­nent—so long as they boost their yields by using the latest agro­nomic practices in combination with appropriately adapted seeds and fertilizer.

Although investors in Nige­ria’s agricultural value-chain may have found appeal in out-grower schemes, the stake­holders noted that allocating large blocks of land to foreign investors, reserving water for industrial-sized operations, and concentrating research and de­velopment on a few cash crops doesn’t help most farmers.

Dr Ogiora Madu, the Direc­tor-General, African Centre for Supply Chain, argued that for gov­ernment to address competitiveness challenges, inefficient logistics needs to be addressed as it raises the costs of trading and reduces the potential for global integration.

“This is a hefty burden for developing countries trying to compete in the global market­place. Since 2007, the Logistics Performance Index (LPI) has been informing the debate on the role of logistics for growth and the policies to support it in such areas as infrastructure, service provision, and cross-border trade facilitation”, he added.

Read Original Report Here By Independent

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