Nigeria has begun
to prove its critics wrong as a revolution in food sufficiency following
President Goodluck Jonathan’s Launch of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) in 2011 has begun. The
goal is to have an additional 20 million Metric Tonnes (MT) of food to the
domestic food supply by 2015 as part of its MDGs agenda and Nigeria
Vision 20:2020 thereby stimulating the creation of 3.5 million jobs along
he agricultural value chains.
At the recent
conference of the Nigerian Guild of Editors with theme: ‘Nigeria Beyond Oil: Role of Editor”, the Minister of Agriculture,
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, put forth his submissions on Nigeria’s agriculture
realities in a paper titled: The Value
Chain Road Map of Agriculture and Rural Development. Nigeria is now
thinking beyond oil, considering the various agricultural reforms and policies
by the incumbent administration.
Nigeria was food
sufficient in the 1960s and was well known for its global position in major
commodities such as Groundnut (40% of global supply), Palm Oil (28% of global
supply), and Cocoa (18% of global supply).
The discovery of
Oil led to decades of neglect of the agricultural sectors. What followed is a
kind of economy where earnings from oil were frittered away; we now heavily
depend on imports. A nation that does
not feed itself is a threat to its own existence. “Nigeria is an
agricultural power house with immense potential, possessing over 84 million hectares of arable land, of
which no more than 40 percent is cultivated, over 263 billion cubic meters of water with two of the largest rivers
in Africa and cheap labour force to support agricultural intensification. While potential is important, no doubt, no
one eats potential
KEY
ACHIEVEMENTS OF AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION AGENDA
The Nigeria’s
agricultural sector has evolved over time with various achievements.
- Value
Chain Road Map Development: Nigeria agriculture is now being
treated as a money-making business and not a charitable development project”. Nigeria planned to be self
sufficient in rice production by 2015 and compete with countries like Thailand,
Vietnam and India. 14 large scale
integrated rice mills were established by private sector in two years in Kano (Umza
rice), Ebonyi ( Ebonyi rice) and Benue state (Mikap rice). The rice from these
areas is well packaged, long- grained, tastier and healthier than imported rice.
Nigeria is making giant stride in Cassava value chain development, this is
evident in the commercialization of cassava bread. Cassava Bread is healthier with a lower Glycemic Index than wheat flour bread, making it better for people
allergic to gluten in wheat. It is
also better for those disposed to diabetes. Nigeria has secured contracts to
supply 3.2 million MT of Cassava. Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) has invested 2.9 million dollar in a Nigerian
Research project carried out at Osun state University for the “Sustainable
production and Utilization of Under-Utilized Nigeria Vegetables” which will also
enhance food security in Nigeria.
- Building
of Strong Agricultural Policies:
Having an institution with strong policies is key to economic development.
Nigeria is building strong policy, institutional, investment, and
infrastructure foundations for the transformation of the agricultural sector. Federal
Government developed Dry season rice production policy to boost rice production
in the selected states which are Kogi, Niger, Zamfara, Sokota, Kano, Jigawa,
Bauchi, Katsina and Gombe.
- Growth
Enhancement support scheme (GES) & Electronic Wallet Scheme: Key achievements of agricultural
transformation agenda is the procurement and distribution of subsidized fertilizers,
Cassava stems, a high quality seeds and other inputs via a program called
- Growth Enhancement support scheme (GES)
using Electronic Wallet System. This
system allows farmers to receive directly subsidized electronic vouchers for
their seeds and fertilizers on their mobile phone. In 2013, over 3.4 million
farmers have received their subsidized inputs via the GES program and
electronic wallet scheme. The GES program not only saved Federal Government 25
billion naira in 2012 but has brought back dignity to Nigerian Farmers.
- More
Investment, More Jobs: Over
467,000 million jobs were created for youths as a result of dry season rice
paddy production. 10 million Farmers were registered in the first ever
nationwide registration of farmers. Farmers now have identity cards which will
enable the Ministry of Agriculture to use their biometric information to target
them more effectively. Syngenta, the world’s leading seed
company, has now established in Nigeria, to develop and commercialize high
yielding seeds for farmers. Dangote has
committed 3.5 billion dollars to set up Africa’s largest fertilizer plant. Indorama will invest 1.3 billion
dollars in a fertilizer plant and Notore
Company is expanding its current plant with an additional 1.3 billion dollars
from Mitsubishi Corporation. A revolution is on
its way, as Cargil, the world’s
leading food manufacturer is working with Ministry of Agriculture to set up
75,000 MT cassava starch-to-sweetener plant. Crest Agro products, Flour
Mills of Nigeria, Sun Bird Energy are also investing in Cassava Value chain
production. Another silent revolution has just been unleashed in Wheat. It was discovered that dry land
Wheat can be grown in the high lands of Plateau, Mambilla in Taraba state and
Obudu in Cross river State. Work is underway to rapidly multiply these wheat
varieties at the Lake Chad Research
Institute, Maiduguri.