Post by Trade facilitator on Mar 26, 2017 21:45:33 GMT 1
BUHARI’S ADMINISTRATION REFORM PLANS SHOULD FOCUS ON FOOD SECURITY AND EXPORTATION
Examining reports contained in some of our dailies, FADARE ADEKANMI explains that Nigeria’s sure steps reform agenda in the agriculture sector are targeted at ensuring food security for the country and exportation of agricultural commodities.
There is no gain saying in the fact that Nigeria is recognized globally as a nation with great potential in food production. Yes, but unfortunately these potential remain largely untapped. Instead of being the food basket of the world, Nigeria is today a net importer of food, with about 3 billion dollar expendable on food imports annually. Unfortunately too, agriculture has been displaced as a major contributor to the nation’s economy. If you imagine that at independence agriculture contributed more than sixty per cent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product and was Nigeria’s leading foreign exchange earner. Today, agriculture’s share of GDP is about 35 per cent. Indeed at a time it was even as low as 20 per cent.
Also, there have been past efforts at addressing these challenges, especially during the immediate past administration of President Ebele Jonathan. Indeed since the early 1970s a number of attempts have been made to address these challenges by various administrations, including the National Accelerated Food Production Programme of 1972, the Green Revolution programme of 1980 and the national Agricultural Land Development Authority programme of 1991, amongst many others. Somehow, the challenges have remained with us unabated either for lack of strong will to implement those policies or because of half hazard implementation of the policies. These have resulted in the failure of the country to realize its full agricultural potential as well as failure to harness the huge opportunities for food security, exportation of agricultural commodities, job creation, industrialization, natural growth and sustainable development.
In my view, government may use the following approach to address these challenges. Firstly, government’s approach this time around must try to recognize the past and prevailing challenges in the sector and proffer holistic, integrated and strategic interventions, which considered a more radical departure from the subsistence, ad-hoc and fragmented approach of the past. It must be noted that for the agricultural sector to be transformed in Nigeria agriculture must be seen as a business and conscious efforts should be made to remove all constraints along the way. For instance, whereas, the previous efforts concentrated on increased production, the new approach should focus on increased production accompanied by increased attention to storage, processing, packaging, distribution and marketing. In summary, the new approach should be driven by a value-chain perspective that advocates for comprehensive and concentrated attention to every component of the agricultural value chain.
In the new approach, the federal government through the ministry of agriculture and water resources must take the lead by setting the policy framework and providing necessary infrastructure and incentives in collaboration with stakeholders, especially the states and local governments, the organized private sectors and farmers themselves.
In other words, while the former approach consisted of subsistence, low – yield, labour intensive, rudimentary techniques, raw production, low government support and production based agriculture, what the new government should embrace in the new approach should be targeted commercial, high yield, mechanized, modern techniques, processed and packaged production, increased and strategic government support, food export oriented and holistic, value-chain approach to agriculture.
So where will this lead us?
It will first and foremost be targeted at achieving food security in Nigeria, moving us away from one of the nations that are classified as food vulnerable countries. Secondly, if fully implemented, the new approach will see us back to the situation in the 1970s as a net food exporter. Of course it would have enabled us imbibe the culture of modern and efficient agricultural techniques and methods of farming. In short, the programme will aim at commercializing agriculture in Nigeria and turning the country into agro-power-house than can feed itself and meet the food needs of others.
Remember I mentioned that previous efforts in the agricultural sector of this country had focused too narrowly on enhanced production without making adequate provisions for what happens after production. Some of the new steps to food security should be captured in phases as ‘’Raising Agricultural Income with sustainable Environment’’ (RAISE). This is to be achieved through intense focus on the following interlocking steps viz ; providing the appropriate policy framework. Under this approach, putting in place appropriate legislative and legal framework is in place to support commercial agriculture in the country. There should also be focus on securing adequate funding step, where it must be ensured that the sector and all the operators are able to attract adequate and concessionary funding necessary for going to scale. Another step is the rehabilitation of rural infrastructure, which must be targeted at rehabilitating infrastructure necessary for increasing production and taking the produce to markets. The next step involve ensuring efficient utilization of water resources to enable agriculture to be carried out all year round and also ensure proper sustainable management of existing water resources. And finally, to enhance production, storage, processing and marketing, which will ultimately help transform agriculture in Nigeria by focusing on increased production, storage, processing and marketing of agricultural produce in Nigeria.
