Post by Trade Coach on Aug 13, 2017 8:11:23 GMT 1
AGRIC: NIGERIA, 12 OTHERS POST STRONG GROWTH
Nigeria is among 12 countries in Africa that have posted higher agriculture productivity and stronger GDP growth as well as sharper declines in malnutrition due to early implementation of the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) goals.
The African Union's Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme or CAADR was created in 2003 with key call for African governments to allocate 10 percent of national budgets to agriculture and aim for six percent annual growl in the sector.
The early adopters are: Benin, Burundi, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
These are among the key findings noted in Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)'s 2016 African Agriculture Status Report (AASR), "Progress towards an Agriculture Transformation in Sub- Saharan Africa." released in Nairobi, Kenya.
The report notes that agriculture has had its biggest impact in countries that moved quickly to embrace CAADP goals and also provides an in-depth and unsparing review of an incredibly active ten-year period for African agriculture—one AGRA frames as a prelude for potentially big things to come.
The report finds that' ‘after decades of stagnation, much of Africa has enjoyed sustained agriculture productivity growth since 2005, and as a result, poverty rates have declined in places like Ghana, Rwanda, Ethopia and Burkina Faso. The analysis serves as a curtain raiser for the 2016 high-powered African Green Revolution Forum (AGRF) which held in Nairobi. The forum’s AGRF attracted heads of state and high-level officials from around the world.
And it could lock-in And it could lock-in hundreds of millions of dollars in new investments for Africa's often struggling farmers.
The AGRA Report noted that countries that made the biggest investments are rewarded with sizeable jumps in both farm productivity and overall economic performance.
The AGRA report also noted that even if Nigeria and the other 14 countries didn't hit the 10 percent targets of CAADP , but as early adopters of the CAADP goals that they have seen productivity on existing farmlands rise by 5.9 to 6.7 percent per year. This boost in turn helped to spur a 4.3 percent average annual increase in overall GDP Those who came later to the game achieved between a 3 to 5.7 percent growth in farm productivity and a 2.4 to 3.5 percent increase in GDP
Meanwhile, countries that sat on the sidelines saw farm productivity rise by less than 3 percent and GDP rise by only 2.2 percent.
The trend is similar for declines in malnutrition, with countries that have embraced the CAADP process experiencing annual declines ranging from 2.4 to 5.7 percent, while those who have not averages only a 1.2 percent decline.
AGRA President, Agnes Kalibata, said "The last ten years have made a strong case for agriculture as the surest path to producing sustainable economic growth that is felt in all sectors of society—and particularly among poor African nations.
“The track record is far from perfect," she added. “Many governments face significant budget constraints and far too many farming families continue to lack basic inputs, like improved seeds or fertilizers. But the evidence is clear.' "When we invest in our farmers and in the all the things they need to succeed, good things happen across the economy”.
FG moves to protect local fishermen
Hard time awaits foreign fishing trawlers operating illegally on Nigeria territorial waters as the Federal Government has ordered the Nigerian Navy to put a stop to their activities.
The move is to protect the country's local fishermen from being pushed out of business by the more sophisticated foreign fishing trawlers operating illegally on the nation's territory waters.
Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri stated this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, during his meeting with farmers and other stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
He said that the influx of foreign trawlers into Nigeria's territorial waters through the coast to fish without the permission of the Federal Government would no longer be accepted.
According to him, "As Nigerians, we have not tapped up to two percent of our fish resources, we still have 98 per cent untapped."
The Presidency, he noted, had directed the chief of Naval Staff to look into the matter with immediate effect. He said: “These trawlers coming right in front of our territorial water in the Niger Delta sometimes, their type of fishing is so dangerous that the fishing nets of our people are damaged.
"If you complain, they kill you. We have raised the issue with Mr. President and the President directed the Chief of Naval Staff to look into the matter. In 2016, the Chief of Defence Staff was at Rivers State to launch the new boats that have been patrolling the whole of our territory. Something is being done to ensure that these people who are coming do not come beyond the international water into our territorial water.
“We are taking it very seriously and that is why we have been holding meetings with Nigeria Navy and Ministry of Defence to see how we can protect our territorial waters."
The minister also enjoined indigenes of Bayelsa and other states of the region to embrace peace as the Federal Government continue to explore ways of boosting the economy.
He expressed concern about pipeline destructions by youths in the region, urging them to go into agriculture.
Senator Lokpobiri also advised the people of the Niger Delta region to invest in farming as loans would be provided for them by Bank of Industry and Agricultural Development Bank.
