New Telegraph

Challenges stall agric sector’s performance

Nigeria’s agric sector’s performance in the first half of year 2022 witnessed sundry issues, including insecurity, coupled with impact of Russia-Ukraine war and others. Indeed, these challenges pose severe threat to food security and others, TAIWO HASSAN reports

When examining the country’s agric sector’s growth since the beginning of the year, it is very easy to say that the country’s agricultural sector has been experiencing hitches in all ramifications. In fact, insecurity is yet to abate, it is even getting worse daily. No doubt, since the escalation of banditry, the country’s agric sector has not known peace, as different kinds of criminalities have been the order of the day. Very worrisome is the fact that in the history of Nigeria as a nation, this is the first time a sitting president has shown real passion for agric development, although insecurity has punctuated the positive growths. These are now putting pressure on sustainable food security and sufficiency in the country. Nigeria’s agric sector alone has gulped N2.1 billion spending till date from government’s Anchor Borrower’s Programme in a bid to boost food production. Regrettably, many farmers that got this loan have abandoned their farms over herdsmen, Boko Haram and bandit attacks. Statistically, only 10 per cent of them have been able to redeem their loans, amidst worsening insecurity in the country’s agric sector.

Cost of farming

According to Chairman, Oyo State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), John Olateru, with the exorbitant prices of farming inputs, farmers projected food prices to be higher this year. However, this is already manifesting in all fronts. Olateru said the cost of inputs for the 2022 planting season was higher and would affect the output later. “Prices of chemicals are now more than triple of what they used to be; the same for fertilisers, while land preparation has gone from N5,000 to between N12,000 and N15,000 per hectare. “The cost of cultivating farmlands has gone out of control and this will affect the prices of the items that will be planted.”

Forex squeeze

Also, foreign exchange (FX) still continues to play its ugly role in the country’s agric sector, making farmers raise the alarm. The AFAN chairman lamented the cumbersome procedures of accessing exchange rate by farmers and, sometimes, non-availability of foreign exchange for importing farming inputs. Another problem, he noted, was 7.5 per cent VAT that the farmers paid on imports. He explained: “There is also the five per cent minimum duty that you must pay on importation of tractors and other things. If you add 7.5 per cent with five per cent, that gives you 12.5 per cent duty on what you are importing, while the official forex is not available. “All these will have multiplier effect on the prices of farmers’ outputs. When people are complaining about high prices of food commodities, they may not know the factors that are driving the costs. “It looks like the weather will favour us this year. I can see NIMET encouraging farmers to start planting now, unlike what obtained last year.”

Climate change

Also, at the beginning of this year, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and leadership of Human and Environment Development Agenda (HEDA) Resource Centre, Lagos, raised the alarm of lack of reliable weather/climate information and services in Nigeria’s agric sector. Specifically, they affirmed this was posing prevalent risk to the attainment of food security and productivity in the country. Similarly, the two agencies warned that if local farmers continued to ignore reliable weather/ climate information and services in agric sector, the sector’s contribution to the country’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) would result in food-induced, culminating in food austerity, hunger, food shortages and others. NiMET’s Director-General/ Chief Executive Officer and Permanent Representative of Nigeria with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), Professor Mansur Bako Matazu, explained that already insecurity had disrupted the country’s agricultural sector in terms of food system and the country could no longer afford local farmers losing fortunes to noncompliance to reliable weather/climate information and services in Nigeria’s agric sector.

Unregulated cocoa

Within the period, cocoa farmers in Nigeria, under the aegis of Cocoa Farmers Association of Nigeria (CFAN), decried the unregulated cocoa sub-sector in the country, saying it was depriving the smallholder cocoa farmers in the country of collecting the $400 per tonne Living Income Deferential (LID) paid to their counterparts in Ivory Coast, Ghana and other cocoa leading countries. The association put the cumulative figure that its members have been losing at N55 billion annually, arising from the non-capturing of the $400 per tonne Living Income Deferential in the country. Specifically, the National President of the association, Adeola Adegoke, said aside from the floor price at which the cocoa beans were being sold, no measure has been put in place to be able to collect the $400. According to him, the farmers cried out because of the existing structure that is supporting small-holder cocoa farmers with $400 per tonne in Ghana, Ivory Coast and other countries that are leading in world cocoa production.

$200m annual agric earnings

The half year 2022 also saw the National President of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama, saying that Nigeria could earn over $200 million yearly from the Agricultural Commodity Value Chain Expansion Project (ACVEP). Iyama gave the assurances at a media parley in Abuja, saying the project would benefit the agricultural sector by creating over two million jobs for young Nigerians in the areas of logistics, processing, supply chain management, agriculture extension services and establishment of new agriculture produce aggregation centre, when fully operational.

Potato farmers on insecurity

Following the worsening security situation in the country, the National President of Potato Farmers Association of Nigeria (POFAN), Daniel Okafor, lamented that insecurity had made it difficult for potato farmers to access their farms. The POFAN president stated this during the launch of a training handbook on Sweet-Potato (OFSP) Value Chain Development/Presentation of Logical Framework for 2022. According to him, he lost about five hectares of potato farm to theft perpetrated by locals and rampaging herdsmen. He described the document being launched as a guide to a successful potato value chain development in Nigeria, which can also help other African countries and the world in general.

Skyrocketing foodstuffs prices

During the half year under review, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) urged the Federal Government to immediately buy off the displayed processed rice by accredited millers at CBN and RiFAN event recently in Abuja, by selling them directly to Nigerians at subsidised price to cushion the inflated prices of rice and other food items in the country. The former National President of AFAN, Kabir Ibrahim, emphasised that there was no time to waste again in government’s intervening in the crashing of rice price in the country that is already beyond the reach of the common man despite the trillions of naira spent on the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) on rice production in the country. He explained that it was time for President Muhammadu Buhari’s government to resuscitate the National Food Reserve Agency (NFRA) and Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) in the country to bring succour and food sufficiency to Nigerians.

Fuel hike, Ukraine war heightened food inflation

Indeed, the spiral effect of the current hike in petrol price, especially on food items, over the Russia-Ukraine war has seen food inflation rising exponentially sending the consumer inflation on a worrisome spike. Particularly, inflation has been fuelled by factors in the country, which inhibited productivity in the economy. This include challenges of infrastructure, especially power, transportation, logistics and insecurity, which is affecting agricultural output in practically all parts of the country. Agricultural activities have been made difficultandalmostimpossibleby insecurityinmanypartsof thecountry, climate change, which includes desertification and flooding have also taken its toll on agricultural outputs.

Wheat importation

After 18 days of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) raised the alarm that the protracted crisis had started hampering food supply. Similarly, LCCI noted that the Ukraine conflicts and Russian sanctions were already putting pressure on Nigeria’s wheat importation. Sadly, wheat importers under the umbrella of Flour Millers Association of Nigeria (FMAN), have spent N2.2 trillion on wheat importation into the country so far. The President of LCCI, Asiwaju (Dr) Michael Olawale-Cole, said that Nigeria’s food supply would surely come under some pressure as it imported four per cent of wheat from Ukraine and 27 per cent of wheat from Russia in 2021. With this position, the country’s food inflation will pose a major crisis to the availability of staple grain majorly imported from Russia and Ukraine to Nigeria, which can no longer be done amidst economic sanctions against Russia and Ukraine conflicts. According to him, Nigeria imported four main items from Russia, namely, durum wheat, herrings, blue whiting, and mackerel. Indeed, durum wheat is one of the most popular species of wheat and often used in foods like bread, pasta, noodles, couscous and baked goods. Also, durum wheat is a variety of spring wheat that’s typically ground into semolina and used to make bread and pizza dough.

Last line

For the period, agric stakeholders believe nothing meaningful happened in the sector, rather, the Russia-Ukraine war further worsened food crisis in the country.

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