NAFDAC confiscate Indian Garri, as stakeholders call for support of home-grown products

Following the disclosure of the Indian garri spotted in some Nigerian local stores, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has raided the supermarket in Ikoyi and has seized 26 packets of 500grams each of the product for analysis.

The product with no NAFDAC number is said to be from Ghana but packaged in the United Kingdom.  NAFDAC has also invited the Supermarket’s management for questioning.

However, sectoral players have condemned the unfavorable market conditions experienced by farmers and agropreneurs in the country, and have called for government intervention.

Founder of Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services, Angel Adelaja noted that the agricultural policies in the country are not favorable to local farmers. She explained that while other countries institute policies to favor their farmers, the case is however different in Nigeria

“The reason why you cannot export beef and dairy products to the Netherlands is because of the stark “Economics of Scale” which favors the local producer. Also, the regulatory structures in place regarding safety for their consumers will visit mayhem on you if flouted.  Here in Nigeria, I say the blame lies with people we have allowed to run things for us”.

She also stressed the need for Nigerians to stand against the unfavorable modalities in the agricultural sector.

Commenting on this, Femi Okedare opined that foreign investors are more respected and favored than the local producers.

According to him, “Nigeria has been sold to the Indians and Chinese (Asians) by our government and regulatory agencies. The government welcomes these nationalities with open arms and they get away with anything in this country. They are all in our markets and farm gates buying off our produce with grants and cheap money received from their countries. They have easy access to foreign exchange. They are favored by our officials. One of them is representing Nigeria in Dubai Gulf Exhibition next week, the only company to occupy Nigeria’s stand”.

Speaking further, he said “for how long are we going to stand and watch helplessly as this people benefit greatly from our economy? One day we will wake up to find an Indian become the minister of finance or the CBN governor if we do not stitch this in time”.

Another stakeholder, Rotimi Ipinmoroti stated that such import activities could impede agricultural development in the country. He noted that some of these products were not safe for consumption, yet they managed to penetrate our market.

“We are not encouraging our industry to grow at all. Umudike and IITA should have better technology. Majority of these products come with pounds of chemicals that are injurious to health”, he said.

Lending credence to this position, Natural Nutrients boss, Sola Adeniyi, stated that though the product was sold at N450 per 500gram without NAFDAC number, no one could determine the moisture contents or the microbiological results of the brand.

Adeniyi however blamed Nigerians for encouraging the sale and distribution of imported goods in the country.

“Why blame the dumpers! When majority of Nigerians don’t and will never appreciate what we have, produced and packaged here. What they are after is imported goods and whether it is good or not, they are less concerned as long as it is not made in Nigeria”, he said.

Stakeholders agreed that Nigerians need to learn how to love, trust and appreciate the land’s produce. They added that if this is done there would be no need to patronize imported products like Indian garri.

We may open grain reserves – FG

In a bid to address the rising costs of food prices in the country, the federal government is considering opening the nation’s grain reserves.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, disclosed this in an interactive seesion with journalists in Abuja. He expressed worry over the rise in food prices but was delighted over the drop in prices of some crops.

“Maize has dropped from N180,000 per ton to N140,000 and in Kaduna farmers are willing to sell at N135,000″, he said.

Ogbeh further noted that there are grain harvests ongoing in some parts of the country with stocks of previous harvest still in storage houses. He however reassured Nigerians that rumors about food shortage in the country was unfounded.

“Despite the quantities of food that West African countries have carried from Nigeria, there are still a lot in the store unfortunately the prices are still high,” he emphasized.

Africa needs to focus on adding value within Africa – AfDB President

The president of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has stressed the need for Africa to focus on adding value within the continent.

He said this while disclosing the bank’s investment plan of $24 billion over the next 10 years through its Feed Africa Strategy, to drive growth and transformation of the agricultural sector in Africa.

“The bank’s calculation is that transforming African agriculture will cost approximately $315 billion over 10 years, but will create new markets worth roughly $85 billion per year in incremental revenue by 2025”, he said.

Adesina further noted that Africa is losing lots of money from exportation of its raw materials which isn’t adding value to the continent.

He said, “There has to be a shift from the export of raw agricultural products to a more productive and wealth-enhancing strategy, namely the generation and consolidation of value along the agricultural production chains. “We can save billions of dollars every year this way (at least $35 billion and rising fast each year), instead of spending it on buying in food that we should be growing and processing ourselves. Agriculture is the original mainstay of African countries because it produces the majority of food consumed, giving employment to over 60 per cent of Africans and contributing 16.2 per cent of Africa’s overall GDP.”

He however called on governments in Africa to establish the relevant infrastructures that will drive growth in the continent.

VP holds back signature on Agric credit bill, 3 others

Nigeria’s Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has refused to sign into law the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund 2016 as well as three other bills passed by the National Assembly.

In the letter read by Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to the lawmakers during today’s plenary, the acting president said assent to some of the bills was withheld due to certain concerns regarding words and phrases, and the spirit behind the amendment”, “the existence of pending legal issue”.

Saraki, however informed that the chamber would seek legal interpretation and advice on the matter as soon as possible.

It will be recalled that Osinbajo last week signed into law to seven bills passed by the National Assembly.

Other bills returned to the legislature are: Dangerous Drugs Amendment Bill 2016, National Lottery Commission Bill 2016, and Currency Conversion Freezing Order Amendment Bill 2016.

Malawi: President fires Agric minister for corruption

Malawi’s President, Peter Mutharika has dismissed the country’s agriculture minister after an investigation into maize procurement, the southern African nation’s information minister said, on Wednesday.

The Minister of Information, Nicolaus Saudi informed Reuters that the President had appointed a Commission of Inquiry to investigate a $34.5 million government maize purchase from Zambia after allegations that the price had been inflated.

The commission faulted Chaponda and a local company Trans Globe Limited over their dealing with the procurement of maize from Zambia and recommended ACB to conduct more investigations.

According to Saudi, “The President has removed from Cabinet George Chaponda as agriculture minister with immediate effect after he was found with millions of money at his residence”.

Prior to the minister’s dismissal, the country’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) had seized $276,000 cash in both local and foreign currencies.