Cucumber Farming

Cucumber farming is one venture that the profitability could actually surprise anyone who dares to go into it with the right knowledge and skills.

While thousands of young men and women are busy seeking for employment and white collar jobs those who have seen the income opportunity in cucumber farming are not concerned about any of that because their ventures are adequately taking good care of them financially.

Cucumber farming in Nigeria is one of those opportunities that are begging to be explored.

Cucumber is a vegetable that is widely consumed all over the world due to its health benefits which both the educated and non-educated individuals testify to.

Before you start cucumber farming in Nigeria, you need to gather all of the necessary information in order to setup your farm at the right location, right time and the right cost.

The right information should be obtained about the following areas to be farm cucumber profitably;

• Marketable variety / Specie

• Variety with better yield

• Site selection

• Soil testing

• Land preparation

• Inter row and intra row spacing

• Planting depth

• Pesticide and herbicide application

• Water and irrigation practice (You can do cucumber all year round in Greenhouse)

• Fertilizer application

• Staking

• Harvesting Practices

• Marketing (Strategic marketing guides)

Why Nigerian cocoa production is on steady decline

The president of the Federation of Agricultural Commodity Associations of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr. Victor Iyama, has attributed the continued decline in cocoa production in Nigeria to the long period it takes to mature as well as impatience among Nigerian youth, who are expected to embrace its production.

Iyama, who spoke in Abuja, yesterday, at the 2nd Daily Trust Agric Conference, said cocoa was a  good crop to invest in but required a lot of patience from youth willing to go into its production.

“It’s not four to six months, it is up to five years minimum but the beauty is that it can last for 70 years,” he said.

Dr. Victor also stated that production of cocoa beans from harvest up to the time when it is properly fermented took between 27 and 30 days depending on the weather.

He said chocolate was the easiest cocoa product to make and it generates large sums of money from the cocoa industry.

“Out of the 120 billion USD cocoa economy, less than 15 billion USD goes to cocoa beans, cocoa cake and cocoa butter while the rest goes to chocolate,” he said.

Dr. Victor noted that cocoa was the second largest foreign exchange earner, next only to oil, adding that 29 states in the country can produce cocoa.

“There’s cocoa in Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi and so many states have joined, it is no longer a southern affair but a national affair,” Dr. Victor said

FG’s budgetary allocation to agriculture unrealistic- Stakeholders

Key stakeholders at the ongoing 2nd Daily Trust Agriculture Conference and Expo are of the opinion that the present budgetary allocation to the agricultural sector by the federal government can not address the many challenges facing the sector.

Those who spoke at the confab’s interactive session particularly frowned at the 2017 budgetary allocation, which they said was still less than one percent of the total budget.

Leading the session, Mr. S.J. Samuel, Group Executive Chairman of VegeFresh Group, said the sector was facing lots of challenges including un-organised market structure, absence of good inputs and poor infrastructure among others which required huge budgetary allocation.

“There is disconnect in government policies towards agriculture, because they said agriculture is their slogan but allocated less than 1% in the  recently released budget to the sector. How will this address the numerous challenges facing the long neglected sector,”? he asked.

As part of solutions to the problem, Mr. Samuel advised that proper  coordination of the value chain should be carried out, adding that the  private sector could key in and contribute to the budgetary needs of  agriculture under certain agreement with the government.

“Currently, Nigeria imports food worth 23 billion USD (N1.5 trillion), contributing 3 billion USD to the country’s export earnings, unlike in the 70s when agriculture contributed up to 70% to the country’s export earnings,” he said.

Mr. Samuel recalled that about 15 tomato factories have since closed down operations in the country, his factory inclusive.

Narrating a personal experience, he also recalled how they tried to acquire a factory among the ailing factories but found it impossible, adding that their farms also had to close down because of security challenges in the North.

On infrastructure, he stated that previous policies were put in place to stimulate agriculture but the linkages were not well coordinated as such people that went into dector ran at a loss

Source: Daily Trust

Guinea Fowl Farming

Many poultry farmers in Nigeria don’t usually pay attention to guinea fowl farming but experts say farming the birds is quite easy and economical.

The Managing Director, Dan-Hassan Livestock and Poultry Services, Madugu House, Katsina, Malam Musa Rabo Dan-Hassan, said that one could start guinea fowl farming with one adult male and four females (guinea hens).

Musa said: “People tend to have preference for their meat and eggs. They also serve as security animals alerting on unusual things and persons in their environment.”

Dr Abubakar A. Adeiza, a poultry expert in the Department of Animal Science, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, said that guinea fowls are best kept under a semi-intensive system.

He said that the young hatchlings (keets) are best kept indoors and fed on poultry grower mash until they reach about 12 weeks and then subsequently released to an open area that has a shelter and a bit of trees.

Adeiza said that the birds can also be fed with maize, sorghum and other vegetables. He said guinea fowls generally have higher disease resistance than chickens.

The birds take about 20 weeks to mature and lay eggs only during the wet season.

However, Dan-Hassan said that hybrid guinea fowls can produce eggs throughout the year with good management and feeding, unlike local breeds that lay eggs only in the wet season.

“Females weigh about 3kg while males can weigh up to 4kg and could be imported from France.

“Hybrids are best kept under the intensive system or indoors and layer mash is given to the guinea hens during production season,” he said.

“One limiting factor is that when kept in, say point ‘A,’ they lay their eggs in point ‘E.”

A local guinea fowl farmer, Lawal Barau, said that he prefers using chicken hen for brooding because they make better mothers and take about 28 days to hatch.

The farmer added that it takes about 25 days for guinea hen to hatch.

An extension agent, Dahiru Abdullahi, said that at about two months, the birds begin ‘helmet’ development on their head and are given white millet (maiwa) to help them while it takes about eight months to reach full maturity when extensively reared

FG to reduce wheat import by 50%

The federal government will support potato farmers to achieve all year round production in order to reduce wheat flour importation in 2017, the minister of Science and Technology, Dr Ogbonnaya Onu, has said.

Dr Onu, who said this in Abuja when the executives of the Potato Farmers Association of Nigeria (POFAN) paid him a visit in his office, added the government’s interest in cutting down wheat import by 50% starting from 2017 was borne out of its efforts to conserve foreign exchange.

The minister said Nigeria was spending too much of its foreign exchange on commodities it could produce locally.

He said cassava and potatoes which Nigeria produces in large quantities were veritable alternatives to wheat flour.

He said the major challenge confronting the potato farmers was their inability to cultivate the crop all year round, but added that government would help them surmount it

Abdulsalami, Brass king, Attah, Stakeholders, list challenges to Agric devt

Former Head of State, retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar, the King of Brass in Rivers State, Chief Alfred Diete-Spiff and the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, have identified absence of infrastructural facilities, effective insurance packages, access to finance and absence of quality inputs and ready markets as some of the problems confronting agricultural development in the country.

They spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2nd Daily Trust Agric Confab that began yesterday in Abuja.

The former head of state, who narrated how he lost milk concentrate while transporting it from Kwara State, added that Maizube yoghurt produced by his farm, Maizube Farms Limited, in Minna, Niger State may not be available for the next couple of months because the input they used in making the yoghurt is not in the market.

“The vehicle was bringing about 5000 litres of milk from the farm, and it broke down because of the road and unfortunately the cooling system of the vehicle got bad and the milk got spoilt. We had to throw it away.”
He attributed the incident to bad infrastructure.

General Abdulsalami also noted that his farm had a very bad experience this year because of infestation by insects.

“We had to spray the farm two times and we discovered the insecticide and pesticide we were using was ‘jabu’ (fake); maybe it had expired or the mixture went wrong somewhere,” he said adding that farm inputs supplied in the country must be regulated.

On his part, the former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, who also spoke on how absence of infrastructural facilities like roads was affecting agricultural development, recalled how his pineapples worth millions of naira got rotten while on transit to a company in Ogun State.

Former  governor Attah said he was the largest producer and exporter of pineapple but when he could no longer supply the produce to foreign countries because of some reasons, a company in Ogun State requested him to be supplying them but that because of the bad road, the produce one day got rotten on the road.
Chief Alfred Diete-Spiff, the King of Brass in Rivers State also spoke on the importance of insurance for farmers, saying they are exposed to various risks.

He narrated how he was scared away from farming, explaining that his brother once planted yams in his farm but before he could harvest it, thieves invaded the farm and stole everything.

Chief Diete-Spiff said the incident scared him away from farming and called for reliable insurance packages for farmers.

Speaking earlier, Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh, said government has commenced implementation of the agricultural road map, which he said, included provision of inputs like improved seeds and fertilisers, among others to the farmers.

As part of the implementation process, the minister, who was represented by Alhaji Abdulazeez Misbau Olumuyiwa, said the Bank of Agriculture  is being recapitalised, saying the process will be completed before the end of the year to enable farmers have easy access to credit facility.

While commending Daily Trust for organising the event, he said the federal government made extensive use of inputs from the Daily Trust agric conference in preparing the road map tagged ‘The Green Alternative’.
Earlier, the Chief Executive Officer and Editor-in-Chief, Daily Trust newspapers, Malam Mannir Dan-Ali, said Daily Trust has been in forefront in the promotion of agriculture in Nigeria, noting with delight that the sector is now seen as agribusiness which can sustain itself, making it more attractive.

Investment Opportunities In Ginger

Ginger is well known in many human communities around the world. Nigeria is the fourth largest exporter of ginger in the world, with China being the second largest producer and India the largest producer and exporter to more than 50 countries and accounting for more than 70% of the world’s production.

In the Nigerian market, ginger is well known and on high demand even though it is quite expensive.


SOURCING

Kaduna State is the highest producer of ginger in Nigeria, while states like Gombe, Bauchi, Benue, Nassarawa among others are major producers of the crop.


NIGERIA’S PRODUCTION STATISTICS

Nigeria produces an average of 160,000 metric tonnes of fresh weight ginger per annum.


PLANTING SEASON

Planting is done at the start of the rainy season, usually April to May. In areas with abundant supply of water throughout the year, planting can be done anytime. Ginger is usually intercropped with perennial crops such as coconut and coffee.


USES

Ginger is highly medicinal as it aids in digestion and absorption of food and has antiseptic properties.
Ginger based products have wide range of applications in many industries like food processing, pharmaceutical, soft drinks, meat canning, confectionary, tobacco processing, soap making and so on.


PRICING

Between N200, 000 and N230, 000, an individual can procure one ton of powdered ginger for export, also between N160, 000 and N180, 000, one can also procure similar tonnage of dry ginger.


EXPORT MARKET

The export markets for the Nigerian ginger includes the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, France, United States of America, Russia, Saudi, Arabia among others


TRADING

On the average, ginger takes about nine months from the time of planting to mature. Harvesting of ginger starts from October and normally continues until April/May. This largely depends on the market situation as ginger can be left on the ground (not harvested) for two years.
 
Ginger is traded in three basic forms, which includes fresh, pickled or preserved and dried.


EXPORT SEASON

The export season of ginger begins from January to May and from October-November.


PROCESSING

Many products can be manufactured from ginger like dehydrated ginger, ginger candy, ginger powder, ginger oil and oleoresins.

The activities involved in processing ginger depends on the end product required. When the harvested rhizome is washed with boiling water and dried the product is called dried ginger and this can be grinded to produce powdered ginger or can be used as a full dried ginger rhizome. The rhizome can also be processed as fresh ginger or peeled.


STORAGE

Dried ginger when stored in woven plastic sacks in non-cemented dusty rooms can stay for up to 10 years depending on the kind of variety and market demand.


CHALLENGES IN PRODUCTION

Challenges facing ginger production in the country includes poor researches, lack of organic fertilizer, loan facilities, modern farming implements, direct link with international buyers and exploitation of farmers by middle-men, who are reaping big at the expense of the local farmers.


GINGER INVESTMENT SUMMARY

• Production
• Processing
• Export
• Storage

Cashew Cultivation

CASHEW VARIETIES
 
There are three main varieties which are Brazilian cashew, Chinese cashew and Indian cashew. Brazilian cashew is mostly grown in Nigeria.


LAND PREPARATION AND PLANTING
 
Selection of planting material is most important in cashew cultivation. Cashew is highly cross pollinated and vegetative propagation is mainly recommended on commercial scale to produce true to type planting materials.

The field should first be cleared off its vegetation, after which it should be ploughed and harrowed. The nuts can be sowed 3 – 4 per hole or raised in nursery and transplanted in the field. After the establishment, the plants are thinned to one healthy and vigorous plant per stand.

Cashew can be propagated by seedlings, air layers and softwood grafts. Field establishment of air layers has been found to be poor. Hence softwood grafts, which give a high rate of establishment and early flowering, are recommended for planting


I. PROPAGATION BY SEEDLINGS

Selection of mother trees
 
Selected mother trees should be of Good health, vigorous growth and intensive branching habit with panicles having high percentage of hermaphrodite flowers. The trees should bear nuts of medium size and weight (5-8 g/nut) with an average yield of 15 kg nuts per annum and 7-8 nuts per panicle.

Selection of nuts

Select mother trees in February and collect seed nuts in March-April. Select good, mature, medium sized nuts.

Raising seedlings
 
Raise seedlings in polythene bags during May. Soak seed nuts in water for 18 to 24 hours to hasten germination. Sow the pre-soaked seed nuts in polythene bags filled with garden soil at a depth of 2-3 cm with the stalk end up. Seeds germinate in seven to ten days.


II. PROPAGATION BY AIR LAYERING
 
Prepare air layers during February-March, so that they will be ready for planting in June-July. Select 9-12 months old pencil-thick terminal shoots. Remove carefully a strip or ring of bark, 0.6 to 1.2 cm thick by using a sharp knife without injuring the underlying wood.

Wind a string around the cut area and cover it with moist moss or wood shavings or sand and saw dust mixture or ordinary potting mixture and wrap round with 150-200 gauge polythene film of size 23 x 15 cm.
Secure loose ends of film with jute fibre.

When roots emerge from the ringed portion in 40-60 days, give a ‘V’ cut at lower end of treated shoot. After about 15 days, deepen the cut slightly. Cut and separate rooted shoot about 7 days later. Pot the layers immediately after separation from the tree into containers of size 15 x 15 cm made from coconut husk and keep them in shade. Avoid excessive watering.

Plant the layers along with the container in the prepared pits with the onset of southwest monsoon. Provide shade and mulch with dry leaves to reduce sun-scorch in tender plants. It is advisable to defoliate the layers two weeks before separation from the mother plant.


III. PROPAGATION BY GRAFTING / BUDDING
 
Different methods of grafting which includes; epicotyl grafting, softwood grafting, veneer grafting, side grafting, patch budding etc. have been tried in cashew with varying degrees of success. Among them, softwood grafting was found to be the best for commercial multiplication of cashew.


SOFTWOOD GRAFTING & NURSERY MANAGEMENT

Production of scion sticks
 
The scion bank should be established with the recommended varieties of the region. The plants should be planted in a closer spacing of 4 m x 4 m, in order to get continuous supply of scions and fertilized with recommended quantity of NPK during monsoon and tender shoots should be protected by timely sprays of insecticides.

The flower panicles should be cut off in order to get more number of scions. Pruning of trees may be carried out annually during September–October in the scion bank.
 
Selection of scion and precuring
 
Select non-flowered, 3-5 month old lateral shoots of current season’s growth. The selected scion sticks should be precured by clipping off leaf blades, leaving petiole.

The scion sticks can be detached from the mother tree after 8-10 days, before they sprout and utilized for grafting.
 
Collection of scion stick
 
Scion sticks should be dipped in water and placed in a polythene bag of 100 guage thickness and brought to the nursery shed for grafting. The scion sticks wrapped in sphagnum moss cloth and placed in a polythene bag of 100 guage can be kept for 3-4 days and used for grafting, if necessary.

Selection of seed nuts
 
Fresh seed nuts should be collected during the peak period of harvest in February-March and sun dried for 2-3 days. Medium sized nuts of 7-9 g should be selected in order to get uniform and vigorously growing seedlings required for soft wood grafting.

The sun dried, graded seeds should be treated with carbaryl (5g/Kg of seeds) before storing them in gunny bags or polythene bags.

Preparation of potting mixture
 
Prepare the potting mixture in the proportion of one part red soil, one part sand and one part compost in heavy rainfall areas and one part red soil, one part compost in low rainfall areas and mixed with little quantity of rock phosphate (10g/2Kg of potting mixture).

Sowing of seeds
 
The seednuts should be soaked in water for 12-24 hours before sowing in order to get good germination. At the time of sowing the soil should be moist and loosened in the polythene bag. Sow the seeds at a depth of not more than 2.5 cm and cover with little soil.

The seednuts usually germinate within 15-20 days after sowing. Seed bed may be mulched with paddy straw till germination takes place and partial shade may be provided during summer months. To control pests while seeds germinate, malathion 5% dust, or spraying of chloropyriphos (durmet 20 EC: 0.05%) should be applied.

Grafting
 
• The wedge of the scion is inserted into the cleft of the root stock to see that the cambial layers of both the root stock and the scion come in perfect contact with each other.

• The graft joint is secured firmly with 2.5 cm wide and 30 cm long polythene strip of 100 gauge thickness.

• A long and narrow HD polythene bag of 15 cm x 12.5 cm size and 100 gauge thickness is inserted on the grafted plant, tied at the bottom with a single knot in order to protect the scion stick from drying up.

• In places with high humidity the polythene cap need not be used.

• The freshly grafted plants are left in the nursery shed for about two weeks to encourage sprouting of the terminal buds.

• After two weeks the polythene caps are removed gently and the grafts are shifted to open condition in the nursery.

• Within 3-4 weeks, 70-80% of the grafts will sprout.

• Graft ready for planting within 5-6 months.

• The success in softwood grafting is more during the period from March to September under Kerala conditions.










 
MANAGEMENT OF CASHEW GRAFTS IN THE NURSERY
 
• Cashew grafts should be watered daily during dry periods.

• During rainy season, excess water should be removed.

• Plants in the nursery should be shifted at least once in a month to avoid penetration of roots in the ground.

• During summer months (January-May) grafted plants should be protected by providing partial shade by erecting pandal of dry coconut fronds or nylon nets.

• Bordeaux mixture spray (1%) may be given at 10 days interval during rainy season to control fungal infection of tender seedlings and grafted plants.

• Ekalux (1.5ml/litre of water) may be sprayed to control sucking insects and leaf eating caterpillars as and when the damage is seen.

• The flower panicles produced by the graft should be removed as and when observed in the nursery.

• The polythene strip should be removed from the graft joint after four months of grafting.

• The bottom leaves on the root stock should be removed after three months of grafting when scion leaves turn bronze colour to green.


MANURING
 
A fertilizer dose of 750 g N, 325 g P2O5 and 750 g K2O per plant is recommended for cashew. Apply 1/5th dose after the completion of first year, 2/5th dose during second year and thus reaching full dose from 5th year onwards.

Broadcast the fertilizer within an area of 0.5 to 3.0 m (15 cm deep) around the tree and incorporate by light raking.


INTERCROPPING
 
Pineapple is the most profitable inter-crop in cashew plantation in the early stages of growth. It can be planted between two rows of cashew in trenches opened across the slope.

Cashews can be inter cropped with arable crops such as soybean, cowpea, groundnut, melons and vegetables for some years.

It is not advisable to inter-crop cashew with corns because the crops can grow taller than the seedlings and cast shadows on them. The crops can also cause significant removal of soil nutrients.


PLANT SPACING
 
A spacing of 7.5 m x 7.5 m has been recommended for poor soils, and for rich, deep and coastal sandy soils a wider spacing of 10 m x 10 m is prescribed. In sloppy regions, the rows may be kept 10-15 m apart and the distance between trees within a row can be maintained between 6 and 8 m.


PEST AND DISEASE CONTROL
 
The young plants should be protected against tea mosquito bug and stem borer using eco-friendly strategies. The tea mosquito bug can be repelled by smoking the garden with organic residues during flushing, flowering and fruiting seasons, and by resorting to spraying with Pongamia oil (2 per cent) during the same phases of development.

The use of bio-control agents such as weaver ant may help in checking the tea mosquito bugs.


WEEDING
 
Manual and chemical weeding can be practiced. Manual weeding can be done at the seedling stage but after full establishment, herbicides can be used in the plantation. Contact herbicide is recommended, but the spray must not touch the leaves

Apply glyphosate 0.8 kg/ha, once in June-July. Depending upon the weed growth, weeding operation may be done during August-September.


HARVESTING

The fruits will be ready for harvest in about two months after fertilization of the flowers. The ripe fruits will drop off to the ground, which can be collected manually. The nuts can be separated from the apple, dried for two days and stored till they are dispatched to the markets.

The apple must be harvested and processed immediately because it is highly perishable and gets spoilt within few hours. It can be eaten fresh or processed into juice.

The nuts must be well dried in the sun before they are bagged and stored. Well dried nuts can be stored more than a year before they are shelled or sold.

Starting Up a Poultry Farm; Important Tips

Poultry farming has become one of the most important aspects of agriculture in Nigeria, because of its profitability.

With the recent global burst in population and a worldwide demand for food, people are now beginning to realize the potential of providing the most important basic need of man.

Poultry farming requires having the right knowledge to get the right result. It requires hard work and prompt attention to details.

In starting up a poultry farm the following are considered;

 

SELECTION OF BIRD AND AREA OF INTEREST

First is to decide on the area one would want to specialize on. There are basically three types of chickens. They are:

The pullets popularly known as Layers: Layers are reared for egg production and most lucrative but more stressing compare to the other once.

The Broiler Chicken: Broilers are reared for meat production; The Broilers grows very faster and are ready for sale at 12 weeks from hatch.

The third is the cockerel: This is also reared for meat production. . Cockerels grow slower and can take up to twenty four weeks before they are matured for marketing.

Cockerels are reliable in terms of survival and withstanding bad weathers. They are more resilient, and can absorb shocks far better than Layers and Broilers.

START UP CAPITAL INVESTMENT

Poultry farming is capital intensive; depending on the scale, location of farm and the type of management technology used. Like every other farming project, the bigger you plan to start the more investment required, scale is directly proportional to capital.

POULTRY LOCATION

A good location is vital to the success and profitability of a poultry farm. An ideal poultry farm should be sited where there’s a large availability of cheap land and at the same time, it should be close to areas with high population density.

A location in a very remote rural area will cost far less than that of an urban area.

It’s not advisable to site a poultry farm within a residential area because of the offensive odour it produces.

Poultry housing system determines up to 40% of the rate of success one would achieve in poultry farming. A good housing system is very important for a poultry farm.

 

The housing systems commonly used in poultry farming are-:

• Extensive system: Range and fold unit
• Semi Intensive system: Standard semi intensive unit and straw yard
• Intensive system: i. Deep litter, ii. Wire and slated floor, iii. Straw yard, iv. Battery cage

The following equipment’s are required for a poultry farm:

• Feeders
• Drinkers
• Perches
• Nests
• Crates
• Lighting system
• Waste disposal system
• Incubator
• Heaters or brooders
• Egg tray
• Cages and coops

FEEDING

Feeding is a major aspect of poultry farming. In fact, about 70% of expenses go to poultry feeding. There are two ways to go about feeding in poultry farming:

• Producing your feeds by yourself
• Buying already-made poultry feeds

For large commercial poultry farms producing feeds is advisable because it helps save a lot on feeding costs.

  

HEALTH

The birds need proper vaccines and medications to prevent diseases and promote growth.

MARKETING

Another factor to give consideration to is the marketing aspect of the poultry business.. Employing the right marketing techniques would help reach out costumers. Therefore, before starting a poultry business, marketing strategies which you would use to break into the market should be considered.

The target market for poultry are, restaurants, hotels, homes, bars, market, eateries etc.

NOTE: Most layers will start laying eggs the moment they are 18 weeks old but some wait till they are about 22 weeks old. Whichever way, Layer farming is considered the most lucrative of all poultry farming because two things are acquired from layers, they lay eggs which fetch good money in the market, and are equally sold for the meat.

A full crate of pullet eggs sells for about N600, while a crate of semi-pullet sells for N750 wholesale price. If your Layers are large enough to produce 10,000 crates of large eggs which sells for N750, you will be making at least N750 X 10,000 = N7, 500,000 From eggs alone!

The chickens is also another big gain! A fully grown chicken sells for between N1,500 and N2,500 (N1,500 to N2,000 at wholesale price) depending on the size and maturity level. Therefore, ten thousand chickens will give you N1, 500 x 10,000 = N15,000,000!

Opportunities Abound in Nigeria’s Rural Agriculture

Collins Apuoyo is the Team Leader for Propcom Mai-Karfi, a Department for International Development, UK (DFID) funded programme that works in Northern Nigeria. He was previously Market Group Director for Propcom and prior to that, had led three big programmes in other parts of Africa. In Zimbabwe, he led the Agricultural Revitalization Programme funded by DANIDA. He also worked in South Sudan to set up an agricultural development programme post-civil war in 2004. Before that, he was the Private Sector Development Advisor for DFID in Kenya. In this interview, he maintained that there are a lot of investment opportunities in Nigeria’s rural agriculture. Excerpts:

The underdevelopment of Nigeria’s agriculture does not negate the fact that opportunities lie therein. If you agree, what are the issues?

I’ll use three very specific examples that present opportunities for not only job creation, but for income earning as well. First, if you take for instance the shea crop, the bulk of Nigerian shea is picked in the wild and exported straight out of Nigeria into Ghana and other countries. 

The level of processing of shea is still minimal. Now if you could formalize the shea sector by creating opportunities for investors to invest in local processing of shea in this country, you could actually create quite a lot of value and opportunities and hence create jobs for people.

I still believe this is an area that could employ very many women if it could be formalised and not left to the whims of the brokers and exporters who exchange the shea with the farmer for almost nothing.

Secondly, let me focus on mechanisation. The reason why the bulk of the land in the North is not fully utilized is because there isn’t sufficient mechanisation. Land is large but people use traditional methods of land tillage and therefore, they can’t go far. 

Imagine if you could actually develop mechanisation services that employ the youth in the North to utilise the machines to till the land, one single tractor has the potential of employing three to four youths as operators in a season. Imagine those opportunities if you mechanise agriculture.

Also, consider the indirect employment that comes about because now you have opened more land, you need more hands to do the planting, weeding, harvesting and the knock on effects of that is massive. I think we haven’t exploited that sufficiently.

Nigeria has one of the best climates within the middle belt. I am told long ago, that Jos was a major producer of horticulture – vegetables and flowers – in this country. This is an opportunity just waiting to be revived. If you could create opportunities for horticulture, Nigeria could compete with East Africa on an equal footing.

So, to me, these are opportunities that could be exploited for job creation and incomes but the policies should be in place to incentivise genuine private sector to invest in these sectors and hence create employment opportunities.

Would you advice investment in agriculture in rural Nigeria because of the opportunities therein for both investors and the rural dwellers?

I think the type of investor that you would advise at the moment to invest in agriculture in Nigeria is one that is a big risk taker. I say this but I still believe that if there is any African country that is standing at the edge of the big breakthrough in agriculture, it is Nigeria. 

And for that matter, I would encourage any investor interested in investing in agriculture in Nigeria to step in. But be ready to deal with the policy inconsistencies, though there are opportunities in several areas; mechanisation, massive opportunity in agricultural inputs especially the seeds space, and fertilizer where Notore is already operating, there is big space.

What I see when I go into the supermarkets in Nigeria is that more than half of the fresh produce are imported. An investor in agriculture would just look at that and look at the population of the middle class in Nigeria and say ‘Bingo’! 

There is big opportunity here. So this needs to be backed by policy that enables people to invest in the long term; not short term quick wins, because when you have policies that encourage short term investment, then you encourage the wrong type of private sector involvement. You encourage those who are keen to come, rip off and move on.

When there is long term policy consistency, then you have those who invest in the long term who will build structures that then create what we call development.

So that there is not continual talk and no action, what is your message to the government?

I think the government has a great opportunity to actually relook at their Agriculture Transformation Agenda. We are at a time when the country is going through economic transition and I think that in any situation, that is the point at which the government needs to sit back and really look at some policies that can create quick wins for everyone and actually use the opportunity to cut back on some unnecessary investment that have not yielded much return and do not impact on the populace.

So, for me, this is a golden opportunity. It’s time to sit back and review past actions. For instance, the policy on fertilizer is a good policy but how it is implemented really matters. 

Can the government invest in a way that there is a clear exit plan? Can the government invest in a way that the incentive they put in place does not encourage the wrong investor but the right investor that has Nigeria’s future at heart? Can the policies be structured in a way that encourages local production rather than imports?

With the poor development in the rural areas, what opportunities can the dwellers there look out for?

There are always programmes being promoted in agriculturally productive areas. They must look out for these programmes, take advantage of them and learn a lot. Also, they must consider how they relate to the various cooperatives. 

While they must insist on how the cooperatives are run and how they are governed to avoid exploitation. Joining these cooperatives enhances their ability to bargain for inputs as well as sell their output, their farm produce.

Also very importantly, farmers should be in the forefront of blacklisting products, especially inputs – fertilizers and seeds – that do not work well for them. We must get rid of fake products from the market. It is the farmer who has the power to do that.

source: agronewsng