Kunle Ogunsakin The position of Adamu Bello, a former Agriculture Minister, that the incumbent minister, Dr. Adewumi Adesina, has not performed well fails to stand the test of logic. Apart from the fact that Bello, because of his past, does not occupy a high moral ground, progress in the sector is visible for all to see. Now here are the facts As Nigeria prepares for the 14 February, 2015 elections, political campaign from all sides of the divide is reaching a feverish point. Political gladiators are using everything they have to campaign. Nothing is too sacrosanct; no issue is too sacred, even if it bothers on national security and survival, to be used as a political tool. It was in this light that Nigerians woke up early December 2014 to the criticism by former Minister of Agriculture, Adamu Bello, of the incumbent occupier of the office, Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, debunking the claims of progress the agriculture sector has recorded in the last three years, and describing such claims as “uncharitable and misplaced”. He said claims by Adesina that the agriculture sector under his watch had experienced significant growth were unjustified and could not be verified from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The former minister said the performance of the sector in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth has instead been on a steady decline since former President Olusegun Obasanjo left office in 2007. Relying on data from the NBS, Bello said the last time a growth rate was recorded in the sector was in 2007 with a growth rate of 7.20 per cent. Between 2008 and 2011, the growth rate was 6.30 per cent, 5.90, 5.60 and 5.60. In 2012 and 2013, even though a target of 8 per cent was set, the growth rate was 3.97 and 4.50 per cent growth. [caption id="attachment_18663" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Dr. Adesina with women working on a rice field[/caption] Bello said further: “From the performance levels indicated, the growth rate of the agricultural sector has been on the decline since President Olusegun Obasanjo left office. I have, however, noticed that the achievements being mentioned at various fora, especially by the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, have no basis except that they were stated by the Minister in charge of Agriculture, Dr.Akinwumi Adesina. I have personally spoken with the SSA as to his source and he gentlemanly told me that he got all he said from the minister. I reminded him that there are independent government agencies, especially the National Bureau of Statistics, that he should check with, and he promised to take up the issue with the minister and revert back to me”. Bello also disputed claims by Adesina on fertiliser subsidy, saying statements credited to the minister that N870 billion had been spent on fertiliser subsidy was not true. “It is only God the Almighty that will judge the unfair way past administrations are being portrayed. To claim that there was subsidy of N870 billion spent on fertilisers since the use of fertilisers was initially encouraged by the government about 40 years ago is most unfair, as I doubt if the entire agricultural budgets for the whole period was up to that sum”, he said. Claiming that the amount was far lower than what Adesina claimed, the ex-minister, explained that the subsidy from 1999-2007 was under N25 billion. “For a fact, from 1999-2007, the total subsidy on fertilisers was under N25 billion. This can be verified from the Budget Office of the Federal Ministry of Finance. However, according to Dr. Adesina, the subsidy, which was abused and corruptly taken was claimed to be N26 billion annually over a period of 40 years”, he noted. Bello, a banker was appointed Minister of Agriculture in 2001 by the then President, Olusegun Obasanjo. He occupied the office from that moment till the end of Obasanjo’s second term, a period of seven years. He was seen as one of the “untouchable” ministers under the Obasanjo administration. He was one of the very few that was not changed during the former president’s eight-year tenure. Bello has always been a lucky child since his birth on 20 May 1951. He was born in Numan, Adamawa State, to Justice Mohammed Bello. He had a comfortable childhood. Bello holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1975). He also holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) Degree from University of Pittsburgh (1982) where he was invited to the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Fraternity. He also proceeded to the famous Harvard Business School to earn a Certificate in the Advanced Management Program (AMP) in 1990. He rose through the ranks in the banking sector to become the Chairman of Habib Nigeria Bank Ltd in 1999. It was from this position that he received his nomination as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in January 2001. The former Agriculture Minister, therefore can be considered as a round peg in a square hole as he had no proficiency whatsoever in agricultural matters. His appointment therefore can be seen as purely political. Bello’s Past Scandals Bello’s entire step while in office was dogged with various scandals, one of which was a N14 billion fertilizer scam that the then Editor, New Nigerian newspapers, Mr Mahmoud Jega, described as “smell of another national scandal”. Barely four months after his assumption of office he led Nigeria into deciding to import a few million tons of beans from Burkina Faso. This led to government facing scathing criticisms. Information Minister Jerry Gana had announced that President Olusegun Obasanjo had ordered a massive importation of beans from Burkina Faso to flood the local market and force down rising price. Gana, who spoke to journalists jointly with Agriculture Minister Adamu Bello, said the high cost of foodstuffs in the country dominated their Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja. But at a hearing by the Senate, Nigeria’s upper legislative Chamber which condemned the planned import, the Agriculture Minister backed Gana’s statement that the directive came directly from the President. Bello said, however, that the issue was never discussed at the Council of Ministers’ weekly meeting, presided over by Obasanjo, indicating that it was a unilateral decision by the President. Amid the claims and counter-claims, those opposed to the planned importation lampooned the government for ever contemplating such a move, at a time the country was struggling to revive its agricultural sector, the mainstay of the country’s economy before the discovery of oil. [caption id="attachment_18659" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Adamu Bello: Tried to paint Adesina black[/caption] Saying to buy beans from Burkina Faso meant giving money to that country’s farmers, former Lagos Governor Lateef Jakande asked: “Why can’t we buy from Nigeria and in the process empower our own farmers?” He charged that the Presidential directive was a clear manifestation of a government that lacked “clear-cut idea. Another politician, Lam Adesina, a former Oyo State governor, described the proposed importation as “an insult to Nigerians”. “Rather than embark on the importation of foodstuffs, Adesina asked the Federal Government to quickly come up with a policy that will help agriculture in the country. “This kind of policy should not be detrimental to the people at State and local government levels,” he said. Oyo State House of Assembly also denounced the planned importation. The incumbent Special Assistant (Media) to President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr Reuben Abati, then in his column in The Guardian added a comic angle to the debate. “The truth is that Nigeria has become a large dumping ground for all kinds of imports. We were having a group lunch the other day, the fruit juice before us was from Malaysia, the rice was imported from Thailand, we sat on imported furniture from Italy, in a building that looked like a piece of post-card architecture from Europe. Mark my words, by 2003, this government will import toothpick from Ghana, fish from Gabon, vegetable from Republic of Benin, and stockfish from Madagascar,” Abati satirised. Bello’s Fertilizer Scam In the N14 Billion fertilizer scandal, the then Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Senator Bode Olowoporoku, alleged that the minister connived with foreigners to dupe the country in a N3.4 Billion scandal over fertilizer imports. A bag of fertilizer was said to cost N1,500 in Ukraine, the main import country and was said to be sold by the ministry for N2,800 with a margin which disappears! Bello explained to the Federal Cabinet the reasons for the disparity to include transport and duties cost of the process of moving fertilizer from the Ukraine to Nigeria. Senator Olowoporoku still continued with his proceedings against the minister even walking out the Minister of State for Agriculture, Chief Bamidele Dada, from the Senate chambers when he came to explain. Mallam Bello opined that Olowoporoku must have a vendetta against him over not being awarded fertilizer contracts during the process that may have earned him N200 million. The senator denied this saying: “I have never requested contracts from the Ministry in my position as a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”. Evidence was presented of his two letter-headed requests with his signature. He dismissed the evidence as his attempt to help some associates of his. The Corporate Affairs Commission however disclosed that he registered both companies and his wife was listed as the CEO and Managing Director. This exposed the vendetta. The Senate relieved Chief Olowoporoku of his position as the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture. He was also excluded from membership in all committees. This was subsequent to his eventual dismissal from the ruling political party, the Peoples Democratic Party. (See TheNEWS publication on the subject, of the 13 September 2004 edition) When he was minister, Adamu Bello was not sincere about fertiliser sector reforms. In other words, despite the much talk about empowering the private sector to be involved in fertiliser production, and despite the hype about ending importation of fertilser, during Bello’s tenure as minister, none of these two happened. Fertiliser importation continued unabated, direct subsidy regime prevailed and the Nigerian companies (as shown in The Punch editorial of Friday 13 May 2005) which are capable of producing fertiliser did not get the federal government’s support, and so could not take off all through Bello’s time. As contained in the editorial: “For long, government’s involvement in fertiliser importation has become a veritable source of self-enrichment for public officials. This has led to the crippling of the Federal Superphosphate Fertiliser Company (FSFC) established in 1976, and the National Fertiliser Company of Nigeria (NAFCON), which started production in July 1988, both with installed capacities of 100,000 metric tons and 1 million tons respectively. The result is that over 20 bulk blending fertiliser plants located in different parts of the country, with a total combined capacity of about 1.5 million metric tons per annum, now lie fallow.” The development has a long ancestry. As contained in a report from proceedings of a National Workshop under the auspices of International Fertilizer Development Centre, held between 26 and 27 August 2003 in Abuja, the federal, state, and local governments have all been involved in fertilizer procurement and distribution and subsidy administration. Agriculture is, of course, on the concurrent list so it is the responsibility of the three tiers of government. The new agricultural policy has assigned each tier of government some common and some overlapping responsibilities. Fertilizer subsidy administration in Nigeria started in the early 1970s when government was promoting the use of chemical fertilizers to Nigerian farmers. In 1976 the Fertilizer Procurement and Distribution Division (FPDD) was created and the Single Superphosphate FertilizerCompany (FSFC) began operation in Kaduna. Also, the federal government assumed full and overall responsibility of procurement and distributionof fertilizers throughout the country that year. By 1992 the federal government was spending up to N30 billion (equal to US $222,929,367.70) annually in fertilizer subsidy. The years 2000 and 2001 were, according to the report, marked with the rapid increase in annual imports with 437,320tons and 615, 000 tons, respectively. The sudden surge in the annual imports within this period was due to an increase in the number of companies involved in the importation and distribution of fertilizers; this led to an increase in demand and consumption. [caption id="attachment_18664" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Jonathan: Commissioning Olam Rice Mill, Nasarawa[/caption] However, due to lack of quality control and monitoring mechanisms, the abolished 10 per cent duty was, as contained in the report was being abused. Other trade malpractices were perpetuated by some of the fertilizer companies. Imports declined to 340,746 tons in 2002, perhaps due to the identification and consequent penalty meted out to companies involved in malpractices. In addition, the government intervention policy, which came into effect in 1999, was, as the report put it, beginning to take a toll on the companies involved in importation and distribution of fertilizers. The policy, which allows for the simultaneous sale of subsidized fertilizers with unsubsidized ones, has affected sales of most fertilizer companies. According to the report: “In 2003 these effects continue to manifest and total fertilizer imported and distributed declined to 268,801 tons as of August 18, 2003. In addition, only seven fertilizer companies were involved in the importation and distribution of fertilizers. Worse still, there were late payments for fertilizer supplied to federal and state governments by the suppliers and there were discouraging price offers for fertilizer supplies.” In the same report, recommendations were given that the government should appreciate that agricultural production is a profit-making business and it could only survive if it, at least, “breaks even and all stakeholders derive some benefits from it” and that it “should therefore understand the implications and be honest about price subsidy on agricultural inputs.” Surely, subsidy is, as contained in the document, meant to ameliorate the poverty of the farmer or to improve national food security or both. “It is certainly not meant for public officials at various levels of government bureaucracy to illegally enrich themselves from public coffers. Thus, we must clearly identify the beneficiaries of government subsidies on agricultural inputs ranging from the poor to the poorest in the farming populace. Nigeria, according to the report must expand its network of agricultural input agencies (producers, importers, distributors) at all levels.” It was for this reason that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, under Dr. Adesina, changed the policy of feritiler distribution and today, farmers are smiling to the banks! Government No Longer Involved In Fertilizer Importation How does the GES work? Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Oluwakayode Oyeleye, explained the ministry has already registered 14.5 million farmers in its database. “GES implementation was built on the premise that, given some sort of incentives, farmers can produce more, earn more and grow”. The idea of creation of farmers’ database was to know the farmers to be reached and be able to measure impact. This is transparency in practice as it makes accountability not only possible but inventory-taking an easy task. The federal government, under ATA, set out in 2011 with a goal of registering 20 million farmers by 2015 on a 5 million year-by-year basis. As at 2014, no fewer than 14.5 million farmers have been registered on the database all across the country and the process continues. It is important to understand the logistic challenges of reaching the rural people, particularly the farming population. It is also important to understand the context of GES, which was not designed for rich farmers, but for the extremely poor farmers. The implementation of GES exposed the stark realities and depth of poverty of many of the farmers who mostly produce our national food output. The federal government came up with the idea of subsidy on major inputs, namely: fertiliser and seeds. He said further that under the subsidy arrangement, the federal government got states to take up 25 per cent subsidy while the federal government takes 25 per cent and the beneficiary farmers pay the remaining 50 per cent for commodities covered under the GES subsidy scheme. The farmers are entitled to two bags of fertiliser, but they are to pay the price of one, while the price of the other is picked up by both the government of the federal and participating states. Although the federal government subsidises, it is no longer involved in fertiliser purchase, warehousing or distribution. These are now the business of the private sector input suppliers. What the federal government does now is to help encourage and promote the use of fertiliser through the subsidy policy support. The database, managed by Cellulant, an ICT platform, is used for the purpose of input delivery and subsidy administration. The federal government, under the Agriculture Transformation Agenda, ATA, has disengaged from direct procurement of fertilisers. Instead, private companies involved in agro-input supplies have been allowed to register to participate in the input supply under ATA. Their identities and corporate details are registered with Cellulant and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for operational purposes. The backbone of any agricultural revolution is access of farmers to modern agricultural inputs, especially fertilisers and seeds. Under ATA, the ministry has replaced the four decades of government’s direct purchase and distribution of fertilisers, which was riddled with corruption and massive rent seeking. The middlemen and rent seekers have now been circumvented and farmers now receive their inputs directly through the use of Electronic Wallet (E-Wallet) scheme for farmers, operated through the use of mobile phones. Within two years, the e-wallet system reached over 8 million farmers, helped to improve the food security of 40 million persons in rural farm households, empowered them and raised their food production. Nigeria is the first country in Africa, and in the world, to develop this system. Funds from the federal government and participating states are warehoused by the CBN, which automatically credits the accounts of registered agro-dealers after every transaction with farmer beneficiary. This is done through SMS messages on farmers’ phones and agro-dealers’ phones. Through this, quantum of inputs has been delivered to millions of farmers across the country since 2012 when the programme came on stream. Despite its success, GES implementation drew harsh criticisms and condemnation from many analysts, politicians and even scholars who fail to recognise the centrality of food to livelihoods, family savings and social security. Keen followers of Arab Spring would agree that food matters can be quite volatile and inability of nations to meet their food needs can be quite upsetting. One of the reasons Nigeria has failed to overcome current challenges of food supplies was the failure to bridge the digital divide. Surprisingly, an effort that would have helped farmers overcome this very challenge is grossly misunderstood by many in the elite camp. The power of the cell phone to bridge this gap was harnessed under ATA in the implementation of GES. As a prelude to development interventions for the rural poor farmers in Nigeria, a national farmers’ database was created. No doubt, this programme experienced some hitches at the beginning, but had been greatly improved upon through regular weekly feedbacks. Those hitches should be expected as in the case of every new innovation. GES is about the most monitored programme under ATA presently as it is subjected to weekly review. To date, nearly 130 weekly meetings have been held since inception of GES. The GES and the accompanying database became handy tools in overcoming the anxiety and uncertainty occasioned by the 2012 flood disaster that swept many farms away and led to failed harvest in affected areas. After the flood, a flood recovery food production plan was drawn up to produce food during the following dry season. What was done on experimental basis in 2012 was such a resounding success that it laid the foundation for what is now being entrenched as an annual food production programme. The farmers registered on GES platform were given free seeds of rice and other crucial supports to produce an unprecedented volume of rice that dwarfed the losses incurred during the flooding. The food balance sheet of Nigeria remained in the positive instead of recording a deficit. No less than 264,000 metric tonnes of rice was produced during that dry season supported by the federal government. It began with ten states in the northern Nigeria in 2012, but -due to interest and farmers’ demands - has been expanded to cover over 20 states as at 2013/2014 dry season. Confirming the practicality of GES, Tureta chronicled how the increase in rice production came about and where rice, for instance, is produced, saying, “In terms of rice production in Sokoto state, I think we rank very high. We have local governments like Kebbe, Tambuwal, Wurno, Silame, Kware,Wamakko and Goronyo that produce rice in large quantity.” He expressed confidence that “the whole state can rely on these local governments for rice.” In Tureta’s observation, the rice farmers in Sokoto State are in for good times, saying, “our rice farmers are getting a lot of money. They are comfortable with the way and manner the Agricultural Transformation Agenda is to them. They are being assisted by the federal and state governments so that they produce more.” Expressing his confidence further, the commissioner said, “when you go round, you will see what I am saying.” He showered encomiums on his state government, the federal government and the minister of agriculture, saying “farmers in Sokoto State are really very happy with the minister for his initiatives in agriculture. They are also happy with the governor for giving them all necessary assistance in terms of soft loans. The (state) government is taking responsibility of interest on most of the loans given to them. Farmers are now happy with the present administration. I am happy with the minister and we give him 100 per cent support for what he is doing in agriculture.” On whether it makes sense to ban importation of rice and whether Nigeria is prepared to produce to meet the local consumption needs, Tureta has this to say, “I am 100 per cent in support of that. I believe our farmers are all ready for that. Give the farmers support and they will deliver. The target of 2015 is realisable in terms of the rice we produce all over the country. We have some states, not only Sokoto State, that are producing rice in large quantity but because they are not being taken care of and there is no coordination, the value is not seen. But when there is coordination all over the states, I believe we can feed our nation. “We can feed Nigeria, without necessarily bringing rice from outside,” Tureta enthused, “because our farmers are determined. They are ever ready.” In his state, in particular, and in some neighbouring states, he stated, “Look! In some areas here in Sokoto State – not only in Sokoto State, but in Kebbi and so on – we harvest almost three times in a year. When you go round, you will see it for yourself. You will hear from the farmers. When you go to the field, you will talk to them and they will tell you this. So, if they can be encouraged, I assure you the target of 2015 can be realised.” Tureta also dismissed political sentiment while assessing the reality of rice production in Sokoto, saying, “in terms of food security, there is no politicisation in the area of food production. When you go round, you will see that our people are doing very well,: he pointed out. “Do you have the yardstick? he asked. “You don’t have the yardstick to measure, but I have,” he responded, pressing home his point, adding that, “when it is time for going to Mecca, you see our farmers. They are the first people to pay for their seats for hajj. Go and see some of them using flashy cars. They don’t have any other business apart from farming. Their children are well fed, and they wear the best clothes and so on.” The improved welfare and increased purchasing power “will show you that our farmers are doing well,” Tureta volunteered, adding that, “definitely, the productivity is really increasing, not decreasing. So, forget about politics. The minister is doing very well. People are seeing a lot of changes in our way of life. We are happy with the way and manner we are being taken care of. The state government and federal government are doing very well in assisting the farmers. When this assistance continues to come, Nigeria will be self-sufficient in food production. That is our target. “The dry season farming introduced by the federal government and supported by the states,” he indicated, has set off a revolution, using high yielding varieties (FARO 44 and FARO 52) of rice which have helped to improve their productivity. In his observation, “Nigeria will surprise the world if the current agricultural policies are sustained.” Nasarawa is another proof of the synergy between the federal and state ministries of agriculture. According to Madaki Danladi Usha, a former legislator and current Commissioner for Agriculture and Water Resources in Nassarawa State, there is a collaboration with the federal government and encourage farmers to tap from such a collaboration. As he told ThisDay on 15 July 2014, “the GES is one example, which the state government is participating fully. In my state, we have very good relationship with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The director of the federal ministry of agriculture in the state has been making efforts on how the state government will collaborate (so) much (and) to see that we involve the federal government to match. We can only involve the federal government as much as the state is involved. If the state is not interested, at the end of the day, we will be running the government at a loss to the federal government.” Not only that, when he came, the commissioner discovered that people only did rainy season farming. I decided to encourage dry season farming.” He added: “The governor has agreed with me on that instead of involving ourselves, with money, constructing a new dam, we decided to mechanise farming practices around the dam we have in Doma so that farmers will go there and have their dry season farming, which is part of the federal government programme.” He felt that the government had taken measures towards that and farmers were made to enjoy the facility, with fertiliser made available to the farmers. “Not only that, we are one of the only two states with a pilot programme of processing rice plants in Nigeria, the other being Niger.” This is yielding results! Nassarawa State commissioned its own rice mill last year, in which the people were trained on how to process rice. So, at present the state has about two prominent farms , that is: Olam and that of Azara axis. The commissioner added: “In the last three months, farmers benefited from loans from Bank of Agriculture and soft loans were given to them. We are also considering some youths who are ready to go into such business, especially as it applies to dry season farming so that they could be given incentives to enable them invest and be on their own. We want people to be entrepreneurs, so that they could be on their own instead of overloading the government on office jobs.” He added: “When you go into the history of rice production as far back as when we were in Plateau State, you would know that even the production came from the present Nassarawa State. Nassarawa State is one of the states that boost the morale of the federal government in terms of rice production. The programme manager of NADP knows better. Now that this plant has been commissioned, they will further educate our farmers on how to process quality rice and packaging. And that one will discourage importation because most of our farmers in Nassarawa State are involved now in the local rice production.” Growth Enhancement Support One question stakeholders in the Agricultural sector have continued to ask is on the motive of Malam Bello in attempting to disparage the contributions of a competent professional, well recognized by international agencies, and whose work and impact is being felt even at the farmgate. Taiwo Akadiri, a young graduate from Ondo State who, rather than look for non-existent jobs, took to cocoa and cassava farming could not understand how anyone would deny “what eyes can see”. Akadiri is a beneficiary of the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) a programme designed under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA), to lift rural farmers out of poverty by giving them a new lease of life and creating incentives for them to begin to see agriculture as business rather than a traditional last resort venture. In what could be described as almost prophetic, the Sokoto State Commissioner for Agriculture, Muhammed Arzika Tureta, opined that if issues of food security are not politicized, Nigeria has the capacity not only to meet her food requirements, but also to export agricultural produce. Tureta said that Sokoto and neighbouring states have been experiencing a quantum leap in the production of rice in the past two years of collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. [caption id="attachment_18660" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Adesina: Making the agric sector vibrant again[/caption] On the population of farmers registered in Sokoto State for the government’s GES, the commissioner disclosed that, “recently we registered 330,523 farmers for this year,” an increase over previous years. He showed how Sokoto State has fared in the past three years, stating that there has been real increase in rice production and that the state government has been supportive of the federal government rice revolution. “Sokoto state is doing very well in agriculture. Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamako is giving us 100 per cent support. Whatever request is from the Ministry of Agriculture, he will honour it. That is why the ministry is moving. Sokoto state farmers are very grateful to the Minister of Agriculture and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. When you go out now to see for yourself, you will see our farmers and they are doing very well in terms of food security. Now they have a lot to do. They harvest whatever crop they have in Sokoto in large quantity and that is why they are very happy. We have very happy farmers all over the state,” Tutera said. NBS Position These testimonies do not appear to be uncharitable and misplaced as Malam Bello had stated, rather, they bear the reality of what is on the ground. In any case, the NBS that he relied on for his information has shed more light on how data is calculated. The Bureau warned against comparing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate prior to the rebasing exercise or after the rebasing exercise. NBS, in a statement issued recently in Abuja stated that one of the notable observations of the rebasing exercise is the fact that it has resulted in lower estimates of both sectoral and real GDP growth rates, when compared to previous estimates. It however noted that ‘comparability’ of the rebased (2010-2014) estimates of GDP growth rates with previous estimates, or even estimates of the preceding years must be done with caution, in view of the considerable methodological adjustments that have been undertaken. For example, NBS noted that as a result of the re-classification of economic activities, some firms involved in the processing of farm produce and identified as “agricultural” activities pre-rebasing, are now classified as “manufacturing” activities post-rebasing. This, the bureau said, meant that production output of such firms would no longer be attributed to agricultural output, which could possibly lead to lower growth rates in the sector. “As another example, the inclusion of the output of new economic activities (such as Information and Communications Services, Arts and Entertainment to name a few) as well as the expanded scope in the quantity and quality of data collection have resulted in a much larger base for the overall GDP, which implies that most activities would have a lower share (compared to previous estimates) of the whole”, the NBS further stated. Moreover, due to the fact that some sectors (for example, chemical products) have relatively smaller GDP values, it is quite reasonable to expect that annual changes (growth rates) would be large, compared to other sectors such as trade services, as it is easy for those “smaller” sectors to grow “faster” than “large” sectors (i.e base effect). Finally, the expansion of the business register, which provides the sampling frame used during surveys, is a current and more accurate depiction of the structure of the overall economy, compared to previous estimates, which relied on the old (1990) base year structure,” the NBS said. Cautioning against the use of old base year structure, the NBS said all the aforementioned methodological changes and general improvement in both data quality and quantity imply that comparing the rebased GDP growth rates with previous estimates, without regard to these important computational adjustments, is likely to be misleading. In view of the need for a complete understanding of the country’s economic history and structural transformation, especially over the last two decades, NBS said it is also undertaking a back-casting exercise to re-compute GDP estimates for years prior to the new base year (2010). This exercise, when completed, would facilitate not only a direct comparison by sector/economic activity, but will also enable policymakers and researchers understand more fully the effect of sectoral policy over the years. Devaluation and Agric: As a result of the massive transformation of the agricultural sector, food production and drastic reduction in food imports, despite the devaluation of Naira the prices of food have remained stable. Farm harvests across the country continue to do wonders, providing a major buffer against inflation. According to the CBN and NBS national headline, inflation has declined from 8.1 to 7.9 per cent due to continued decline in the price of food, due to increased national food production. ATA In Perspective Nigeria’s endowment of 263 billion cubic metres of water, a bulk of which comes from two of the largest rivers in Africa, represents a great agricultural benefit. Nigeria’s population is estimated at 167 million people, and the number keeps growing. This undoubtedly provides a huge challenge as well as opportunity when considered against the backdrop of feeding the teeming population. Growing our own food to feed ourselves is a task that requires urgency, and production for export is highly desirable. To do these, it is important to harness the enormous human and natural resources that abound all over the country. Of the 84 million hectares of arable land in Nigeria, only 40 per cent is presently cultivated. Nigeria’s immense agricultural potential is a great asset for the nation in particular and Africa in general, with promises for food security when fully harnessed. The market potential for our agricultural produce remains under-utilised. While there is a huge market opportunity on the international space, creating markets locally for our own farmers remains a task yet to be done. Nigeria’s large pool of cheap labour is available to support agricultural intensification while also offering a huge market for agricultural produce. But this must not be a market for others or a dumping ground for indiscriminate importers. To this end, the ministry under Dr Adesina is unlocking the potential of agriculture to once again drive the economy. As he once put it. “We are doing a rapid transformation of key agricultural value chains – from the farm to the table.” In 2011, President Jonathan launched the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, with the goal of adding an additional 20 million MT of food to the domestic food supply by 2015 and stimulating the creation of 3.5 million jobs along the agricultural value chains. To achieve these, the ministry is working to create ecosystems in which small, medium, and large-scale farming systems not only co-exist but also flourish. The Minister is focusing on creating value added products from staple crops - through an aggressive import substitution programme and other policy reforms to accelerate food production and agricultural resilience. Youth in Agriculture: Agriculture has become the new buzz in Nigeria, with vibrant, young graduates moving into the business of agriculture. President Jonathan, in 2013, unveiled the Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) to create a new generation of young commercial farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs (“Nagropreneurs”). This will develop a total of 760,000 ‘Nagropreneurs’ within five years. Today, young graduates and bankers are leaving the banks and heading for agriculture. The new millionaires of Nigeria will be in agriculture. It is a new dawn!! The programme was officially launched on Monday, 16 December, 2014, by President Goodluck Jonathan. Staple Crops Processing Zones (SCPZ): The SCPZs are new agricultural infrastructure-enabled zones that are being developed to attract agribusiness investors into rural areas. They are to address the infrastructure challenges and constraints of the agro-processing industry, drive social and economic impacts, offer a superior operating environment for downstream players as well as create a new platform for private sector investment in agriculture. Food manufacturing companies are being attracted to establish within these zones, bringing them closer to farmers and areas of high food production. Fourteen SCPZs are being developed across the country and master plans have already been completed for six of them. A leading international company is considering investment of over $100 million for the establishment of a 65,000 MT starch plant in one of these zones. Dangote group plans to invest $300 million in rice SCPZs to boost the nation’s rice production and processing capacity. The World Bank, African Development Bank and other development finance institutions plan to commit up to $ 1 billion towards the development of these zones. Financing: The Central Bank of Nigeria and Federal Ministry of Agriculture jointly established a risk-sharing facility, the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) - that reduces the risk on bank lending to agribusiness and farmers. Banks are lending to agriculture today in Nigeria than ever before. Agricultural lending as a share of total bank lending rose from 0.7 per cent to 5 per cent within two years. Bank lending to seed companies and small agricultural input retailers rose from zero in 2011, to $ 10 million in 2012 and $53 million in 2013. Bank lending to fertilizer companies rose from $ 100 million in 2012 to $ 500 million in 2013. It is remarkable that the default rate has been zero per cent over the past two years. The reforms are improving the prospects for Nigerian farmers. But they are also capturing the attention of external investors. Over the past 24 months, Nigeria has attracted $4 billion in executed private sector letters of commitment to invest in its agricultural sector. Nigeria has also received significant financial backing from the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the International Fund for Agriculture Development, the UK Department for International Development, United States Agency for International Development, United Nations Development Programme, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Ford Foundation. To drive and provide much needed equity financing for small and medium scale agribusinesses, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the Federal Ministry of Finance and the German Development Bank, KFW, have jointly established a $100 million equity and quasi-equity fund. Cassava: According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, “We are turning our comparative advantage as the world’s largest producer of cassava into absolute competitive advantage. Our goal is to soon become the largest processor of cassava in the world, with the use of cassava for flour to partially substitute for imported wheat flour in bread and confectioneries, starch, sweeteners, chips and ethanol.” To further expand the commercial production of cassava, 5,000 hectares of land has been cleared by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and are being planted mechanically with high yielding cassava varieties, across the country. A total of N8 billion is being disbursed through the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture to about 30,000 farmers, small and medium size high quality cassava production mills to upgrade their capacities, for master bakers to upgrade their equipment and build their capacities. Export Commodities: The ministry said: “We are revamping our export crops, where we used to have global dominance in agricultural commodity markets. In cocoa, our target is to double production by 2015. We are distributing 114 million seedlings of high-yielding cocoa hybrids to farmers – free of charge – and we are providing support for production inputs.” Nigeria’s cocoa production grew from 250,000 MT in 2011 to 370,000 MT by 2013, and cocoa exports earned over $900 million. The cocoa revolution in Nigeria is receiving global attention, as a global company has invested $20 million to procure cocoa from over 20,000 certified cocoa farmers. Nigeria is boosting our capacity to produce high quality cocoa through a $1.4 million support by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, to the World Cocoa Foundation, to train thousands of farmers in good production practices. Horticulture: Nigeria is the second largest producer of citrus in the world, the largest producer of pineapples, mangoes and tomatoes in Africa. A number of private investors now invest in horticulture.Teragro, a local private firm, has established a $ 6 million plant to process oranges into concentrate. Dansa Foods, another local private firm, is investing $35 million in the establishment of a tomato processing plant. The company is also investing $45 million to set up a 6,000 hectare pineapple plantation and processing plant. To develop the export market for fresh produce from Nigeria into Europe, a fresh produce value chain development programme has been launched in partnership with the Ministry of Aviation, entailing the building of cargo airports to enhance the coutry’s competitiveness in the export of fresh produce. Oil palm: The federal government is restoring Nigeria’s lost glory in palm oil production by recapitalising its plantations through the distribution of nine million high yielding improved seedlings of oil palm to smallholder farmers and plantation estates in the country – free of charge. Private sector investments are expanding with new palm oil processing plants. Today, Okomu and Presco palm oil processing companies are two of the best performing company stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Food reserve: To further build a resilient Nigerianfood system, the Ministry completed a total of 10 new silos for strategic food reserves within one year, expanding Nigeria’s silo capacity by 400 per cent. The country now has a total silos capacity of 1.3 million MT. These silos are now being provided under concessions to the private sector, for the establishment of world-class agricultural commodity exchanges. Restoring the groundnut pyramids: Groundnut pyramids have almost become mere legends to most Nigerians. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has forged a partnership arrangement with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) to develop high yielding new varieties and boost production of groundnuts. The groundnut value chain will produce an additional 120,000 metric tons of groundnut grains valued at N 24 billion (US$ 155 million) and supplied to small, medium and large scale processors. The project will be implemented directly in 15 States (Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina and Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Gombe, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Taraba Yobe and Zamfara) in the northwest, north east and north central geopolitical zones of the country. The goal is to reach 1.8 million farmers. Wheat Transformation: In 1987, the Government of Nigeria banned the importation of wheat and implemented an Accelerated Wheat ProductionProgramme aimed at stimulating local production of wheat in Nigeria. The production of wheat expanded from 50,000MT in 1987 to 600,000MT by 1990 and spiraled downwards to 70,000MT by 1991. Yet, never has local production matched required quantity for consumption. Today, Nigeria’s wheat import is about 4 million MT per annum and estimated to grow at an alarming rate of 5 per cent per annum. At this rate, the country will be importing 10 million MT of wheat/annum by 2030, spending US$15 billion annually on wheat imports alone. Nigerian farmers have proven that they can produce wheat, if well supported. The African Development Bank has funded the production of wheat across African countries. A key part of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda was the launch of the Wheat Transformation Agenda, with the target of increasing national production from 300,000 metric tons to about 1.5 million metric tons per annum by 2017. Two high yielding improved wheat varieties, Norman Borlaug and Reyna-28 produced by International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT) and International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), have been released in collaboration with Nigeria’s Lake Chad Research Institute (LCRI), Maiduguri. These varieties give average yield of 5 to 6 metric tons per hectare. In addition to high yields, these varieties have excellent milling and bread making quality. The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is collaborating with SG2000 on an aggressive Technology Transfer programme. It has begun massive distribution of these varieties to farmers through the Growth Enhancement Scheme and electronic wallet scheme. In the 2013/2014 wheat dry season, 9,143 farmers in eight Northern States (Kano, Jigawa, Kebbi, Zamfara, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, and Sokoto) each received improved seeds, at no cost, and two bags of fertilizer, at 50% subsidy, via their mobile phones. A total of 2,500 ha of wheat fields were cultivated in 2013. For the 2014/2015 wheat season, a total of 75,000 ha will be cultivated by 75,000 farmers. The area under wheat production is expected to increase to 150,000 ha by 2015/2016 dry season and to 300,000 ha by 2016/2017 dry season. At the average yield of 5MT/Ha, Nigeria will achieve its target of producing 1.5 million metric tons of wheat by 2017 and reduce wheat imports by 50 per cent. Extension Services Department: On Monday 17th February, 2014, at the Federal Ministry Of Agriculture And Rural Development Complex, Sheda, Gwagwalada-Kwali, FCT, 800 motorcycles were distributed to all the Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) in all states and Sasakawa Africa Association to support agricultural extension agents across the country. This was to kick-start the agricultural extension mobility service initiative of the federal government. These are to assist the extension agents’mobility of agricultural development programmes. The Federal Government has launched the Agricultural Extension Transformation Agenda. The goal is to bring to the service of our farmers the best of agricultural extension approaches, building on global best practices. Nigeria’s first Federal Department of Extension has now been established to provide the much needed impetus for leadership, coordination, monitoring and quality assurance to drive the transformation of extension delivery at the grassroots by the states, local governments and private agricultural advisory service providers. Mechanisation transformation: One of the major causes of low agricultural productivity is the low exposure of most farmers to modern tools and implements. The small-scale farmers that produce 80 per cent of our food have very little or no access to subsidised machinery. The low level of mechanisation limits ability of farmers to expand cultivated areas, reduces chances of performing timely farm operations, hinders opportunities to achieve economies of scale in raising food production and reduces the returns on agricultural investment. Under the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of President Goodluck Jonathan, the New Mechanisation Policy, a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) involving government, financial institutions, agro-machinery vendors and manufacturers’ representative and service provider operators (SPOs), is to make available a minimum of 6,000 units of tractors and power tillers and also about 13,000 units of various harvest and post-harvest equipment to set up a minimum of 1,200 Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise (AEHE) to render Mechanisation support services to our farmers. On August 25, there was a presidential launch of the initiative, with N50 billion support. October 28, the implementation took off with a launch at Zamfara State capital, Gusau, with the beneficiary farmers eligible to 100 per cent subsidy for the dry season of 2014/2015. An intervention scheme to serve as a pilot to kick-start the implementation, with N3.6 billion, has been approved and released by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural development towards financing the establishment of the Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprise (AEHE). The funds in the first phase will make available 400 units of tractors, 500 power tillers, and various harvest and post harvest equipment to set up 80 centers, while phase II will achieve similar results. Livestock sector transformation: According to the Ministry, “We are transforming our livestock sector. Our Halal-certified beef with cold chain logistic system is now poised to go international. We are also working to make Nigeria self-sufficient in fish production within four years, by encouraging aquaculture, inland fisheries and marine fisheries.” The government has recognised the enormous benefits accruable to Nigeria through the development of Halal-certified meat market. During the fourth D-8 Agricultural Ministerial Meeting, held in Abuja, December 6, 2013, Nigeria proposed the establishment of D-8 Halal-Meat Investment Commission, to drive the development of technical capacity, investments, certification, market and trade development. The Halal meat market accounts for 16 per cent of global trade in meats, but it is worth noting that none of the D-8 countries feature in the top 10 as exporters of Halal-beef even though they account for 60 per cent of the population of Muslims. The size of the Halal meat industry is growing at the rate of over 4 per cent annually, and is estimated to have grown from $625 billion in 2012 to $2 trillion by 2013. The emphasis is to take a major share of this rapidly growing industry. To further accelerate the development in the livestock industry, a new department to be in charge of animal production was created in the ministry, now headed by a director. Private sector investment accelerates: Private sector investments are expanding fast in the agriculture sector. In the past two years, over $4 billion in private sector investment commitments have come into the sector. Large corporate players such as Cargill, Syngenta, Unilever and others are establishing in Nigeria. Private sector seed and fertiliser companies are rapidly responding to the bold policy reforms. Within the past year, Nigerian private sector firms such as Dangote, Notore and Indorama committed $US 5 billion to buildfertiliser manufacturing plants to expand domestic fertiliserproduction. The number of private seed companies rose from 5 to 80 within two years. Global seed industry leaders such as Syngenta and DuPont-Pioneer have now set up operations in Nigeria. Nigeria will soon become the largest producer of fertiliser in Africa -( a positive development for Nigeria and other African countries. The development finance institutions, especially the World Bank, Africa Development Bank, IFAD, USAID, DFID and others are ramping up support. Over $3 billion have been leveraged from them in support of the agriculture sector. Rice transformation: “We are making remarkable progress towards achieving our target of self-sufficiency in rice production. What started as a determined effort in 2012, is now yielding remarkable impacts on farmers field. Our first task was to ensure that we raise the yields on farmers’s field and replace low yielding traditional varieties with high yielding improved varieties,” said the Ministry. The Federal Government began a massive programme to subsidise the cost of the new rice varieties for farmers, providing them free of charge. Today, almost all rice farmers cultivate the new varieties, Faro 44 and Faro 52, which meet the quality requirements of rice millers. Average yields on farmers’ rice fields increased from 1.5 metric tons per hectare to 4 to 5 metric tons (MT) per hectare. Paddy rice production is rising higher than at any time in Nigeria’s history. In 2012, total wet season rice production yielded 339,078 MT of rice or 220,400 MT of milled rice. In 2013 wet season, a total of 1,739,322 MT paddy was produced, which translated to 1,130,559 MT of milled rice. In 2012 alone, the dry season rice farming introduced by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development added 1,070,364 MT of paddy, enough to generate 695,737 MT of milled rice, which brought a total production to 1,409,442 MT of paddy rice and 916,137 MT of milled rice. Moreover, paddy production has risen by an all-time record of 7 million MT, as 6 million rice farmers were reached with improved seeds and fertilizers within three years. These increased significantly in 2013, as the dry season rice farming intervention produced additional 1,220,634 MT of paddy, which translates into 793,412 MT of milled rice. The total rice production in 2013 rose to 2,959,956 MT of paddy, which translates into 1,923,971 MT of milled rice, which is enough to mill close to the 2.1 million MT of milled rice Nigeria annually imports. The milling capacity for rice is expanding rapidly. Within two years, the number of integrated rice mills expanded by 300 per cent, with 15 new integrated rice mills established, with total capacity of 520,000 MT per year. But more impressive has been the rapid rise in the number of small scale rice mills, that are processing a bulk of the rice paddy in the country, stimulating jobs all across rural areas. The number of small scale rice mills is estimated to be rising by 29 to 40 per cent annually. Several now have de-stoning machines and compete fiercely for paddy with the large integrated rice mills. High-quality Nigerian rice is now in the market, including Umza rice, Ebonyi super rice, Eko rice, Mikap rice and several others. In Enugu State, young graduates have produced “coal city rice”. [caption id="attachment_18661" align="aligncenter" width="300"] •Alhaji Muhammed Azika Tureta, Sokoto State Agric commissioner: Praises Adesina[/caption] On July 14, 2014, President Jonathan commissioned Olam rice mill. Olam, a global conglomerate, is investing over $70 million in a 6,000 ha fully mechanised rice farm in Nasarawa State and has completed a 210,000 MT integrated rice mill that will process Nigerian paddy rice into finished milled rice. The mill, rated as the largest rice mill in Africa, looks set to be overtaken by another major investor when fully operational. On August 1, 2014, President Jonathan, presided over the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Dangote Industries Ltd for a $1 Billion(N165 million) investment by Dangote for the establishment of fully integrated rice production and processing operations in Edo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, and Niger states on farmland totalling150,000 hectares across Nigeria. Dangote will establish two state-of-the-art large-scale rice mills each with a capacity to mill 120,000 metric tons of rice paddy, with plans to double capacity within two years. To further boost its rice production, Nigeria is working closely with state governments. The number of states that participated in the rice transformation agenda increased from 10 to 22 between 2012 and 2013. Nigeria is partnering with China to introduce hybrid rice varieties, which have yield potential of up to 12 tons per hectare. The decision by President Jonathan. to launch the dry season farming in 2014 – a first in the history of the country - has dramatically turned around farm production, as farmers can now grow food crops in both wet and dry seasons. Over 360,000 jobs have been created through the rice transformation agenda. Food Import Bill Declines: Within two years, national food production increased by 15 million MT, well ahead of the four year target of 20 million MT by 2015. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food imports declined from N 2.9 trillion ($19.02 billion) in 2011 to N 684 billion ($4.35 billion) in 2013. Agricultural exports expanded by N720 billion between 2011 and 2012. Agriculture has revived the economy. In 2013, inflation came to its lowest since 2008 due to accelerating food production. According to the reputable independent economic research house, Financial Derivatives Company (FDC), headline inflation continued to decline in 2013 to 7.79 per cent in Q3 2013 due to, in their own words, “ farm harvest doing the wonders” in driving inflation down. Also, between 2011-2014, national food production had expanded by an additional 21 million MT surpassing the 20 million MT target set for 2015. Clearly, 65 per cent of all the remaining arable land in the world is in Africa. With Nigeria having the largest share of this, there is no doubt that the future growth frontier for feeding the world will be Nigeria. With the gains Nigeria has made and with the remarkable results coming from its rapid transition to agriculture as a business, Nigeria will soon become the breadbasket for the world. Also, between 2011-2014, national food production had expanded by an additional 21 million MT surpassing the 20 million MT target set for 2015.