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Tag: Agriculture

  • We will never make it in Nigeria until we take agriculture seriously – Obasanjo

    We will never make it in Nigeria until we take agriculture seriously – Obasanjo

    Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, has said Nigeria cannot make it until the nation takes agriculture and its value chains seriously.

    He said this on Thursday at the Youth Enterprises Summit organised by the Youth Development Centre, Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    The former President said agriculture had the capacity to develop entrepreneurs and create millions of employment for Nigerian youths.

    Obasanjo, who described agriculture as his second career, noted that not many countries in the world had been successful without agriculture.

    The former President recalled that his administration created an enabling environment which opened doors of opportunities and made some Nigerians billionaires.

    He said, “The truth is this, if we are going to have employment for millions of youths in this country, it will be mainly in agriculture business not in oil and energy. Oil and energy will give you money; will make a few billionaires and multi-billionaires.

    “I opened the doors of opportunity and they took advantage of it, and I thank them for taking advantage of it.

    “All the billionaires we have today, they came out as a result of them taking advantage of those opportunities. And I am grateful to them that the opportunities that my administration created, they grabbed it and utilised it.”

    He added, “One thing is to create opportunity, another thing is to find people who will seize the opportunity and make what they have to make out of it.

    “But let’s take agriculture, we will never make it in this country until we take agriculture seriously. There are not many countries that have made it without taking agriculture seriously.”

    Obasanjo, who described himself as a successful farmer, urged youths to embrace agriculture and entrepreneurship.

    He said, “If Obasanjo can do it, why can’t you do it. There is entrepreneurship in you and you must develop it. And we will make you develop it.”

    Mr. Ayodele Aderinwa, who chaired the occasion, noted that the future looked scary with fear of poverty in view of the growing population of youths.

    Quoting statistics, he said, African youths population would hit 850 million by 2050, arguing that “the wealth creation via entrepreneurship is the way out to combat poverty.”

    A keynote speaker, Tope Shonubi, who spoke on the topic, ‘Youth and Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Which way forward?’, submitted that Nigerian youths had entrepreneurship skills but lacked discipline.

    Shonubi urged the youths to be consistent, humble, confident and embrace entrepreneurship with a view to adding values to human lives.

    The event attracted youths from across the country.

  • Nigerian banks killing interest in Agriculture – Obasanjo

    Nigerian banks killing interest in Agriculture – Obasanjo

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday urged commercial banks to lower their interest rates to enable farmers access loans for improved agricultural production.

    Obasanjo made the call at the opening ceremony of the 2017 Niger State Investment Summit held at the Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre, Minna.

    According to him, doing agriculture and charging the rate of interest in double digit is to promote failure.

    “The interest rate of banks in Nigeria is one of the obstacles that are affecting our farmers.

    “They are not able to pay banks after taking loans and at the same time still able to run their agriculture business successfully,’’ he said.

    The summit’s theme “Advancing Agricultural Economy through Innovation and Truly Niger,’’ was organised to attract investors in various fields to boost the state economy.

    The summit attracted experts, industrialists, manufacturers as well as governors across the country.

    The former Nigeria leader described agriculture as ‘a renewable business’ that could create jobs and catapult the nation to economic prosperity.

    He said paucity of funds and high-interest rates were part of factors responsible for the underdevelopment of the nation’s agricultural sector.

    The former president, however, advised the Niger Government to take advantage of the arable land to attract investors to embark on commercial farming in the state.

    He urged the state government to create employment and market through agriculture because of its proximity to Abuja.

    “A state cannot develop in isolation, you have to work with other states and take advantage of economy of scale and identify areas that are profitable; then utilise them,’’ he added.

    He called on the Federal Government to develop infrastructures in the state to enable farmers to transport their farm produce to urban centres.

    Similarly, a former Head of State, Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami, expressed optimism that agriculture was taking a centre stage in the nation’s drive to diversify the economy.

    He urged commercial banks to lower their interest rates for farmers to obtain money for their agricultural activities.

    According to him, the interest rate in Nigeria is 18 to 25 per cent, while for farmers it is nine per cent and 2.5 per cent in some other countries.

    “If we want to make progress as a country, we need to look into our interest rate to make it easier for our farmers to access loans,’’ he said.

     

    NAN

  • India’s agriculture minister caught urinating in public

    Indian Agriculture Minister Radha Singh was on Thursday caught on camera urinating in public, prompting angry reactions from citizens on social media with some calling for his ouster.

    In the photo that has gone viral, Singh was seen peeing on a wall of a compound, while his security guards stood close-by.

    Several people took to the social media to criticise the minister’s action which is in sharp contrast to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Clean India campaign.

    Some have even asked Modi to sack the minister.

    “Show him the door” one Twitter user wrote to the prime minister’s official handle, tagging the official accounts of the minister and ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah.

    However, the erring minister has defended himself, claiming that he was forced to urinate in the open as there was no public toilet nearby on the National Highway 28, where the photo was taken.

    This is not the first time that a BJP leader has been caught littering or working against Prime Minister Modi’s flagship Clean India campaign.

    Earlier this month, the country’s green court, National Green Tribunal, was moved after a BJP lawmaker, Priyanka Rawat, threw a plastic bottle in the river Saryu, a tributary of the Ganga.

    The vlean Indian campaign (Swachh Bharat Mission) was officially launched on Oct. 2, 2014, aimed at universal sanitation and open defecation eradication by 2019.

     

     

     

    (Xinhua/NAN)

  • Invest in agriculture, not estates, Dogara urges entrepreneurs

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has urged entrepreneurs in Nigeria to invest resources in mechanised farming in Nigeria, saying that it is not in doubt that it will generate revenue for the country and bring the needed foreign exchange to move the economy forward.

    Speaking when he visited Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, Plateau State, Dogara said owners of land and capital should look beyond building of estates for rent and move into agriculture where they can provide employment while generating wealth.

    He said, “I want to call on other entrepreneurs in Nigeria, especially those who have capital in hand, to take to mechanised farming and for most of our businessmen who think that the only way you can make money is through rent seeking to now see this as an example where you can add value to peoples lives and our nation’s economy.

    “If you look at milk produced in Nigeria, if we continue to depend on imports, that will deplete our forex in the sense that we have to contend with a situation whereby we always apply for forex to be able to bring in these products,” he added.

    He also noted that agriculture can only contribute meaningfully to economic growth in Nigeria when it is mechanised, as “there is no way we can compete in the global space without mechanised farming.

    Earlier, Air Vice Marshall Ishaya Shekari (rtd), who runs the farm, which produces Farm Fresh Yoghurt, urged the government to provide land for farmers under ownership basis, saying it will make them feel more secure.

    Thanking the Speaker for his interest and support for agriculture, he said, “this is a direct invitation for others who are involved in agriculture to come and see the little that we are doing here so that perhaps they will appreciate it and give us the necessary support. The things we put in the ground here, we certainly don’t want to put them and just, one day, be asked to move out. So that is why we want more ownership.

    “We hope we will be given the opportunity to have more ownership of the land. We have written the minister of Agriculture in this regard.”

  • Invest more in agriculture, economist urges FG

    Dr Aminu Usman has advised the Federal Government to invest more in agriculture during the current rainy season and support farmers with inputs to boost food production.

    Usman, an economist at the Kaduna State University, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday in Abuja.

    He said that agriculture should be given priority because of its huge employment capacity and the onset of the rainy season.

    “The government should ensure adequate supply of fertilisers and other critical inputs to ensure massive food production.

    “This will eventually bring down the consumer prices of food commodities, which is the major source of inflation in the country,’’ he said.

    Besides, Usman said that increased investment in agriculture would boost Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and aid efforts to bring the country out of recession.

    The recent GDP released by the National Bureau of Statistics stated that the nation’s GDP contracted by -0.52 per cent (year-on-year) in real terms in the first quarter of 2017.

    The bureau stated that it represented the fifth consecutive quarter of contraction since first quarter of 2016.

    “Looking at the figures, one thing that comes to mind is that we are still in recession but there is likelihood that we will soon be out of it,’’ Usman said.

    The don, however, said that the modest progress recorded was in the relative stability in the crude oil price and suspension of the criminal disruption of the oil production in the Niger Delta area.

    Usman urged the Federal Government to continue to engage the Niger Delta militants in serious negotiations so as to sustain the peace in the area and boost the country’s economic growth.

    “The government should continue to engage the group to stop the destructive activities since the country has no influence on the international crude oil prices.

    “It then means that the focus should be on domestic economic policies that will ensure continuous growth in all the other sectors of the economy.

    “For instance, the GDP report shows that oil contributes only a paltry 8.90 per cent to the GDP, as against the non-oil sector’s contribution of 91.10 per cent,’’ he said.

    According to him, the GDP report is commendable and encouraging but a lot needs to be done to translate this improvement to improved living conditions of the citizens.

    Usman said that the actions and utterances of the people indicated that they were feeling the pains of the recession now more than ever.

    “This, in effect, means the modest growth recorded did not translate into an improvement of the living conditions of the people.

    “Statistics alone cannot change the quality of life but good and sustainable people-oriented policies will,’’ he added.

  • Recession: We can see the light at the end of the tunnel – Vice President Osinbajo

    Recession: We can see the light at the end of the tunnel – Vice President Osinbajo

    In the darkness occasioned by the prevailing economic crisis in the country, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said the government of the day is seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

    Vice President Osinbajo was speaking at The Platform May Day event when he made the comment, and said there is already the Strategic Implementation Plan in place to curtail the economic recession, which many economic analysts have said might rescind by the end of Q2.

    He said the economic recovery plan is heavily hinged on agriculture and entrepreneurship.

    Prof Osinbajo said with agriculture, the nation “do not have to depend on one source of revenue”.

    “Focusing on agriculture is key; as it creates the fastest way of creating employment,” Osinbajo said.

    Narrating key development in the agriculture sector, Osinbajo said “By the end of 2018, we should be self-sufficient as far as rice is concerned”.

    The Vice President said government is improving on farming practices, essentially to improve on wheat production. “We can hit our target for wheat production in 18 months,” he said.

    Speaking on the availability of fertilizers to boast agricultural output, Osinbajo said, “Before now we were importing most of our fertilisers but this year we decided to resolve the problem once and for all”.

    “We are now able to use our own blending plants to produce our fertilisers locally.

    “And there are jobs being created around this fertiliser industry.

    “All of these are great news in what we are seeing around agriculture,” he added.

  • Lake Rice: Lagos to produce 16 metric tonnes of rice per hour by December

    The Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Oluwatoyin Isiaka Suarau has reiterated the present administration’s commitment to scale up its food sufficiency from the present 12 to 25 percent within the next three years as part of efforts towards ensuring food security in the State.

    The Commissioner made this disclosure in Alausa while presenting achievements of the Ministry of Agriculture in the last one year, during the 2017 Annual Ministerial Press Briefing held at the Bagauda Press Centre, Alausa to commemorate the second year anniversary of the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

    He said that the State government is making additional arrangements for a rice milling plant that would produce 16 metric tonnes of rice per hour by December, adding that the State’s plan is to go beyond production of 10,000 metric tonnes of rice per annum.

    Commenting on the distribution of Lake Rice, Suarau assured Lagosians that the current distribution plan by the State government, through designated outlets, is a temporary measure to regulate distribution of the rice and prevent the process from being hijacked by unscrupulous elements who would resell at exorbitant prices.

    He further disclosed that meetings have been held with Distributors’ Associations who would eventually aid making the Lake Rice product easily accessible, stressing that the ultimate goal is to make the product available in the open market for Lagosians.

    The Commissioner said investment in rice production is not just an interventionist programme but a project that was planned to be continuous, permanent and sustainable especially with the planned 16 metric tonnes per hour rice mill.

    According to him, the government is equally encouraging private sector operators to invest in rice processing to boost production in the State.

    He also revealed that the present administration intends to give Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) to farmland owners in the State as part of plans to intensify food production, adding that farmers can also obtain business loans from the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

    Enumerating further on the State’s plan towards food security, he disclosed that the State has acquired hectares of land in other States for farming.

    In his words: “Lagos has acquired 500 hectares of land in Eggua, Yewa Local Government of Ogun State for rice production of which 125 hectares had been cultivated with the rest available for potential investors. 84.6 hectares of land has also been acquired in Okini, Oshogbo in Osun State for palmoil and cassava plantation, while processing mills for production at the place are already on ground. 50 hectares of land for cattle rearing and cattle fattening has also been acquired in Kuje, Abuja” he added.

    The Commissioner said economic and physical access to sufficient, safe, nutritious and wholesome meals is the goal of the government, adding that the Ministry has contributed massively to job creation via training and empowerment of youths, women and men, thereby reducing poverty in the State in the past two years.

  • AFDB approves $280m for Nigerian youths in agriculture

    The President of the African Development Bank (AFDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has said the AFDB is supporting Nigerian youths in the agro-business with the $280 million.

    Adesina, represented by Dr Chiji Ojukwu, a Director in AFDB, stated this on Tuesday in Ibadan at the African Youth Agripreneurs (AYA) Forum organised by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan.

    The forum was convened to attract youths across Africa into agribusiness as well as mentor them to invest in agriculture.

    Adesina said with IITA training initiative and the financial support from AFDB, more youths would be interested to go into agribusiness.

    He said that AFDB was working with 33 countries to give assistance to youths in agriculture.

    Adesina said Zambia, Sudan, GR Congo, Cameroon and Nigeria had already been given necessary assistance in 2016.

    He said that the bank was targeting 37,000 youths in Nigeria who would be given $50,000 each as support in agriculture business.

    “The $280m that we have approved for Nigeria cannot be enough; we need $1.8 billion to accommodate the 37,000 youths.

    “This is why we are giving 80 per cent of the money to commercial banks so that they can lend from their own balance sheet and we expect that every dollar we put in would generate five dollars,’’ he said.

    Adesina said the programme was for young graduates who could easily be trained on agriculture.

    He said that evidence had shown that youths could become the driving force of agricultural transformation in Nigeria if given access to the agribusiness enterprise.

    Mr Ken Lohento, the Programme Coordinator, Technical Centre for Agriculture (CTA), highlighted various job opportunities in ‘Agripreneur’ which may not involve working on the farms.

    Lonhento said that most youths were not aware of these opportunities, resulting in many of them shunning the agriculture sector. (NAN)

  • Forex: CBN releases additional $250m for agriculture, airlines, others

    Forex: CBN releases additional $250m for agriculture, airlines, others

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Wednesday released another 250 million dollars on 7 to 30 day forwards for agriculture, airline, petroleum products and raw materials.

    The acting Director, Corporate Communications, CBN, Mr Isaac Okorafor, said in a statement that the bank also called for bid for 100 million dollars wholesale spot for traveling allowances, medical and tuition fees.

    He said that the apex bank had also commenced heavy injections into the spot market in addition to the settlement of requests for wholesale spot bids for invisibles like school fees, medicals and personal travel allowance.

    It will be recalled that earlier this week, the apex Bank had disbursed 20,000 dollars each to the Bureau De Change (BDC) operators in two tranches of 10,000 dollars, to ensure liquidity in the foreign exchange market.

    On Monday, the bank auctioned 100 million dollars to be settled between one week and 30 days.

    It also auctioned 418 million dollars at N310 to a dollar to airlines, agricultural firms, petroleum and raw material importers in addition to the 350 million dollars it sold last week.

     

  • Forex: CBN boosts manufacturing, agriculture, others with $2.83bn

    Forex: CBN boosts manufacturing, agriculture, others with $2.83bn

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says it disbursed 2.83 billion dollars to critical sectors of the economy between December 2016 and January 2017.

    Mr Isaac Okorafor, the Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of CBN, made this known in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.

    He said that manufacturing, raw materials and agriculture topped the disbursements targeted at the employment and wealth generating sectors of the economy.

    He said that 609 million dollars and 228 million dollars were released for raw materials in December 2016 and January 2017, respectively.

    He said that manufacturing attracted 53 million dollars and 71 million dollars, respectively during the same period.

    Okorafor said that the foreign exchange utilization figure indicated that 1.8 billion dollars and 0.9 billion dollars, respectively were extended to critical sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, petroleum products and airlines, among others in December 2016 and January 2017.

    He reiterated the CBN’s determination to continually ease the foreign exchange pressure on critical sectors.

    “It will be recalled that the CBN, in the month of November 2016, supported critical sectors with 1.07 billion dollars equivalent of foreign exchange for agricultural machinery, industrial raw materials, education and personal travel allowances.

    “This was to source industrial raw materials and spare-parts through the interbank foreign market.’’

     

    NAN