Agriculture is no doubt one major sector where the Federal Government has been attempting to concentrate on in the last few years as it strives to diversify the nation’s economy. In this report, MOHAMMED SHOSANYA, JUSTUS ADEJUMOH and ISAAC ASABOR, examine the reasons for the diversification as it is the only sector that is potent enough to substitute the oil sector by the Federal Government. Excerpts:
Stakeholders in the agribusiness sector have been have for the umpteenth time seeing positive outlook in the sector, and have at different forum unanimously agreed that it is the only viable way to survive the current environment of global economic uncertainty with the volatility of oil price.
It is crucial to note here that government does believe that oil alone provides an endless source of revenue. Before now, Nigerian economy was mono-economy that depended on oil.
While most experts that advocated for the diversification of the country’s economy were of the view that the agro sector will create more enduring employment opportunities than the oil sector, they were of the view that Nigerians live in abject poverty with unemployment remaining on the high side and productivity is at its lowest level.
Since the idea was conceived and being pursued, all hands have seemingly been on deck in the bid to seek possible ways of diversifying the productive base of the Nigerian economy.
Despite this development, the challenges in the sector are daunting and one of such is the inability of farmers to efficiently export some of their produce.
The inability of farmers to export their produce has been attributed to their failures to meet relevant international requirements on the health of plants that are meant for export; a development that is impeding foreign trade between Nigeria and other countries.
While the government has continuously been advocating diversification to boost the economy, investigation by DAILY INDEPENDENT, however shows that those involved in non-oil exports are not finding things easy as problems encountered by operators in the sector cut across inadequate and decaying infrastructures, financing constraints, inefficient implementation of export incentives and support programmes, over regulation of the non-oil export sector, underdeveloped regional and sub-regional markets, policy instability, capital flight marketing and pricing problems.
Without any iota of exaggeration, agricultural exports to developed country markets have emerged in recent years as a potentially major source of export growth for many countries.
Exploiting this potential, however, poses many challenges. The capacity of developing country exporters to enter these markets depends critically on their ability to meet stringent food safety standards imposed by developed countries.
Not only are these standards stringent, but they are increasingly demanding. They now go well beyond traditional quality standards, as suppliers must pay close attention to the responsible use of agrochemicals, energy, water and waste, as well as social and environmental impact. These standards are significantly higher than those prevailing in developing countries, they are subject to frequent changes and are, ultimately, often difficult and costly to meet.
It is anticipated that improving the ability of developing countries to meet food quality and safety standards for horticulture products will facilitate greater international market access, reduce the impact of price competition, stimulate investment and mitigate risk, leading to increased exports.
This increase in exports will stimulate commercial production and thus encourage employment creation and increased productivity, benefiting the poor through higher incomes and more jobs.
More so, experts were unanimous in their view that constraints to the marketing of Nigeria’s agricultural produce are closely related to the issue of poor infrastructure and inefficient marketing arrangement.
They argue that the small-scale farmer has poor market arrangement for his farm produce due to largely poor infrastructure, poor communication network and low access to logistic and inputs support.
Also the absence of rural feeder roads hinders produce evacuation from collection points and adds huge transportation costs.
“Lack of warehouse and other forms of storage facilities result in hung post-harvest losses which for the small scale farmers are conservatively estimated at between 20-40 per cent of total output for tree crops and as a high as 80 per cent for fruits and other perishables”, they said, arguing that these losses are among the highest in the world.
Worse still, stakeholders in the sector has consistently been lamenting that the persistent rejection of some of Nigeria’s exported food items by the EU is not only harmful to the agricultural sector, but also counterproductive to the economy.
According to them, plans to make the agricultural sector a major revenue earner for the country may suffer a setback if foreign countries continue to reject produce from the industry.
Particularly cited by stakeholders was EU’s rejection of 24 Nigeria exported products in 2016 Recall that the National Agency for Food And Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), had in 2016 made a startling disclosure that The European Union (EU) rejected 24 exported food products from Nigeria for failing to meet standards.
According to NAFDAC, five major products were groundnut, palm oil, sesame seed and beans that were illegally exported to the EU.
NAFDAC noted that groundnut was rejected because it contained aflatoxin, which made the quality substandard. It explained that “The exported palm oil did not scale through the EU’s test because it also contained a coloring agent that was carcinogenic.
As regard to Beans, it was banned as EU was not satisfied with Nigeria’s exported dry beans in terms of quality assurance.
As gathered, EU said the measures concerned only beans because they were frequently rejected for health reasons, mainly due to high level of pesticides at the EU border.
The ban, no doubt, ostensibly attracted sympathies from both local and international organisations such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) which embarked on a pilot project to enable the resumption of export of Nigerian dried beans to the European Union (EU).
Then, UNIDO assured that it will write to EU informing them of the improved quality of dried Nigerian beans and that it was safe for consumption.
As the efforts to sustain the moves persist, UNIDO reiterated the urgent need for the government to approve the awaiting Nigerian National Quality Policy (NNQP).
In a move to tackle the ban, The Federal Government inaugurated a 26-member Standing Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee to address the rejection of Nigeria’s dry beans by the European Union.
Though NAFDAC and other regulatory agencies of the government have since then been working round the clock to ensure that farmers begin to export more agricultural products to EU but there is a need for the farmers to be empowered in the context of harvesting and marketing quality products.
As repeatedly advocated by the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, local farmers and other stakeholders in the value chain must strive to meet the standards set by international agricultural bodies with respect to the export of commodities.
In one of its latest documents on some of the things which Nigerian farmers need to understand so as to be able to export their produce, the Director-General, NAQS, Vincent Isegbe, explained that the country’s foreign trade on agro products was impeded because many countries prohibit the import of contaminated agricultural commodities.
He warned that the development may lead to poor revenue generation and may reduce the sector’s contribution to the country’s Gross Domestic Product if not addressed quickly.
Mr. Kennedy Onyemakonor in his view said: “Market-oriented and successful food production of agro products in Nigeria must focus on the final consumer”.
He noted that the aim of agro food production is to deliver a safe and wholesome final product to the consumer.
He explained that in order to make Nigeria’s agro exports acceptable by importers, particularly in countries that are affiliated to EU that proper practices and methods of production, hazards and the risks that they may hinder their collective acceptability must be fully understood by farmers.
He said an understanding of the production, hazards and risks involved in quality agro exports would make it possible for agro products imported from Nigeria not to be rejected, and noted that the rejections do not augur well for the country’s image.
The question at this juncture is how can the government empower the farmers toward the production of quality agricultural products in the bid to mitigate the challenge of rejections by importers of Nigeria’s agro products?
As obtained by DAILY INDEPENDENT, a training manual for trainers produced by the United Nations titled Safety and Quality of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables comes handy in this context.
To the foregoing question, Mr. Olatubosun Olayiwola said: “The only solution is for the government is for the government to begin to look at the possibility of partnering with notable agricultural bodies such as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in the bid to equip local farmers with 21st Century agro skills and knowledge.”
Citing IITA, he said, is majorly concerned with training farmers on how to produce and keep crops healthy, and noted that the international organisation is highly specialized in plant production and health, and that they have remained its top priority.
He noted that partnering with organisations is indispensable as they are equipped to efficiently manage challenges that are related to pests, diseases, toxins and invasive flora, and noted that all take their toll on crop yields.
He said the toll unarguably leads to poor harvests, which impact on the value of any of the exported crops.
Mr. Amos Oke in his view said: “The government should endeavour to adopt measures that would readily equip farmers with access to the latest information on such threats, and then giving them economical, environmentally-sustainable mechanisms to deal with them before thinking of engaging in the business of exportation.”
Oke also suggested that there is an urgent need for the farmers to be equipped with knowledge and skills on how to effectively create and distribute higher quality seeds, which would no doubt help to negate the issue of rejection before they become a problem.
He concluded that the overall IITA’s focus is to ensure healthy crops, and that farmers are aware of any threats and act quickly and effectively to stop loss and keep their communities fed.
Simon Nmoye in his view, said there was need to strengthen the presence of the Nigerian Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) at strategic points of exits in the country. He added that the Service facilitates, inspects and certifies whatever agricultural produce prepared to leave the country in order to gain acceptance in the international market through the World Trade Organisation (WTO) protocols on sanitary and Phytosanitary measures that must be complied with.
According to Vincent Isiegbe, the agency’s Coordinating Director, “as a signatory to WTO and IPPC, NAQS is the National Planned Protection Organisation (NPPO) in Nigeria with the authority to speak on behalf of any plant products in trade initiation and certification. Therefore, commodities leaving the country must be signed and certified by the Service to get the Phytosanitary Certificate. As custodians of rules and regulations concerning plants and products, we have power to exercise our obligations towards all those international protocols.”
However, Nmoye’s view as to the strengthening of NAQS seems not to be feasible unless the Federal Government responds to the request made by Esiegbe some weeks back that the Service Agency need an annual investment of N50 billion over the next five years to scale up plant health infrastructure to meet the demand for food and export in the country.
Isiegbe had in the month of March, 2019, disclosed that the agency said there was an urgent need to begin to build a robust plant health system that can support the anticipated population increase.
The Director General, however, hinged his call on Nigeria’s population that is projected to reach 236 million people by 2030 and 410 million by 2050,
While Isiegbe, who made the disclosure at the formal launch of activities to herald the International Year Of Plant Health 2020, he therefore, called for investment in plant health in Nigeria to avoid invasion by pest and diseases.
He explained that plant infrastructure encompasses agricultural machinery needed on the field, diagnostic equipment in the labs, agro-chemical inputs needed to ensure plant health so as to avoid invasion by pest and diseases, improved seeds and fertiliser.
Speaking further, Isiegbe lamented that pests damage about 40 per cent of global food production and plant diseases destroy about 10 percent of world foods, saying the implication are the significant reduction in food production and failure to meet the dietary needs of the human population.
“I have to emphasise that this call for investment in plant health in Nigeria is not a plea that should be taken for tokenism, as tokenism will do little or nothing because plant health is capital intensive. We need more than the traditional miserly allocations to reposition our plant healthcare system,” he said.
Isiegbe noted that plant pests and diseases not only caused crop failure in extreme cases, but also food scarcity, sharp increase in food prices, instability in the food market and agro-allied industries, instigation poverty, hunger and malnutrition.
He stated that for the nation to improve its capabilities to feed itself, there was the need to speedily adopt a forward-looking plant health policy and massively invest in the upgrade and expansion of the plant health infrastructure, saying, “if we renege in doing this, the nation might be setting itself for potential food crisis.”
He also stated that “Our investment in plant health will be an investment in social security. It would enable us to combat hunger, malnutrition and poverty.
“With healthy plants, there will be food for all; everyone will be adequately nourished and there would be improved incomes for farmers. And this will create more employment opportunities.”
Another area being suggested to be addressed is that of speedy clearing of agricultural produce for export at the port.
This was also some weeks re-echoed by Audu Ogbeh, the former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, who appealed to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to ensure speedy evacuation and clearing of agricultural produce for export.
The former minister said the development negated the federal government’s desire to make the country an exporting nation.
“It has been brought to our notice that cashew nuts worth 300 million dollars destined for export to Vietnam have been stuck in Lagos.
“And as we know, they are usually locked in containers at high temperatures and if these cashew nuts remain there for too long, they get spoilt and that is extremely disturbing.
“It has happened before and this also compromises our desire to become an exporting nation so we are very concerned.
“We have spoken to the Ports Authority Managing Director and she told us that she will make every effort to do something about it.
“We are appealing to them, to see what they can do to speedily evacuate this product,’’ he said.
Mr. Ogbeh explained that the long term solution to delay in the export of cashew is to stop the exportation of raw nuts.
The post Improving Quality Of Nigeria’s Agro Products For International Market appeared first on Independent Newspapers Nigeria.
Source: Independent
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