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Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

World Food Day: USAID, FMARD, others collaborate to ensure food security in Nigeria

by Folarin Kehinde October 22, 2022

written by Folarin Kehinde

The United States Agency for International Development, USAID in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FMARD including other development partners have joined forces together toward boosting nutritious food and ensure food security in a view to reducing malnutrition in Nigeria.

USAID Technical Advisor, Advancing Nutrition Project, Mr. Michael Daniel Evashoyan, made this assertion on Thursday in Abuja at a training workshop organised by the FMARD, USAID and other donors to mark the 2022 World Food Day.

Daniel, who said the door is widely opened for other donors to support the advancement of food system for the purpose of enhancing food security and nutritious food in Nigeria, revealed that USAID Advancing Project has trained over 10,000 farmers in Bauchi, Kebbi and Sokoto states.

He also stated that they are currently generating data to support programming and intervention, adding that effort by some federal ministries, USAID Advancing Nutrition project and others are on the high gear to ensure that there is food security and nutrition foods for average Nigerians.

“USAID Advancing Nutrition project, is currently working in Kebbi, Sokoto and Bauchi states, we are trying to incorporate the Federal Capital Territory, FCT as well as Ebonyi state. The choice of these states is the function of nutrition data that is publicly being published by NDHS.

In his remark at the event, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, FMARD, Dr. Ernest Umakhihi, thanked the donor partners, especially USAID Advancing Nutrition, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, Harvest Fields, HarvestPlus and Eat Safe Project of USAID, for their relentless efforts and support to Nigeria with a view to making sure that Nigerians consume wholesome and nutritious meals for healthy living and increase productivity.

He said that the health and economic crises imposed by Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the tendencies for the vulnerable household to consume less nutritious foods leading to increased health burden of millions of vulnerable households during and after the pandemic.

The Permanent Secretary stated that in response to the United Nations Assembly calls on ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all, the FMARD in collaboration with other key partners in the food system will continue to promote nutrition sensitive agriculture in order to address malnutrition in all ramifications.

He said, “To this effect, we are committed to taking necessary steps and actions to ensuring access to safe and nutricious food, boost nature-positive production and building resilience to vulnerabilities.”

Umakhihi asserted that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rurul Development is also giving support to the vulnerable households to produce nutricious food at the household level.

He said this arrangment is aligns closely with the “Operation Feed Yourself Summit” adopted in the last UN Food System as a veritable tool and food safety tool, ensuring unfettered access to nutritious and safe food at both household and community levels.

“The World Food Day celebration provides another opportunity for participants to brainstorm and share their experiences on how best farmers can improve on their livelihoods and nutritional status as they produce and consume safe and nutritious meals.” he said.

October 22, 2022 0 comments

Headlines

‘I will Retire to my Farm’, Sacked Agric Minister says after handing over

by Folarin Kehinde September 10, 2021

written by Folarin Kehinde

The Former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, has said that he would retire to his farm and become a client of the ministry.

He said this in Abuja on Thursday, during the handover ceremony to the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Mahmoud Abubakar.

Recall, that President Muhammadu Buhari had sacked Nanono after two years of service as the minister of Agriculture.

Nanono described the agric ministry as an institution with huge responsibility.

According to him, the major areas that need to be tackled are issues with fertilisers, fulani/herder clash, job creation among others.

“It is when this ministry succeed that we will have food security, stability in this country.

“So when we focus on this priority areas we will be helping our country to achieve stability as well as secure our country food security wise.

“We can do it, we stopped importation of rice, I hope we will do that for wheat, I hope we will do that for fish, maize and other crop because these are the mandates of the ministry.

“I have already retired to my farm, I will become a client of this ministry,” he said.

The new minister said that the ministry, under his leadership, will focus on livestock transformation as a tool to curb insecurity in the country.

According to him, his administration will prioritize creation of policy direction necessary to position the agriculture sector as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy.

“The priority of this ministry under my leadership will be to ensure that we provide the necessary policy direction and drive that will truly position agriculture as the mainstay of our economy as captured in the Medium-Term National Development Plan, and the President’s vision of lifting 100 million people out of poverty in 10 years.

“In this regard, a livestock transformation plan will be a priority, due to its implication. Not just on food security but also on the impact in tackling security in the country,” he said.

Speaking further, Abubakar urged Nigerians to patronize made in Nigeria produce, especially local agriculture produce.

This, according to him, would boost the National local production capacity and aid food exports.

“We should buy agriculture product, that is the only way we can support our farmers, during the border closure we eat local rice.

“There is no reason why we cannot do this. We have the talent, and all that is needed to make Nigeria the number one producer and exporter of food in Africa.

“The job of keeping our environment safe is the responsibility of everybody, so is same with agriculture. I hope to do more than the previous minister have done,” he said.

September 10, 2021 0 comments

Headlines

Agric Minister Chasing Shadows Instead Of Tackling Food Shortages- Farmers Association

by Leading Reporters May 29, 2021

written by Leading Reporters

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria has accused the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of chasing shadows instead of focusing on achieving the President Buhari’s food security mandate.

This was contained in statement signed by the Assistant National Publicity Secretary of AFAN, Salisu Mukhtar, on Thursday.

The Association, according to the statement, alleged that the Ministry, under the current leadership of Sabo Nanono, is working at cross purposes with its core mandate of making the agriculture space purposeful for agricultural production that will lead to food sufficiency and the restoration of the dignity of agriculture as the mainstay of the economy.

It noted that the Ministry has been in one crisis or the other since the assumption of duty of the Nanono.

It stated, “From 2019 to date there have been issues around the renewal of the Agricultural Policy, the convening of Council on Agriculture, interference with activities of NGOs such as AFAN, protests by contractors for non payment, misinformation regarding allocation of funds for important activities like pest control.

“Others include, false information to the public on Mechanization, the arrant contravention of the seed Act 2019 which guides the Seed System, uncoordinated distribution of inputs, general mismanagement of the Ministry by alienating some key staff as well as high handedness, doing projects not related to the core mandate of Rural Development.”

The Association said that the Central Bank of Nigeria’s intervention in agriculture has contributed more optimally to the search for food security than the ministry.

“The general impression that the mandate of the FMARD is being taken over by so many institutions is the direct result of the ineffectiveness of the Minister who is always absent from Thursday to Tuesday every week taking trips paid by tax payers.

“The President is very passionate about agriculture as everyone knows but it is very clear that the continued stay in office of the current Minister is detrimental to all the gains made so far.

“In order to incentivize the farmers to continue the hard work of providing food at an affordable price to the nearly 200,000,000 Nigerians we appeal to the President to look into the activities of the Minister now,” the statement added.

May 29, 2021 0 comments

Headlines

Do you know Government Interventions In Agriculture May Not Yield Any Positive Result?

by Leading Reporters May 22, 2021

written by Leading Reporters

That scares right? Nigeria Governments at Federal and State levels are desirous of feeding its exploding population and earn from export.

But all that may still equal zero despite hundreds of Billions of Naira Government has plunged into agriculture through NIRSAL/CBN.

Have you wondered why despite all the intervention policies, prices of food are skyrocketing and shortage of food still persist? The answer is simple. Government is facing only a side of what needs to be done. We’re just scratching around the solutions. We’ve not fully delved into the solutions proper.

Perennially, our interventions have been that of brigade-approach without proper and result-oriented planning. We are trying to grow AGRIC sector without efforts at growing the technology that drives the desired growth.

I’m awed at how much India is leveraging technology to solve most of its problems. We just tidied up a two-week training on Disruptive Agri-Tech Initiatives, sponsored by African Asian Rural Development Organization New Delhi and National Institute for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises NiMSME Hyderabad.

It was 8 days of interactive session with presentation from some of the best tech-companies in India. Today, you can have a clue of what the next farming season looks like vis-a-vis the soil texture, weather condition, your farm vulnerability in terms of pest and bacterial attack and what the yield will look like even before you till the ground.

There are other simple technology in form of Apps that can increase growth by over 40%. Indian rural farmers are becoming players in the international market and export. All thanks to disruptive Agri-Tech and many interventions by the Indian Government. Agric sector contributes over 21% of Indian export of these AGRIC produce are coming from rural farmers in India.

In Nigeria, the Government is doing great in supporting farmers with low interest loans ans other forms of intervention policies. But Government intervention in Agri-Tech is almost zero. Most of the start-ups in Agri-Tech are private sector driven and they’re walking okay silken soft thread, all by themselves.

21st century is a technology-driven century. Billions of Dollars intervention in agric will equate nothing if there’s no technology driving growth in AGRIC sector.

May 22, 2021 0 comments

Business

OCP Africa, NISS move to solving 75% of Acidic Soils in Nigeria

by Leading Reporters March 25, 2021

written by Leading Reporters

OCP Africa and the Nigeria Institute of Soil Science (NISS) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to solve issues of 75% acidic soils which are problematic to agriculture produce in Nigeria.

The Registrar/CEO, Nigeria Institute of Soil Science, Prof. Victor Chude while speaking in Abuja at the Inception Workshop on Management of Problematic Soils in Nigeria stated that the workshop is kick starting a project aimed at addressing issues of problematic soils, improve soil quality and increase agricultural productivity through effective sustainable management of problematic soil.

According to Chude, 75% of Nigeria soils which are acidic are problematic and as such, new innovations and technologies that are ecosystem friendly will be disseminated to managing the problematic soils in Nigeria.

“We are targeting soil such as acidic soils, saline, alkaline and other problematic soils, but the major problematic soil is the acidic soils that covers about 75% of this country.”

“Then alkaline soils because they don’t support agricultural growth, the implication is that farmers facing this limitations suffer from making good yields.”

“75% of Nigerian soils are acidic when I say acidic, I mean from strongly acidic to slightly acidic, the slightly acidic soils are still productive but then if you collect the acidity it will improve the productivity but only 20% of the soils are strongly acidic and this strong soils are found in the southern part of the country as a result of high rainfall, high litching of basic element and nutrients that will ultimately make them low productive soils so we need to do something”.

The Production and Technical Manager, OCP Africa Fertilizer Limited, Oluwatobi Asana, stated that an average productivity per hectare of farmlands in Nigeria is very low due to problematic soils which has led to insecurity and poverty within the farming population.

Meanwhile, Asana noted that management of the problematic soils should be directed towards enhanced crop productivity through addition of soil amendment or by manipulating the agronomic practices depending on the climatic conditions.

“Managing soils so they are sustainable for future generations is our collective responsibility and there is no better time to rise to the challenge than now”.

He added that in order to achieve this, a multidisciplinary approach is required to breed specialized root system types which match the most urgent constraints of different locations.

“There is therefore a dire need to maintain good soil health for increased and sustained agricultural production”.

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Ernest Umakhire stated that the project is important as it holds immense potentials for the agricultural sector while complimenting the renewed effort of the ministry aimed at introducing modern farming techniques to Nigerian farmers and empowering them to enable rapid adoption.

Umakhire added the pain experienced by farmers who are compelled to use this problematic soils cannot be underestimated

“We therefore have to explore ways and means of reclaiming our previously arable lands and take necessary steps to prevent abandonment of farmland as a result of low productivity.”

He pointed out that the technologies to be introduced to the soil should be such farmers can easily adopt and implement at very minimal cost.

“The methodology for the proposed project should focus on those technology that will address the challenges of problematic soil in agriculture while not overlooking the root causes.”

“Please bear in mind the need to protect our environment as we deploy this technology and innovation for soil amelioration so that our ecosystem in not adversely affected”. He added.

March 25, 2021 0 comments