NIGERIAN SMALL SCALE FARMERS AND CIVIL SOCIETY MEET WITH THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ON CRITICAL ISSUES OF CONCERNS - The National Association of Nigerian Traders NANTS

NIGERIAN SMALL SCALE FARMERS AND CIVIL SOCIETY MEET WITH THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ON CRITICAL ISSUES OF CONCERNS

Federal Ministry of Agriculture

February 2012

A group of civil society and private sector organizations working on Agriculture in Nigeria under the auspices of the Voices for Food Security (VFS) and the Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) has paid a courtesy call on the Honourable Minister of Agriculture.

2. Led by Prof. Gbolagade Ayoola, the VFS delegation intimated the Minister and his Team of Directors that the purpose of the visit was premised on the need for the VFS to share its goals and aspirations with the Ministry and compare notes on activities with a view to evolving critical interventions that are beneficial to the Transformation Agenda of the current administration.

3. Highlighting the concerns and interests of the Nigerian small scale farmers and civil society, the spokesperson of the group Mr. Ken Ukaoha first commended President Goodluck Jonathan’s vision in re-establishing the agriculture sector which is manifest in the appointment of tested technocrats as the Ministers manning the sector. He further commended Mr. President for identifying and making agriculture the beacon of the administration’s Transformation Agenda.

4. Mr Ukaoha added that the small scale farmers are appreciative of the fact that some changes which include tariff policy and import substitution on commodities such as rice and wheat are being undertaken by the Federal government as measures to reduce high level of food importation and improve the livelihoods of local farmers. The group also extolled government’s bold step at insisting on a policy of compulsory 40 percentage of cassava flour content in the production of bread as a means of sustaining the livelihoods of local farmers.

5. Championing the interests and demands of the group, Ukaoha informed the Minister of the intension and preparedness of the small scale farmers and civil society to be part of the implementation of the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA). He noted that this is necessary given that small scale farmers form majority of the producers in Nigeria but do not have a voice in decision making processes that affect their livelihoods.

6. The group further regretted that the 2012 budget proposal as presented by Mr. President to the Parliament is a far cry from the 10% benchmark as stipulated in the Maputo Declaration and the Abuja Declaration on agriculture, hence the urgent need for the budget’s upward review.

7. The small scale farmers called for the review of the Land Use Act and the need to address the menace of land grabbing which is already inhibiting access to land by small scale farmers and by extension, distorting food security in Nigeria. Similarly, the group requested the Minister to assist in addressing the problem of access to finance by small scale farmers, especially women. They advised that the Ministry could link small scale farmers with the current initiatives of the Central Bank (such as NIRSAL) and other agencies in order to create easy access to finance especially for rural farmers.

8. Speaking further, the group cautioned the federal government to be prepared in order to effectively mitigate the looming crisis in the Sahel region and its potential consequences on Nigeria which borders many of the countries in the region. A quarterly meeting between the Ministry, small scale farmers organizations and the civil society was also canvassed by the group in addition to the need for VFS and ASSAPIN to co-opted in National Agric Council (NAC) processes. More so, the group lamented the challenge of access to market due to poor infrastructure as well as poor access to small scale technologies including tractors necessary for improved productivity.

9. In his response, the Honourable Minister while appreciating the diversity of the group thanked VFS/ASSAPIN for taking the initiative for the visit, expressing the wealth of knowledge, concern and passionate articulation from the group on emerging issues in the sector. He explained the ongoing repositioning in the Ministry geared towards putting the farmers first in all programmes and interventions. The Honourable Minister regretted that the sector that was meant to feed the nation, create jobs and generate wealth went into comatose to the point that Nigeria with 84 million Hectares of land will depend on imported food to feed her citizens, while a country like Israel with just 360, 000 hectare of arable land export food to Nigeria.

10. Honourable Minister recalled that the cotton industry in Nigeria for instance created job for about 500,000 Nigerians in the 60s, compared to just 20,000 currently, while about 27% of the global need of palm oil was produced in Nigeria in the 60s and 70s compared to 0% currently.

11. On the issue of land grab, the Minister noted that Mr President has promised to work with the Parliament to address the constitutional problem. On land grabbing, he strongly advised that Nigerians from various states should be bold to ask pertinent questions when their governments are entering into any land deal, signing of land related MOUs or agreements since this is the most direct way of understanding what such deals hold for the poor and their livelihoods, as well as for the country and the economy. He argued that in order to make Nigeria’s agriculture largely commercial, land must be available as the primary investment especially for a private sector-driven and public-enabled business.

12. Speaking on the action plan and work already undertaken by the Ministry, the Honourable Minister stated that work is ongoing on the formation of marketing institutions for major agricultural produce in Nigeria, adding that this is targeted at keeping the farmers in business and enhancing their productivity. He also restated government’s decision to withdraw and leave the private sector input dealers with the business of distribution of fertilizers, herbicides and seedlings which has of late become highly politicized.
13. The Minister also informed the group of the ongoing national census of farmers across Nigeria where electronic wallet is now in place and farmers biometric data captured, noting that when fully operational, farmers can access fertilizer easily and timely while market information could be sent to them via phone. For transparent and open process, the Minister undertook to publish all awarded contracts on the Ministry’s website with details such as the name of the contractor, duration of contract, location of the contract, contractor’s phone numbers, etc. He noted that this would enable the CSOs and members of the public to review, and report back to the relevant authorities in the spirit of the FOI Act.

14. The Minister also emphasized that his Team is working on commodity value chain in rice; noting that the Ministry is supporting farmers in Ebonyi State in the South-East of Nigeria (and would be replicated in two more locations across the country) to set up a rice mill industry with a capacity to produce quality rice targeted at reducing importation; adding that commodity markets would be established for identified crops such as cocoa, sorghum, rice and cassava, as well as livestock and aquaculture. He noted that with the 40% inclusion of cassava in flour, adequate market would be created for cassava growers. He also informed the group that government has approved that decentralization of the operations of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture from Abuja to the 36 states and 6 geo political zones in Nigeria starting from 2013, in order to create closer impact at the rural communities. He promised to set aside funding for small scale farmers engagement and participation in the Ministry’s programs with a view to strengthening their influence. To this end, he noted that N30 billion grant is to be set aside as part of the NISRAL process, and that 70% of this fund is meant for the small scale farmers access.

15. On the looming Sahel crisis, the Minister stated that 30,000 tons of sorghum will be sent to Niger Republic and that the Ministry has commenced discussion with the Kano State government in North/West Nigeria on the possibility of support given that the state shares boundary with Niger Republic.

16. In his closing remark, Honourable Minister stressed on the need to develop a frame work to partner with VFS/ASSAPIN especially in the area of advocacy as well as in the implementation of the Agriculture Transformation Agenda (ATA). He pledged to support the aspirations and objectives of the Consortium, and directed that VFS/ASSAPIN be invited to the National Council on Agriculture.

17. In the vote of thanks by the Country Director of Oxfam GB – Mr. Tunde Ojei, he expressed delight on the interest of the Honourable Minister towards repositioning the agric sector with special emphasis placed on small scale farmers, and assured the Minister of Oxfam’s commitment towards reducing poverty and hunger in Nigeria. Publications from the Consortium and its members were presented to the Ministry through the Honourable Minister.

For and On Behalf of: VFS and ASSAPIN

Ken UKAOHA, Esq.

NANTS Secretariat President

Members of the VFS Campaign are: NANTS, CISCOPE, FIF, TNI, CISLAC, ASSAPIN, HEDA, Oxfam