Investors Stake N48m On Agric Stocks

By OLUSHOLA BELLO
With agriculture sector becoming more active, investors on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), have started looking towards the sector as they invested N48million in one week. Reviewing the stock market trading for the week ended April 22, 2016, Agriculture Industry came third with a turnover of 32.313 million shares worth N48.460 million in 247 deals. The turnover in terms of volume traded represent 3.65 per cent on the total trade carried out by the period under review.
The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 747.817 million shares valued at N3.832 billion traded in 8,768 deals, contributing 84.46 per cent, while the Consumer Goods Industry followed with 45.517 million shares worth N977.579million in 2,145 deals. The sector which has five stocks listed on it, under crop production subsector has FTN Cocoa, Okomuoil and Presco. Fishing/ hunting/tapping sub-sector has Ellah Lakes, while Livestock listed under Livestock/Animal Specialities sub-sector.
For the week under review, Livestock traded 31.7 million shares valued at N29.53, followed by Okomuoil with a transaction of 566,448 shares at N16.76 million, Presco traded 60,935 shares worth N2.15 million and FTN Cocoa accounted for 32,000 shares valued at N16, 000.
Analysts on the floor of the NSE, said, with government attention shifting to developing the non-oil sector in the face of dwindling oil revenue, the agriculture sector on the NSE in a short time will start to post impressive results and return to investors.

Source: leadership.ng/news/523362/investors-stake-n48m-agric-stocks

ADB Potato Value Chain Project To Begin In Plateau – Coordinator By NAN

The African Development Bank (ADB) potato value chain project that will boost potato farming will commence in Plateau soon.
The coordinator of the project, Mr Thaddeus Yelwa, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Monday.
According to him, once the project commences, the state will be producing Irish potato three to four times annually. Yelwa explained that the project aimed at improving the quality and quantity of potato farming in the state would empower farmers with improved seedlings and other farming tools.
He added that the value chain project would be an offshoot of Fadama ll programme which ended in 2012.
“Plateau is rated the leading state in terms of execution and utilisation of funds made available by ADB for fadama II projects.
“This is why the bank has also agreed to include us in the six states that will benefit from the additional funding.
“This time around the money will be channel into improving potato farming because we produce it in high quantity here in Plateau. “This project will soon take off, and it will cover the aspect of production, storage, processing, which is value addition and also marketing of the product.
“Let me assure you that with all modalities put in place, Plateau will be producing potato four to five times in a year once the project begins,’’ Yelwa assured.
He further explained that with project on full course, potato farmers would smile home as ordeals they usually encounter would be taken care of by the project.

Source: leadership.ng/news/523372/adb-potato-value-chain-project-begin-plateau–coordinator

Invest In Agriculture To Fight Climate Change –FAO

Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO)
deputy director-general-General for Natural
Resources, Maria-Helena Semedo has said
in addition to reducing poverty and hunger,
agriculture can play a crucial role in making
the response to climate change responsible
and more effective.
The FAO Deputy Director stated this
yesterday at the signing of Paris Agreement
In New York to attend the signing ceremony
of the Paris Climate Change Agreement as
well as other high level events.
In her words “Agriculture can help reduce
the impact of climate change; thus fostering
resilience among communities, she said
during a High-Level Thematic Debate on
Achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) at the UN Headquarters”
The Agreement recognises “the fundamental
priority of safeguarding food security and
ending hunger, and the particular
vulnerabilities of food production systems
to the impacts of climate change”.
He said the event also highlights the need to
“increase the ability to adapt to the adverse
impacts of climate change and foster
climate resilience in a manner that does not
threaten food production.”
Semedo noted that “Agriculture is one of
the main sectors of the economy that is
severely affected by climate change. The
recent El Niño phenomenon is a testimony
to that. She said the support for the
agreement comes at a time when some 60
million people around the world are being
affected by the El Niño climate event.
It is important to note that the rural poor
and small holder farmers are severely
affected by climate change threats, Semedo
stressed.
During speaking engagements at various
high level events, the FAO Deputy-Director
General reiterated the crucial role of family
farmers in poverty and hunger eradication
“Poverty and hunger have similar causes
and are often bound together and must
therefore be tackled together” she said
Meanwhile the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-
moon who hosted the event said “Some 175
countries today signed the historic accord
— agreed last December in the French
capital — at a ceremony at UN headquarters

NIRSAL Guarantees Over N61bn Worth Of Agric Projects

The N61bn agric projects guaranted by the
Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System
for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has been
described as a rescue to the nation’s
diversification plan.
A development expert, Ibrahim Mohammed
who asserted this in an article sent to
LEADERSHIP, stated that NIRSAL through the
CBN has guaranteed, 454 projects valued at
N61bn with the sum of N753 million paid
out as interest rebate to borrowers who
repaid promptly to encourage good
repayment behaviour thereby minimizing
default
He said‘ In the final analysis, NIRSAL as a
public liability company wholly owned by the
Central Bank of Nigeria is expected to lay
the foundation and manage the processes
required for massive foreign and domestic
investment inflow in the agricultural
subsector of Nigeria’s economy’.
In an article, made available to LEADERSHIP
Newspaper over the weekend, the Public
commentator revealed that, since inception
to the end of 2015” NIRSAL has trained over
112,000 farmers across the country during
its incubation as a project implementation
office within the Development Finance
Department of the CBN”
He said “ it a $ 500 Million (N100 billion)
public private initiative (wholly owned by the
Central bank of Nigeria) which was
incorporated as a Public Limited Liability
Company and licensed as a Non-Bank
Financial Institution with the primary
mandate of facilitating the flow of credit to
agribusiness value chain players and
collaborating with stakeholders to fix broken
agricultural value chains in Nigeria”.
“It is worthy of note that from inception in
2012/13 to the end of year 2015, during its
incubation as a project implementation
office within the Development Finance
Department of the CBN, 454 projects valued
at N61.161 billion have been guaranteed by
NIRSAL, with the sum of N753.36 million
paid out as interest rebate to borrowers
who repaid promptly to encourage good
repayment behaviour thereby minimizing
default. In addition, to date, NIRSAL has
trained over 112,000farmers across the
country” he said
Further unveiling the focal functions of
NIRSAL, the commentator said “The
company essentially administers a risk
sharing fund designed to identify, redefine,
measure, re-price and evolve strategies to
de-risk and catalyze lending to the Nigerian
agriculture value chain.

Source: leadership.ng/news/523354/nirsal-guarantees-n61bn-worth-agric-projects

Lagos to increase food supply by 25% in the next 4 years – SUARAU

By Chioma Obinna
To ensure food safety, the State government said
plans are underway to increase the aggregate
food supply of the State from less than 15 percent
to 25 percent within the next four years through
various projects and programmes.
The State Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr.
Toyin Suarau who made this known while giving
account of Ministry in the last one year to
commemorate 1st year in office of Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode led administration noted
that the aggregate food supply internally is less
than 15 percent of total food consumption.
Suarau noted that the State has continued to
intensify efforts in the agricultural areas where it
has comparative ecological and socio-economic
advantages, despite its high industrialised status,
population density and pressure on land for non-
agricultural purposes. These areas according to
him include “fisheries, livestock and vegetable
production as well as agro-processing with
emphasis on value addition”.
According to him, the State Government through
the Ministry of Agriculture is vigorously
implementing the State’s Strategic Food Security
Plan with programmes and projects that have
remarkable impact on food security in the State.
He said the ministry has signed Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between Lagos and Kebbi
States to establish a Joint Venture using Special
Purpose Vehicle (SPV) LASKEB Agricultural
Production and Marketing Company (LAPMCO)
on the development of Commodity such as Rice,
Wheat, Ground-Nut, Onions, Maize/Sorghum and
Beef as part of the activities towards increasing
food supply and ensuring food security.
He said the state is also strengthening its
Agricultural Extension Services and animation to
improve farmers’ productivity while development
of modern Abattoirs to provide wholesome meat
to the citizens.
The commissioner stated that furtherance to the
Ministry’s effort to engage youths and boost rice
production in the State, a total of 100 farmers
through the FADAMA III additional financing
programme have been settled on the 500
hectares of land acquired in Eggua, Ogun State
adding that through this rice cultivation has so far
improved in the State.
“The yield has improved from less than one tonne
per hectare to about 3tonnes per hectare with
double cropping in some areas where irrigation
facilities are provided. The State government is
also poised to expand its rice mill at Imota from
2.5Metric Tonnes per hour to 10metric tonnes
per hour, while at the same time encouraging
private sector operators to invest in rice
processing”, Suarau stated.
The Commissioner also explained that State
government has continued to address the various
challenges facing agriculture in the State such as
declining land for agricultural activities,
encroachment by land speculators as well as
promoting the utilization of agricultural land for
its intended purposes adding that the Agriculture
Ministry has intensified the establishment of
additional farm estates in Eluju- Mowo and
Igbodu respectively through Public Private
Partnership arrangement.
“463 farmers were trained on Agric Business
Planning using the Nigerian Agricultural
Enterprise Curriculum (NAEC) module, 38 Rice
farmers in Itoikin Production Clusters were
supported with mechanical land preparations,
fertilizers, agrochemicals and Advisory Services
on Sawah Technology”, he said.
He noted that LAISA has supported in the
distribution of over 1,500 bags of fertilizer, hybrid
maize and agrochemicals to crop and vegetable
farmers in the State; 4,000 bags of fish feeds to
fish farmers and 80 units of poultry battery cages
to Poultry farmers.

This egg

Ayoola Goodyness Olanrewaju
the world is an egg
if you break this egg
you break this egg
break this egg
this egg
egg…
some nonsense sense some sages say?
let us begin this poetry with patience…
in this egg…
there is abel-
the little child
lying flat and fat
still and swollen
his head beside his body
and blood
clotted
into a choir master for an orchestra of vengeance…
there is a friend whose friends
are not friends of a friend
they are mapping him out for a fall to falling to fell to
fallen
in short-
they want him dead by tomorrow
from strangulation oozing from their envy
for his neck
his gold necklace and his beautiful wife…
in this egg there are money lenders
stuck to the corners of coarse coffins
singing the figures of debts into the rest in peace
of dead debtors-
they have spent thousand years here
not like tide …they wait for every man…dead or
alive…
you will find the whores moaning on dirty politics
and horses looking for love in rabbits’ holes
you will find the wars
traps of wars-
and madness and another madness in another
madness…
so if you break this egg
let it be your ritual on a ready-grave
twelve feet below….enough rooms
they say no one waits to tell the story…
some nonsense sense some sages say?
let us end this poetry quickly…
egg
this egg
break this egg
you break this egg
if you break this egg…
you die!
die and die and die and die…
did you just ask w-h-y?
why ask why
when you are in the egg?
Ayoola Goodness ©2016

Copied from Facebook. 4-May-2016

Mixed Reactions Trail Government’s Ranching Policy

By Ruth Tene Natsa
The conflict between Herdsmen and farmers calls for urgent measures to curb the hostilities and find a lasting solution to the violence. The call by the federal government to establish ranches as against creating grazing routes has been applauded, but new worries have stemmed from perceived implication of the policy. Ruth Tene Natsa writes.
The Fulani herdsmen/farmers clashes of recent have become most disturbing issues, after the Boko Haram insurgency. The outcry to find a solution to the clashes was loudest with the Agatu crises which wiped out almost a whole community.
The implications of the crises according to various reports had led to the loss of thousands of lives as well as the destruction of billions of naira worth of properties as well as raised fears that Nigeria will fall into a food crises as some of the states attacked remain some of Nigeria’s main agricultural
hubs.
In a report released recently by the Mercy Corps, a global humanitarian agency, it revealed that Nigeria loses N2 trillion annually to herdsmen/farmers clashes in four states only.
The Report presented by the Agency’s Country Director to Nigeria , Iveta Ouvry noted that despite the enormous loss of lives and economic cost of the clashes , the conflicts was rarely getting the needed attention.
The report aside bringing out the economic implication of the loses in terms of loss to lives and properties stressed the need for an urgent solution to curb the high incidence of clashes in the four states which include , Plateau, Nassarawa, Benue and Kaduna.
Prior to the Report, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP had stressed the need to grass up the north and contain the roaming of cattle as a means to curbing the incessant clashes and ensuring food security to the nation.
In his words “it is doable, you need just one little brief case of grass, you will be surprise how far it will go, we are bringing in the alfafa grass from Southern California , the Tanzania grass which grows very fast here, do some wells and irrigate the grounds, afterall we have only have arid soils, not desserts, but the big one has to be the green belts , what we call operation desert shield, we have to start planting that forest now, 1km Neem trees, Acacia, because when you stand and see the harmattan being so dusty, it is top soil that is being washed away, you have to plant trees , it is the only way to stop the dessert, we have been talking about the green belt but have never done anything about it”.
Also the report by various media agencies that President Muhammadu Buhari and some state governors had reached an agreement to establish ranches has raised a new fear and outcry among several Nigerians who insist that, while establishing ranches is a good idea, it should not exceed the North as the South East and South South fear the implications of letting herdsmen settle in some of their communities.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with LEADERSHIP, a farmer on grounds of anonymity told LEADERSHIP that he has no problem with setting up ranches, but they should only be done in the North , instead of spreading them.
In his words (government will only be creating future problems by spreading the ranches, the Fulanis should go back to their states and the ranches be created for them there, because these can become a problem in the future.
In his view “ the truth is anywhere these people settle, they don’t leave and who are the owners of the cattle and their states of origin (federal character) ? please take your cattle to your state of origin or the fulanis do not have (exempted) states of origin in Nigeria?
He argued that if the North has more than 75% of the nations land mass, there is no reason for them to spread the ranches all over the nation.
In his words “I thought the North has 70 per cent of the Nigeria land mass according to the governor of Borno state, Borno is 10 times the size of south east of Nigeria, so why should they be allowed to bring their cattle to the East,Please, let government rethink their decision on this issue”
Also speaking, Daniel Akpan (real names withheld) said “The plan is unimplimentable in the South South (SS) and South East (SE).
The Yoruba can have the ranches for Fulanis. No sane community in the SS and SE will give 1 square meter of land for an annexation ranch project of the Fulani. Buhari thinks he is smart but he will have to first eliminate all Igbos before such a
project can succeed in the SE. He argued that the Igbos had several times had been victims of the violence across the states and there is no need , creating an possibility to cause more violence.
For Mrs Nwankwo “The SS and SE don’t even have land for ranches. Did the statement say the ranches will be build all over Nigeria? If you wish to know the Fulanis are not the only ones that own cows in Nigeria. The SS and SE people own most of these cows and the Fulanis are just keepers,but at the end of the day, government will do what it choses to do and there is nothing we can do”.
Meanwhile a silent observer in his reaction, said “Let’s be clear about one thing. Where will the ranches be located for Fulani cattle and their herdsmen? Better in Sokoto, Kano and all those places in the NW and NE geopolitical zones. If the fund allocated for decades for desertification had been properly used, that area would have been lush with vegetation. It is not too late. That fund can still be used for irrigation and growing of fodder for their cattle. Leave the middle Belt and southern Nigeria alone.
Establish your ranches elsewhere.
One thing more. The meat industry nets in as much money as oil. Unfortunately no tax and no revenue accrues to the government from it. Nigeria is a country of “monkey de work, baboon de chop_
These and many more reactions have continued to insist that the ranches be located in the North, rather than spread them across the nation and creating an atmosphere that could backfire.
Despite this argument, it is to be noted that under the Land Use Acts all lands belong to the federal government, under the supervision of the state governors and should government decide to build the ranches across the nation, not much can be done, but it is hopeful that government would take the fears of all Nigerians into consideration.

Source: leadership.ng/news/519782/mixed-reactions-trail-governments-ranching-policy

FG says farmers’ access to high quality farm inputs will boost productivity

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has stressed the need for farmers to have access to high quality inputs at all times, if Nigeria must increase its agricultural productivity. tungamediang.com/wp-content uploads/2013/10/99dc93a75a9ed33b486d015b88cef23b.jpg

Mr Ohiara Jatto, the Director, Farm Inputs Support Services (FISS) in the Ministry, said this in Abuja on Friday at the Agro-Input Dealer Certification and Training, organised by the International Fertiliser Development Centre (IFDC).
Jatto said that the role of agro-input dealers was critical in bridging the gap between the up-stream suppliers and the farmer.
“One of the objectives of the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme is to facilitate the development of private sector marketing channels for agricultural inputs.
“Within the last four years, the government supported the private sector in building robust channels for distribution of inputs such as seeds, fertilisers, agro-chemicals, livestock and fingerlings to farmers.
“This led to the emergence of a large army of agro-dealers, estimated between 3,000 and 5,000,“ he said.
Jatto said that majority of the agro-input dealers do not have any formal training on the product they sell, and therefore, could not provide necessary advisory services to the farmers they serve. He added that these were the reasons why several fake and adulterated fertilisers, seeds, agro-chemicals and other sharp practices were ongoing in the sector today.
“Some of such sharp practices include selling grain as seed, selling fertilisers with short bag weights to farmers. “With the absence of fertiliser law in the country to control nutrient content, contaminants, bag and container weight, false and misleading claims, we discovered farmers do not get value for their money,” he added.
Jatto, however, said that the Ministry of Agriculture had recently inaugurated the National Fertiliser Technical Committee, charged with the responsibility of following up fertiliser legislation and quality control. “With the National Agricultural Seed Council in place to ensure registration, licensing and quality control of seeds; NAFDAC is doing the same for agro-chemicals to ensure that sanity returns to agro-inputs sub-sector.
“IFDC, through the Feed the Future Nigeria Agro-Inputs Project, has trained agro-input dealers on product knowledge and distribution of inputs to farmers,” he said.
According to the director, it is expected that the agro-input dealers association will support the regulatory agencies to police their members to ensure they adhere to high quality standards in order to serve farmers effectively.
Also speaking at the training, Mr Saidu Zakari, President, Nigeria Agro-Input Dealers Association, said they were in Abuja for the event of certification of their members after undergoing three days training organised by the IFDC. Zakari said the project started in 2002 and was still ongoing after 14 years.
“I am glad that members of the trade association have been trained to be better market people. “Over 300 agro-input dealers have been trained from the beginning of the projects.
“The agro dealers will benefit from this training by selling their goods and make more money for themselves because they are being taught on how to preserve and store their inputs properly.
“They can also train the farmers in order to buy the best materials and how to apply it on their farmland effectively to improve their yield and minimise wastage,” he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 100 agro-input dealers trained were presented with certificates and were advised to use the knowledge acquired to expand their business. (NAN)

Source: tungamediang.com/fg-says-farmers-access-high-quality-farm-inputs-will-boost-productivity/

Fulani herdsmen: Cattle roaming should stop in W-Africa – Agric Minister

By Jimoh Babatunde
Ministers of Agriculture in the West Africa sub-region have been urged to work together to proffer solutions to myriad of problems facing agricultural production in the sub region.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh made this call during a meeting with a delegation from the World Bank led by the Vice President Africa Region, Mr. Mukhtar Diop in Abuja recently.
Ogbeh said that “We could have a beautiful future in Africa, if we organize ourselves very well”. The Minister explained that the issue of cattle grazing in livestock production had posed serious problems to West African countries, resulting to violence between farmers and herdsmen.
He stated that the attention of the governments had hitherto focused on some segments of farmers such as rice, cotton, soya bean farmers while “Nobody had remembered to do anything for the cattle farmers who now resorted to self- help that often leads to violence.
Ogbeh added that cattle roaming usually deplete their nutrients thereby reducing the quality and quantity of milk and meat produced. He also expressed concern over the population growth in the West African sub-region with high number of unemployed youths, and advocated the need for African Countries to deal with the issue, saying that there was no proper attention to the plight of youths in the past.
Chief Ogbeh commended the World Bank for their supports for the country in so many areas including Agriculture over the years and solicited for more supports particularly in livestock production. He expressed the urgent need for the World Bank to support the West Africa countries to solve the problem of cattle grazing, saying that “it is time for West Africa to stop cattle roaming so that the production of milk will rise while the Fulani herdsmen will live normal life”.
The Minister also sought for support from the World Bank in the Agricultural Value Chain, packaging and standardization of agricultural produce, Agricultural mechanization and seed quality among others.
He said there was need for Nigeria to have an all- year- round farming practice by harvesting three crops of maize and two crops of rice annually in order to catch up with the needs of population growth which he put at 450 million by the year 2050.
He maintained that the Labour Intensive Family Enterprise (LIFE) of the Federal Government which is on course would create wealth and jobs to the rural youth and women as well as reduce rural-urban migration.
Earlier, the Vice President, African Region of the World Bank, Mr. Mukhtar Diop, who led the delegation said the team was in the Ministry to map out ways of assisting Nigeria in moving Agricultural Sector to the next level. The Vice President said his organization noted the vision of the present administration towards the development of agricultural sector and expressed the willingness of the World Bank to give necessary support to accelerate the growth. He said the World Bank had developed and launched a Regional project which covers countries like Chad, Niger, Mali, Senegal and Burkina Faso in Agriculture, adding that Chad has a grazing area that had been identified as a one-stop shop which have specific points of access to water, irrigation services, educational services and other services to support farmers.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/fulani-herdsmen-cattle-roaming-stop-w-africa-agric-minister/

Agricultural Revolution: Ebonyi earmarks 50,000 hectares for rice production

By Peter Okutu
ABAKALIKI—NOT lesser than 50,000 hectares of land have been identified and set aside by the state government across the 13 local government areas of the State for rice farming and production.
Similarly, the state government after procuring 13 graders among other equipment to aid rice production, decided through the State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources to choose three Pilots schools, Girls’ Technical College Agba in Ishielu local government area, Government Technical College, Abakaliki and Ehugbo Technical College, Afikpo, for the implementation of its Schools’ Agricultural programme in the State.
The purpose of the programme is to reintroduce and establish the modern methods of agricultural practices and inspire students at the secondary school level on the need for them to be part of the agricultural revolution making wave in the state.
As this agricultural policies begin to gain prominence across the state, the government has also handed over 292 hectares of land to Ebonyi state University, EBSU, Abakaliki for use as demonstration farms to grow all kinds of crops including maize, rice, tomatoes, yams among others.
Mechanized system of agriculture In a chat with South East Voice, the State Commissioner of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Barr Uchenna Orji stressed that the government was determined to boost rice production across the state adding that professionalism, commercialization and mechanized system of agriculture would be adopted as part of its work plan.
According to him, no land would left fallow in the state as Governor David Umahi has exemplified same by establishing a demonstration farm within the state Government House which has began to yield dividend as crops are being harvested therein on regular basis.
He called on investors, non-governmental Organizations, NGOs , including agricultural experts to come and partner the state government in its agricultural policies geared towards boosting food production across the state.
Commenting after inspecting the three pilot schools across the three senatorial zones of the State, the Chairman of the Committee on Ebonyi state School Agric programme, Mrs. Juliet Okoro who stated that the inspection exercise was to enable the State Ministry of Agriculture identify at least 6 hectares of land in each school added that clearing and preparation of the lands hitherto identified would commence immediately for agricultural purposes.
Okoro who is also the HOD Agric in the Ministry noted that it was the intention of the present administration to boost agricultural produce and instil in students the interest for agriculture through a well designed programme and mechanized system of agriculture.
The Principals of the selected schools, Rev. Sister Amaka Asike, Dr. Emmanuel Ewa Ibe and Okeh Stephen Ike of Girls’ Technical College, Agba, Ehugbo Technical College, Afikpo and Government Technical College, Abakaliki respectively thanked the State government for the initiative and pledged to contribute their quota towards the success of the exercise.

Source: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/03/agricultural-revolution-ebonyi-earmarks-50000-hectares-rice-production/