TradeInvestNigeria Staff
Posted on: Sun, 13 Jan 2008
Kwara State has introduced commercial farming to decrease Nigeria's dependence on food imports.
The government of Kwara State has identified agriculture as an essential tool for fighting the problems of poverty and unemployment and ensuring food security. Agriculture also has the capacity to effectively bring about sustainable rural transformation and improvement in the general well being of the people.
The principal cash crops in Kwara State are cotton, cocoa, coffee, kolanuts, tobacco leaves, beniseed and palm produce. Agricultural institutes located in the state are the Agricultural and Rural Management Training Institute (ARMTI), National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization and the Niger River Basin Development Authority, all located in Ilorin. The agricultural research project of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife at Balla provides farmers with vital information on modern agricultural techniques. The Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources and Agricultural Development Project (ADP) provide both the infrastructural and storage facilities. All of these have helped to improve and boost agricultural production and services in the state.
Lowering dependence on imported food
Nigeria spends about US$2-billion annually on importing food items. Recent reports show that each year the country spends US$132-million on the importation of milk; US$400-million on wheat; US$200-million on poultry, and US$756-million on rice. About 95-million tonnes of sugar are also imported annually. In short, Nigeria's approach to development has been ineffective and unsustainable. Kwara State wants to lead the way in changing Nigeria's reliance on imported food, especially poultry, milk and other dairy products by making the state a net producer of food, agricultural and agro-allied products, both for the huge domestic market and for export.
The state projects that its investment in dairy production will yield up to 5-million litres of milk per annum and will take care of domestic needs which are currently characterised by shortfalls, high prevailing prices, and the importation of up to 98% of domestic consumption. At present Nigeria imports 48 000 tonnes of dry whole milk, 30 000 tonnes of evaporated milk, and 16 000 tonnes of dry skimmed milk every year. This projected growth in dairy output in Kwara State will generate a potential US$21-million saving in foreign exchange outflow.
Quite significantly, it is projected the Zimbabwean farmers, who started with commercial agriculture in state, would be cash-positive in poultry and dairy in the first three years. It is anticipated that total agricultural output will increase substantially over a five year period as production expands and the impact of improved farming methods and techniques are disseminated to the smallholder population through a planned agricultural extension programme.
In employment terms, it is projected that direct employment per annum based on a target of 15 000ha of production would be 4 000 labour days in dairy (rising to 40 000), 1 560 labour days in poultry, and 2 000 labour days in rice. While these estimates reflect direct on-farm employment, a substantially larger number of jobs will be generated in downstream activities such as processing, transport, wholesale and retail.
Becoming globally competitive
The overriding concern in all these is how to develop the penetrative capacity of Africa’s products in the larger economies of the world. Kwara cannot achieve this and the economic growth it envisages by merely exporting raw materials. If the state fails to add value, it would be labouring in vain. Statistics from the International Coffee Organisation, shows, for example, that for every dollar earned by the local coffee farmer, traders and firms further up the value-adding chain received $13.
It has been pointed out that exporting flour from, say Zimbabwe, depends largely on economic conditions in Europe. When prices of raw materials increase, manufacturers in the West naturally devise a more efficient use of resources and ultimately substitute these with synthetic material, as in the case with cotton. The protection of agriculture in the West and slowdown in population growth decrease demand for primary products.
Kwara State has large fruit and vegetable farms, especially tomato. Almost all of these are sold cheaply to domestic consumers and are mostly wasted, whereas the market is flooded with all brands of imported canned and packaged fruit juice and tomato purees. However, the enabling environment provided by federal government policies has allowed the state to tie its agricultural policies to industrialisation, especially in the agro-allied sector.
The state intends to replicate the success recorded in Asia with the philosophy of "small is beautiful", by establishing small production and processing units for poultry, especially frozen chicken, dairy products, fruits and tomatoes, cassava, cashew and sugar cane. With less than US$8 000 a sugar processing plant with 95% local content and a capacity to produce up to 90 tonnes per annum could be established. Nigeria produces about 120 000 tonnes of cassava annually, out of which 5 000 tonnes have been billed for export to China. The country hopes to realise N5-billion (US$38-million) from cassava export every year. To promote this scheme, the federal government is providing US$35-million dollars through the Nigerian Export Import Bank to boost the production of cassava chips. The current administration would be hoping to take advantage of this by establishing cassava chipping centers in various parts of the state to support local farmers, especially women.
The case of cashew is even more interesting. In the past, India would come to Nigeria and buy up raw cashew nuts and take it to India for processing, from where they export to Atlanta. The plan is to process cashew nuts locally and export from Ilorin to Atlanta. All these initiatives will in time position Kwara State as a leading producer of processed fruits and tomatoes, as well as sugar, poultry and cashew.
The capacity of Nigerians to achieve development must be driven through a well-articulated strategy of developing the nation's capacity in agriculture. In other words, the dream of the new Nigerian farmer must be driven by a vision of a new Nigerian agriculture. To use agriculture to drive poverty reduction efforts and create wealth, there is need to move away from the general subsistence agriculture into large scale commercial farming that would guarantee increased productivity while gradually integrating the small farm holders into the core farming centres.
The commercial agriculture initiative with the Zimbabwean farmers has brought an additional 2 000ha under cultivation and is expected to expand to 4 000ha this year. The programme will definitely generate a substantial marketable surplus in food and cash crops that will encourage the development and expansion of local agri-processing and agricultural exports.
The private sector should set up agric malls that would serve as one-stop shops for farmers. Farmers can go to these malls and hire tractors and other mechanisation tools for free. This way, an average farmer does not need to raise millions of naira to buy a tractor, and government is relieved of all the problems associated with buying and maintaining tractors.
Development of physical infrastructure like good roads is also a necessary pre-condition for achieving economic growth. Investments in road networks and efficient transportation systems that will enhance farm-market linkage are very crucial to the development of agriculture. This is another major area of responsibility for the state government.
The following investment opportunities exist within Kwara State's agriculture sector:
For more information on investment in Kwara State, please contact:
Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture
Contact: Mrs Mary Akadi
Tel: +234 (0) 8056461071
or
the Senior Special Advisor on Investment - Mr Fela Ibidapo
Email: felaibidapo@hotmail.com
