Nigerians must eat what we produce – Adesina

“Our taste for imported food items has contributed to high levels of unemployment for our youths. Our imports provide jobs for the youth of the countries we import from, while our youth wander about our cities and towns looking for jobs” - Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, Hon. Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development.

THIS position was not only shared by Dr. Adesina, but with many other Nigerians, who believe that patronage of local food items and agricultural outputs, would make a lot of change in the economy and the lives of our teeming youths.

Dr. Adesina made this declaration at the 2013 Wilson Badejo Foundation (WBF) annual lecture as a special guest speaker, which held at the Nigeria Institute for International Affairs, Victoria Island, Lagos on Tuesday, May 21.

Ably represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, who dwelt on “Unlocking wealth for Nigerian farmers” said that taste for imported food items among Nigerians contribute to high level of unemployment for the youths, pointing out that importing such food items that could or known to be produced locally negates the principle of job creation and rather provides jobs for the youth of the countries Nigeria imports from, whereas her own youth wonder about the cities and towns looking for jobs.

Imported foods unacceptable:

“This is unacceptable. We must use the power of our population to our advantage by buying local foods. We must produce what we eat and eat what we produce,” the Minister said.

While commending Reverend Badejo on the occasion of the 6^th annual lecture of the foundation, Adesina said there is need to collectively assist the Nigerian farmers to unlock the wealth inherent in agriculture so as to encourage youths to see agriculture as business undertaking.

The farmers’ Minister also said that his mission is to create wealth – and a lot of it, for millions of Nigerian farmers, who for decades have toiled in hope but unable to get out of crushing poverty traps.

“Take a look around our rural areas, all you see are run down villages, thatched roofs, brown corrugated iron sheets that betray a once prosperous setting now decimated by poverty. The poverty in our rural areas is structural. It is due to the long decades of neglect of the agriculture sector. It is this neglect that I have been tasked to tackle and reverse,” he said.

A herculean task, but …

He recognized that his task is herculean, but he is resolute in the fourth that with God, nothing is impossible, hence, he sees agriculture as a tool for creating wealth for millions of poor farmers. He maintained that Nigeria with huge agricultural potential has 84 million hectares of arable land of which only 40 per cent is cultivated and 279 billion cubic meters of water.

Dr. Adesina noted that it has been projected by 2020, there will be close to 110 million youth in the labour market, stressing that with low wage rates, this is a massive pool for the intensification of agriculture, especially with a population of 167 million people, Nigeria is the largest market in Africa.

He lamented that in spite of this huge agricultural potential, Nigeria, which used to be the major player in agriculture in the world, has lost its place in the global agricultural market.

In the 60’s

NaijaAgroNet recalls that in the 1960s Nigeria’s glory was visible for all to see, which even accounted for 42 per cent of the world’s exports of shelled groundnuts.

Adesina further lamented that Nigeria’s total export volume was 502, 000 Metric tones (MT), but this declined to zero by 2008, even as he attributed this major problem to aflatoxin which we did not bother to fix.

“Nigeria lost her leadership position and was overtaken by USA, China and Argentina. Nigeria was also the largest exporter of palm oil in the world and accounted for 27 per cent of the global export volume for palm oil. Total export volume for palm oil by Nigeria was 167,000 MT in 1961. This declined to 25,000 MT by 2008,” he decried.

The minister said that as the global export volume rose from 629,000 MT in 1961 to over 33 million MT in 2008, Malaysia and Indonesia took over using the oil palm seedlings obtained from Nigeria.

Nigeria’s shame of palm oil:

“Today, Malaysia earns $ 18 billion from export of palm oil alone, and Nigeria imports crude palm oil from Malaysia,” he bemoaned.

Adesina also invited Nigerians to take a look at the case of cocoa, where the entire Western Region built its economy on cocoa in the 1960s. Nigeria accounted for 18per cent of the global export volume for cocoa in 1961. While Nigeria’s cocoa sector stagnated, the global market for cocoa rose from 1.8 million metric tons in 1961 to 2.7 million metric tons by 2008. Nigeria’s share of the global market for export declined from 18 per cent in 1961 to 8 per cent by 2008. Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Indonesia overtook Nigeria.

The story, he said, is the same for cotton, whereas Nigeria, which was the largest exporter of cotton in West Africa, has lost this position to Mali and Burkina Faso. Pointing out that the neglect of the agricultural sector, as Nigeria became dependent on oil, has been a disaster for the country.

$10bn forecast, if …:

“If Nigeria had held to its market share in palm oil, cocoa, groundnut and cotton, it would be earning today at least $10 billion per year from these commodities,” Adesina forecasted.

Nigeria, he said, is now the largest food importer in the world bewailing that Nigeria spent over 1.3 Trillion Naira per year on imports of wheat, rice, sugar and fish.

In 2010 alone, he disclosed that Nigeria spent 635 Billion Naira on import of wheat, 356 billion Naira on import of rice; that means we spend 1 Billion Naira per day on rice alone, while 217 Billion Naira was spent on sugar imports, and with all the marine resources, rivers, lakes and creeks we are blessed with, Nigeria spent 97 Billion Naira importing fish.

“This is not fiscally, economically or politically sustainable,” he declared, warning that Nigeria is eating beyond its means. Emphasizing that as Nigerians smile for eating rice every day, Nigerian rice farmers cry because the import of rice undermines domestic production.

How to avert reaping tears:

“Our farmers sow in hope, but reap in tears, as cheap food imports dash their hopes of better prices and incomes,” he asserted, advising that Nigerians must work differently by recognizing and harnessing the power of the private sector.

Insisting that the government needs to get out of certain aspects of agriculture and turn this over to the private sector in order to improve efficiency, through focus on agricultural value chains and not just on increasing production.

“What will happen to the increase if there are no markets and no agro processing firms that will help mop up the increased yields?” he asked, reassuring that Nigerian agriculture has potential, but no one can eat potential.

“Potential must be transformed into food supply to deliver nutritious food and wealth to our growing population. To reverse this trend, we have articulated a clear vision to make Nigeria into an agriculturally industrialized economy, to create wealth, jobs and markets for farmers, and revive the rural economy,” Adesina said, even as there is plans to grow the size of the agricultural sector from the present level of $99 billion per year to about $300 billion per year by 2030.

“We envision a Nigeria without oil. For nobody drinks oil and nobody smokes gas,” he said.

WBF, a helping hand:

In her remarks, the Executive Secretary, WBF, Dr. Mrs. Kenny Kemabonta, commended those who have supported the foundation in past and urged for more support because the foundation has identified more societal challenges to tackle including how to rehabilitate the so-called ‘area boys’ who now have a kingdom of their own.

Key to achieving this, she said, is more investment in youth’s development via educational scholarship, which has risen over the years, even as the foundation needs more partnership.

So far, she said about 40 indigent students have been assisted with tuition fees for this year alone.

Agriculture investment panacea to youth unemployment:

Buttress Adesina’s position for private sector involvement in agriculture, the chairman of the occasion, Deacon Olatunji K. Bello of Multiplex Ltd, in his welcome address, shared his experience on investing in agriculture, which has created jobs for over 50 youths and urged more Nigerians to invest in agriculture.

“I want to encourage us to invest in agriculture to create more jobs, especially for the youths,” he said, citing investment in trees for instance, Bello noted that yes, it may take a while to grow, but it create jobs eventually.

Nigerian agriculture graduates, he said, do have degrees, but not work experience, because there is no place conducive enough for them to work. He insisted that the youth must be assisted if the Nigerian society must be a better one.

By Remmy Nweke

 

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