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President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, gave a stark warning on Nigeria’s import-dependence recently. Speaking at the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa retreat, Adesina said the decision by Nigeria’s government to allow massive food importation risks destroying its agriculture. Hear him: “Nigeria cannot rely on the importation of food to stabilize prices. Nigeria should be producing more food to stabilize food prices, while creating jobs and reducing foreign exchange spending. That will further help stabilize the naira. Nigeria cannot import its way out of food insecurity.”
The verdict is hard to contest, especially given that last year, the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) put Nigeria’s 2024 projected rice import at 2.1 million metric tons, making the country the top rice buyer globally. However, if state governments in the country adopt the Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun’ strategy, this climate of food importation is bound to change. It may sound like a fairytale, but with a yield of seven metric tonnes per hectare on the 200-hectare pilot project, the Gateway State under Abiodun’s strategic foresight produced approximately 1,400 metric tonnes of rice, equivalent to 20,000 bags of milled rice, bringing in an estimated revenue of N1 billion every three months.
Governor Abiodun, on Monday, August 19, flagged off the harvest of the 200-hectare Magboro rice farm in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of the state. With the feat, the out-growers, including many youths and women who are new to farming, have effectively conquered poverty. And, what is more, following the success of the first harvest, the project will now be scaled up to 2,000 hectares, and there are plans to expand it to 5,000 hectares. The scale-up is projected to yield between N10 billion to N25 billion in revenue per quarter. The farm, a brainchild of the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project (OGSTEP), is supported by the World Bank to drive economic growth and development in the state. Hear the Governor: “This project started in April this year. They began planting in May, and today we are already harvesting, making it a three-month cycle. It means that we can do this three times a year . 20,000 bags of milled rice per cycle should be estimated to cost about N1 billion. So, these 200 farmers, made up of women and youths across the country, who farm here in just three months, have a revenue of N1 billion. If they do this three times this year, they will earn N3 billion. We have no business being hungry in Nigeria. In this place, I have 12,500 hectares of land, and all we have farmed is 200 hectares that yielded N1 billion for 200 farmers. From here, I can feed the rest of the country. We will scale up this project immediately from 200 to 2,000 hectares.We can generate N30 billion in revenue. We can take significant steps towards realising that vision of making Ogun State the food basket of this country.”
That is no idle boast. For instance, OGSTEP is not just providing critical support, including advanced agricultural techniques, access to quality seeds, modern irrigation systems and technical training for farmers, Governor Abiodun ensures that beneficiaries get a 65 per cent discount on the cost of each mechanisation operation. OGSTEP empowers farmers through training and retraining, increasing farm productivity. Crop inputs, herbicides and birds are distributed freely to farmers to boost their productivity. Aiming to strengthen the value chain processes in agriculture, especially among smallholder farmers in Nigeria, the Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture, in partnership with IITA–CGIAR, launched the Ogun State Farmer Information Management System (OGFIMS) on April 20, 2023. Before then, Governor Abiodun had won back-to-back Best Governor in Agriculture recognition at the Nigerian Agriculture Awards.
No one who knows anything about the Gateway International Cargo Airport can doubt Abiodun’s commitment to agricultural revolution. The airport provides a veritable platform to enhance the industrial base of the state, opening the frontiers of businesses and also opening the state to the rest of the world. It will generate approximately 50,000 direct and indirect jobs. It is built on an airport city and massive construction is ongoing there courtesy of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), among other agencies that have mapped out the place for their agency needs. It is not for nothing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved the Special Agro-Cargo Processing Zone as a Free Trade Zone.
It can be no surprise that Ogun under Abiodun has one of the highest number of beneficiaries in the CBN/Federal Government Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) in cassava, and has retained its ranking as the largest hub for industries (including Agro-ventures) in Nigeria, the largest egg and broiler producer, largest producer and exporter of lemon grass oil, largest hub for aquaculture in West Africa (according to FAO) and many others. Governor Abiodun puts the development in perspective: “In line with our resolve to partner with the private sector and provide enabling environment for investments and agribusinesses, we have become the world epicenter as a dependable host and partner, especially with the Government initiative of establishing the Cargo Airport to supplement the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and other donor funded projects including the IFAD/FGN Value Chain Development Project (VCDP), in which our state has recorded tremendous success with 12,000 beneficiaries supported with technology, inputs and credit”.
The establishment of an integrated farm estate, gari packaging plant and a 200-trainee soil-testing programme, complemented with the signing of MoUs with national and international development partners such as IITA, HarvestPlus and a host of other private sector partners on private sector-led initiatives, are all part of the Ogun agriculture revolution story, as is the Planting Materials Palliative (PMP) rolled out at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and targeted at 40,000 smallholder farmers. The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative supplied fertilizer to target 10,000 farmers.
If Ogun is now a leading producer of rice, maize, and cassava in Nigeria, it is because the Abiodun government invested heavily in the development of agricultural infrastructure: irrigation systems, farm roads, and storage facilities. It has won plaudits for fostering partnerships with private sector players and implementing livestock improvements mechanisms, including the distribution of breeding stock, veterinary support, and the establishment of grazing reserves.
That’s not all. Through the Anchor Borrowers Programme, the Abiodun administration has revolutionized youth involvement in agriculture in Ogun State. It created the Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency (OGUNIPA) and the Ogun State Business Executive Council (OGUNBEC) to make the Gateway State the destination of choice for investors. It regularly supports farmers to produce high-quality products and links them to markets and processors. Among others, the Ogun State Agricultural Policy and the Ogun State Livestock Development Policy guarantees this. The government empowers farmers with solar pump machines. It rolled out the N50 million Ijebu Development Initiative for Poverty Reduction (Eriwe) to develop the fish subsector in the state. At one go, it empowered 40,000 agripreneurs in cassava cultivation.
The message is clear: Ogun under Abiodun is on a massive journey of food security that highlights a cardinal feature of progressive, visionary leadership. That, in the final analysis, is a big plus for Nigeria.
Akinmade is Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.
Relevant Agricultural and Climate Change experts met in Abuja to discuss the roles of mobile technology and media in achieving climate-resilient agriculture and inclusive climate action.
This is amidst the devastating impacts of extreme weather events (flooding, drought) on food production, women and People Living with Disabilities (PWD) in the country.
The experts spoke at the “high-level advocacy dialogue/flood impact report launch” organised by HEDA Resource Centre in Abuja on Wednesday.
Participants at the dialogue convening
The event, themed “Protecting Smallholder Farmers and Vulnerable Communities from Climate-Related Shocks: Implementing Early Warning Systems for Food Security and Livelihood Resilience in Nigeria”, brought together several relevant agricultural/climate change experts from the private and public sectors, farmers and academia.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary of HEDA Resource CentreSulaimon Arigbabu, noted that the theme could not be more timely, as climate risks continue to escalate the need for robust, culturally-relevant Early Warning Systems (EWS).
“Today’s event is part of activities to sign post our work around climate justice, under the African Activists for Climate Justice Project, a 5-year pan African funding by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands,” he said.
Mr Arigbabu while delivering his remarks
Early warning system (EWS) is explained as the set of capacities needed to generate and disseminate timely and meaningful climate warning information to enable individuals, communities and organisations threatened by hazards to take necessary proactive actions and act swiftly to reduce the possibility of harm or losses.
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On Wednesday, Mr Arigbabu explained that EWS are vital in providing actionable information that can empower farmers and communities to anticipate, prepare for, and mitigate the impacts of climate-induced disasters such as floods and droughts.
He emphasised that the aim of the event is to spotlight the current EWS in Nigeria, identify coverage gaps, accessibility and effectiveness, particularly for smallholder farmers.
“Our mission is to change the narrative of communicating condolences to our vulnerable communities after each climate induced disaster, but rather communicating warnings and knowledge that help build resilience in these communities,” he said.
Roles of mobile technology/media in climate-resilient agriculture
During the first panel discussion of the event moderated by James Jayeoba, a Professor of Sustainable Agriculture in Nasarawa State University, the panellists discussed the theme “leveraging Mobile Technology for Climate-Resilient Agriculture in Nigeria”.
Discussants of the first panel session
One of the discussants, Abdulwarees Solanke, a media practitioner, said to enhance the delivery of climate services to smallholder farmers, there is a need for the media to profile those in farming communities and identify the quantum of media technology in the possession of farmers.
By doing so, he said, the media will be able to mainstream information to rural farmers effectively, coupled with adequate engagement of relevant researchers in the country.
“The use of radio for the passage of agricultural messages is very critical. Almost all radio stations in the country have programs on environmental and agriculture issues,” Mr Solanke said.
He urged critical stakeholders in the agricultural sector to research available free radio programs they can leverage to disseminate vital information for farmers.
On her part, the Chief Executive Officer of Rashak Farms Agri-Allied Limited, Rahmah Aderinoye, said cultural barriers and lack of inclusiveness is preventing women farmers from assessing climate risks information seamlessly.
“Cultural barriers are preventing women from participating in the trainers courses. This is why we give preference to women and PWDs in our outreaches,” she said.
She explained that there is a need to encourage women farmers by providing them with necessary resources and support because the sector is dominated by men.
Mrs Aderinoye said one of the ways to support women farmers is to ensure that weather forecasts information are passed through mobile devices to women farmers in a timely manner.
In his intervention, Adetoro Akindele, the Vice President, Commercial of Thrive Agric, said there is a need to take advantage of social media to disseminate relevant climate-related information to farmers in the country.
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“Short video clips(reels) message goes a long way in disseminating information and they are not gender biased,” he said.
He noted that in some tribes across the country, women are not permitted to look at men in the face, and as such they are disenfranchised.
Based on this, the expert said there is a need to empower women and encourage them by providing reliable information timely to the women.
Mr Akindele said there is a need to engage telecommunication companies to help in passing relevant climate risks information to farmers across the country.
In his swift intervention, Yusuf Kelani, an aide to President Bola Tinubu on Climate Change Matters, said the government is working towards building a climate alert system to capture everyone within the Nigerian territory.
“The government is considering sending early warning system information to everyone in the country via their mobile phones,” he said.
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