Agriculture | |
Agriculture | |
1489 VIEWS | |
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Monday, May 18, 2020 / 7:46 PM / Bukola Akinyele for WebTV / Header Image Credit: WebTV
Agriculture sector has been the mainstay of the
economy since independence and despite several challenges; it remains a
resilient sustainer of the population said, Mr. Bisi Iyaniwura, a Lawyer and
Agriculture specialist this excepts as a guest speaker on WebTV Economy and
Politics Programme.
According to Iyaniwura, agriculture is a major driver
of industrial growth through a series of strategic value chains. He noted that
weak domestic value connections have resulted in a situation where Nigeria
still imports something as basic as Ethanol. The Agric expert observed
that ethanol is produced from cassava and maize with Nigeria as the
largest producer of cassava in the world with over 100 metrics tonnes of
cassava produced annually but Nigeria imports ethanol worth over $2b and also
imports palm oil from Malaysia.
Speaking on what we need to do after COVID-19, he said
the first thing we need to know is that it is not the population in agriculture
that makes agricultural policies successful but the efficiency and management
of the sector.
According to the Agric specialist, the Nigerian
government has turned agriculture into a dumping ground for the unemployed and
underemployed. He said, Nigeria is still one of the highest cost production
countries in the world in terms of agricultural output.
Speaking on why Nigeria has a high cost of production,
Iyaniwura explained that inefficient machine use raised production cost and
break-even margins, he also noted that the country was not adopting efficient
post-harvest handling and logistics as would be required in an efficient local
value chain.
Sharing his thoughts on ways the Nigerian government
can address the problem facing the agricultural sector, Iyaniwura called on
government to address logistic issues and post-harvest waste. He was of the view that Kenya, and Rwanda are the
agricultural produce export flowers of the continent while Nigeria still
struggles to cope with poor security and the disruption of its agricultural
supply chain.
Iyaniwura said, there is a lot of wastage on farms and
government support is inadequate.
According to him, the cooperative system is the
bedrock on which agriculture survives across the world. "Where there is a
cooperative system the government can give support to warehousing on farms, and
also the government can give non-cash incentives for farmers and give vouchers
to buy agricultural equipment". He concluded that in terms of storage, Agro
processing is very critical and Ware housing.
Speaking on what the ministry of trade and investment
need to do , he said it is the duty of trade and investment to handle post-harvest
agricultural wages and government should look at how Agric implements can be
fabricated locally.
Iyaniwura in discussing his perspectives on a revised
outlook for the agricultural sector in the country, noted that the nation needs
to become more serious in dimensioning the expectations from the agriculture
sector by clearly stating what the sector would be expected to do.
He concluded that the country must take agriculture
seriously, and noted that the sector was not a dumping ground, it was a real
business which can be used to reset the economy if handle appropriately.
The sector properly handled could address the poverty problem.
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