Agribusiness players’ interest heighten in FG 3.5m job creation drive

The interest of the private sector in the agricultural transformation agenda (ATA) of the Federal Government, which plans to create 3.5 million jobs by 2015, weekend, heightened at BusinessDay Agribusiness Summit held in Lagos.

The agricultural transformation agenda, the largest ever government-led effort to grow agriculture in Nigeria through de-regulation, plans to add 20 million tons of food to domestic supply in addition to job creation by 2015.

According to Akinwunmi Adesina, minister of agriculture and rural development, domestic food supply grew by a total of 8.1 million metric tons (MT) in 2012, exceeding the ATA annual target by 70 percent and achieving 41 percent of the total cumulative food supply promised for 2015.

Adesina, represented by Adetunji Oredipe, the technical adviser to the minister, stated that the agricultural transformation agenda created 2 million new jobs, exceeding its target by over 200 percent.”

A new initiative to tackle youth unemployment by creating a new generation of young commercial, market-driven farmers—‘Nagropreneurs’—was conceived and will be launched soon, with the goal of creating 760,000 Nagropreneurs by 2015, the minister said.

Speaking further at the conference with theme, ‘Making Agro Value Chain Profitable’, Adesina said, “New incentives to attract foreign and local investors were implemented, netting $8 billion for Nigerian agribusiness. This included investments from Dominion Farms, a U.S. investment company; Cargill, the world’s leading manufacturer of starch and AGCO, the world’s largest manufacturer of Massey Ferguson tractors.”

He added that more than $1.25 billion was committed towards the agricultural transformation agenda by the World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the British government’s Department for International Development (DFID). The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has selected Nigeria as a priority country for its investments in agriculture, and the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Ford Foundation and UNDP are providing significant technical support facilities.

Gbolahan Lawal, the Lagos State commissioner for agriculture, also at the event encouraged participants to take up agribusinesses or diversify their investments.

While reeling out all the initiatives of the Lagos State government at boosting agriculture, he emphasised, “The government alone should not be left to do it all, we need private sector participation.”

He said, ‘Rice For Jobs’, one of the initiatives of the state government had empowered 400 youths and increased commercial rice cultivation in Lagos State from 20 hectares to 1,200 hectares.

Anga Sotonye, an agribusiness investor, in his presentation gave participants a view of the limitless opportunities available in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. While according Adesina the title ‘Senior Agvocate of Nigeria (SAN), which means Agricultural Advocate, he urged the government to take off its hands from managing of silos just as it has done with fertiliser.

He said, “If private sector players handle storage of grains, they will ensure it is filled to capacity”, noting that Nigeria has 84 million hectares of arable land waiting to be turned into wealth.

Jite Okoloko, managing director, Notore, showed how the company was ensuring that smallholder farmers get easier access to quality fertilisers, while creating jobs for thousands of village-based agro dealers, a feat that had gained international recognition.

Jide Adedeji, managing director, Terago, enumerated some of the challenges of doing business in Nigeria, but highlighted the immense potentials in the agribusiness sector.

Representative of the Nigerian Incentive-based Risk Sharing Formula of Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) explained the innovative financing options available for agricultural lending.