How Agrikexpo contributes to Africa’s agribusiness – agric minister

The third edition of the three-day Agrikexpo which Akinwunmi Adesina, minister of agriculture and rural development, has described as the crème de la crème of exhibitions and business-to-business interactions on Africa’s agribusiness opportunities, ends today.

According to Adesina, Agrikexpo which is adjudged West Africa’s largest food and beverage exhibition and seminars, is providing invaluable contribution to developing agribusiness trade relations in Africa. Commending the organisers at the opening ceremony, Monday in Lagos, Adesina said: “It is due to your vision, your diligence and your quest for positive change in Nigeria’s agribusiness sector that the Agrikexpo platform has become a leading forum for high-level and highly impactful engagements in the Pan-African agribusiness sector.”

The minister then reeled out some of the landmark achievements in Nigeria’s agriculture, which has provided the opportunity for so much to be exhibited at such a forum. They include the landmark achievement in supply of subsidised fertilisers directly to farmers who direly need them through the electronic wallet system. By having a database of farmers, the ministry is able to allocate fertilisers to farmers and ensure they get it by paying direct to the bank and then collecting the fertilisers from agro-dealers at subsidised rates.

Explaining how against all odds, rice production is increasing, he said: “Within two years, our national paddy rice production rose by 4.3 million metric tons. The number of integrated modern rice mills in the country rose from five to 15 within two years, all processing the local paddy into high quality finished rice. The expanded local rice production has added N320 billion to the economy, with over N170 billion as net incomes to farmers and rice processors, and boosted rural economy by 360,000 jobs.”

No doubt large investors are moving into local rice production and milling. He mentioned some of them which include Olam, with investment of $70 million (N11.7bn) in a fully mechanised rice farm and which will soon commission its 210,000 metric tons integrated rice mills, the largest in Africa. He said Dangote had also committed to invest $300 million (N50.1bn) for large-scale rice production and world-class rice milling, while high quality rice from the $40 million (N6.68bn) Dominion farms will soon hit the market.

Mentioning high-quality Nigerian rice currently in the market, which includes Umza rice, Ebony super rice, Eko rice, Mikap rice, “Shinkafa rice” and “Stallion super,” Nigerians now eat high quality local rice, but do not know, he said.

Adesina also mentioned the massive investments of Teragro and Dansa Foods in Nigeria’s horticulture industry, saying “a fresh produce value chain development programme has been launched in partnership with the Ministry of Aviation, entailing the building of cargo airports to enhance our competitiveness in the export of fresh produce.”

The Federal Government has provided 9 million free high yielding improved oil palm seedlings to smallholder farmers and plantation estates in the country, he said, noting “private sector investments are expanding with new palm oil processing plants. Today, palm oil processing companies, Okomu and Presco are two of the best performing company stocks on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.”

He further said that “30 bakeries, including the largest international supermarket chains, Shoprite and Park and Shop, now regularly sell cassava-wheat flour bread. Work is ongoing to establish large-scale high quality cassava processing plants to boost the production, reliability of supply and lower cost of high quality cassava flour.”

Mentioning other landmark achievements in cocoa, cashew and sesame, he said agriculture had become the new buzz in Nigeria, with vibrant, young graduates moving into the business with platforms such as Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) launched by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2013, to create a new generation of young commercial farmers and agriculture entrepreneurs (“Nagropreneurs”). “This will develop a total of 760,000 ‘Nagropreneurs’ within five years. Today, young graduates and bankers are leaving the banks and heading for agriculture. The new millionaires and billionaires of Nigeria will be in agriculture. It is a new dawn,” he said.

He explained that it was as a result of the Federal Government’s commitment to boosting agriculture that it was identifying with the Agrikexpo.

Agrikexpo West Africa – 2014 is the agricultural products/agro-allied industry expo in West Africa designed to create a B-2-B meeting platform between agri-business stakeholders/practitioners in West Africa and their overseas counterparts.

OLUYINKA ALAWODE