Investors task incoming agric minister on transformation agenda

Agricultural investors in the country generally want the Muhammadu Buhari-led government to sustain the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) started by the immediate past regime of President Goodluck Jonathan. This was the general expectation of the industry when the current president won the March 28 presidential polls.

With the appointment of a new minister of agriculture, the industry watchers expect that the person at the helm of the nation’s agricultural affairs would sustain and improve on the policies driven by the former minister of agriculture now president of the African Development Bank.

The ATA changed the focus of agriculture into agribusiness rather than a national development project. Therefore, government is simply expected to provide the enabling environment and encourage private sector players to invest not just in farming but all along the value chain of different crops- from farm to fork and in agro-based manufacturing.

Sotonye Anga, a commodity exporter and publicity secretary, National Cashew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) says “ATA has been so wonderful; it should be retained irrespective of the fact that it was started by another government, but it can be improved upon but must not be thrown out.”

Anga however urge the Buhari-led government to float a very large fund of about N1trillion to N2 trillion which will be an all-inclusive fund as soft loans for the various sub-sectors in the agric industry.

He stated, “The new administration needs to accept that financing agriculture is quite expensive but crucial to full attainment of a green revolution and massive job creation. The fund will be needed to finance every aspect of the value chain of key commodities such as cashew, cocoa, gum arabic, oil palm and so on.”

Speaking further, Anga said, “The cashew industry for instance needs N50 billion to finance various levels of businesses in the value chain. But it is one thing to create funds; another is for it to be accessible to the real stakeholders in the industry.”

On how such loans should be operated, Anga says, “The demand for collateral is one factor hindering farmers and other agribusiness investors from accessing existing funds. Loans can be given through clear-cut identification. Every farmer or agribusiness player can be identified through databases and tracked down if they default in loan repayment.

They definitely live somewhere, have phone numbers, have families, should belong to associations or have voters’ registration card.

If they are given single-digit interest loans to improve their agribusinesses and attempt to default, let it be in their consciousness that the discipline the new president is known for will come to play. So they had better use the money for what it is meant for.”

Edobong Akpabio, a crop farmer and publicity secretary, NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW) also urge continuity of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda because many private investors have made heavy financial commitments.

Akpabio adds, “ATA has developed a life of its own. It needs to be maintained and improved upon. For instance, the new president (with the new minister) must not allow reintroduction of fraud into the fertilizer subsidy allocation to farmers. The Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) is working for us and should not be tampered with.”

She however says the Buhari administration through the new minister must work at making access to land for agricultural purposes easier by getting the state governors to commit to it during their council of state meeting.”

Despite the numerous achievements of the previous minister of agriculture, the sector is still faced with numerous challenges. The challenges are poor road network, high input cost, poor storage facilities, access to finance and market access. For Nigeria to achieve food security and reduce its food import bill, the new minister of agriculture must address these challenges especially those that fall directly under the agric ministry’s purview.

OLUYINKA ALAWODE and JOSEPHINE OKOJIE

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