Lawmaker advocates cooperative lending for farmers
‘Cooperative lending’ as easier access to credit for small scale farmers has been advocated for by industry watchers.
Emmanuel Bwacha, chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture, says he believes this could boost the productive capacity of the farmers. The lawmaker made this remark in assessment of the Nigeria’s agricultural transformation programme, that the availability and ready access of farmers to credit facility at sustainable rates were a major force in Nigeria’s drive for food sufficiency.
The lawmaker stated: “Low interest micro-credit to small scale farmers often provides the opportunity to turn potentials to wealth.”
Notably, the financial inclusion surveys that have been conducted over the years in Nigeria have constantly shown that majority of the rural poor have not used any type of formal financial services, which are common channels of funds disbursed through various government schemes.
However, the lawmaker suggested that the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, through which the government gives funds to banks at zero percent interest rate while banks on-lend to customers at 9 percent, would raise the current profile of the agricultural transformation.
In furtherance of this, he argued that there was growing need to increase the agricultural fund from the current N200 billion and target it specifically to small scale farmers through cooperative lending and other structures that connect directly with farmers.
He added further that the Bank of Agriculture should adequately be capitalised to perform its function on a sustainable basis.
AU Malabo Declaration’s re-commitment to agric transformation commended
African leaders have been commended for re-affirming their intention to devote 10 percent of their national budgets to agricultural development
The commendation came from ONE.org ONE.org, a movement that launched the rigourous ‘Do agric, it pays’ campaign on January 20, along the margins of the 22nd Ordinary Session of the AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in support of the 2014 AU Year of Agriculture. 2014 was declared the Year of Agriculture, Nutrition and Food Security in Africa in 2012, after receiving a petition signed by over 30,000 ONE.org members.
ONE.org applauded AU leaders for solidifying their commitment to transforming Africa’s agriculture sector by improving upon the 2003 Maputo Declaration, under which they committed to spending at least 10 percent of their national budgets on agriculture.
The Malabo Declaration, coming out of the 23rd AU Summit of Heads of State and Government in Equatorial Guinea recently, commits member states to implement a number of essential policy reforms toward ending hunger and cutting poverty in Africa in half by 2025. To meet these goals, African leaders re-affirmed their intention to devote 10 percent of their national budgets to agricultural development and agreed to targets such as doubling agricultural productivity, halving post-harvest loss, and bringing stunting down to 10 percent across Africa.
Sipho S. Moyo, ONE.org’s Executive Director for Africa, said, “This is a defining moment for agriculture in Africa. During this official AU Year of Agriculture and Food Security, African governments have heeded the call of 120 Civil Society Organisations CSOs, and over 2 million African citizens who signed ONE.org’s Do Agric petition calling on them to invest more and better in agriculture. They have raised the bar with the Malabo Declaration, showing a real commitment to smallholder farmers and rural communities across the continent. This declaration is a clear demonstration that our leaders are committed to coming together on behalf of our farmers, our food and our futures.”
The new declaration prioritises the operationalisation of the African Investment Bank, responsible private sector investment, increased support for intra-regional trade, adoption of climate-resilient farming strategies, youth inclusion and employment targets, and mutual accountability for results
These newly adopted measures form part of a set of joint recommendations put before the AU leaders by ONE.org and about120 civil society partner organisations in the months leading up to the summit, and reflect the voices of over 2 million African citizens who signed ONE’s Do Agric petition.
Some of the African presidents supported the joint recommendations and petition ahead of the June AU gathering. Some others also received and supported the petition and recommendations at the summit. However, despite a strong commitment to meet or exceed the 10 percent budget target, African leaders failed to resolve the debate on establishing a common standard of measurement for the 10 percent. The declaration also falls short on the closely related issue of improving budget transparency, which makes accountability an ongoing challenge given that agriculture spending is by its nature fragmented across various government ministries, departments and agencies. Furthermore, the declaration is not explicit in its support of multi-stakeholder participation in government-led agricultural development processes, fostering access to markets for small-holder farmers, investing in agricultural research and extension services, closing the gender gap, and improving land rights for the poor.
Harrison Edeh