Turning agro-value chain potential into profit

The Federal Government came up with the Agricultural Transformation Agenda, a policy initiative many state governments have embraced in driving the agricultural industry. The agenda is geared at exploiting the potential of value-chain development as a vehicle for massive employment generation, enhanced foreign exchange earnings through sustained exports of processed agricultural products as against export of primary products, innovative agricultural production in the rural areas, thus curbing rural-urban drift among other benefits.

I use the Lagos State example to illustrate what the government of Babatunde Fashola is doing to “transform the agro-value chain potential into profit.”

Our goal in Lagos State is to scale up our food self-sufficiency from the present 10 percent to 25 percent by 2018. This, we can only achieve by creating the right environment for the private sector to transform the agro-value chain potential to profit.

In the last six years, there has been a geometrical progression in the investment of government in the sector, which necessitated the inclusion of agriculture in the four thematic sectors: Power, agriculture, transport and housing (PATH), being given special attention.

It is against this background that Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives, the agency saddled with the responsibility of ensuring food security, has as its mission, “the promotion of sustainable food production in a healthy environment through efficient service delivery in the state.”

The implementation of her programmes and projects had been through the Strategic Programme for Accelerated Agricultural Growth (SPAAG) hinged on the six ‘INs, that is;

•Incentives for farmers, to enhance production (prices, input and other costs)

•Inputs for production (availability, quality and prices)

•Innovation (using technology to increase productivity)

•Information (effective extension system)

•Infrastructure (power, roads, mechanisation, processing, storage and distribution)

• Institutions (linkages with credit, market, land, insurance)

In keeping in line with the policy thrust of the present administration, government has embarked on a number of projects that not only involve include the youths but has also attracted renewed interest and investment in the sector.

Youths in agriculture

With the average age of farmers in the country standing at 55 years and the awareness among policy makers and the general population that young people have the potential to be agents of change – for themselves, their communities, countries and the world at large, this informed the decision to initiate youth in agriculture programmes starting with:

Rice for Job Programme and the Eko Rice Mill Plant: The state government in its drive to reduce dependency on importation of rice, introduced Rice-for-Job programme with a view to creating jobs through the enterprise and also make the state food secured. In this connection, about 400 youths were recruited and trained in rice cultivation and production through the introduction of modern rice farming techniques. Land cultivated for rice in the state has increased from less than 50Ha annually to about 1,250Ha annually while yields have improved from less than one (1) tonne per hectare to over 4tonnes per hectare with double cropping. The paddy from the rice fields are fed into the Eko Rice Mill to produce milled rice of comparable quality to imported rice. Thus, returning more profits to investors in rice mills and better prices to rice farmers.

Agriculture Youth Empowerment Scheme (AGRIC-YES) was conceived to breed a new generation of agro-entrepreneurs, create employment and ensure food security. The project focussed on poultry (layer and broiler), fish farming and all season vegetable farming where the state has both competitive and comparative advantages. So far, 400 youths comprising of 100 trainees per set, have been engaged, equipped and are being empowered with resources to become world-class agro-entrepreneurs.

Products from the Scheme include over 2,111 crates of eggs per day (this is expected to increase to 60 million eggs per annum when all the courses are in full production), 32,000 broilers per month, 35 tonnes of fresh fish per cycle of 4 months and about 160 tonnes of cabbage, sweet melon, water melon, cucumber, pepper and assorted leafy vegetables per month are already being marketed in the State through the Eko Farmers Marts. It is instructive to state that value is being at each stage of the chain necessitating better returns to the youths.

Agric-Yes, Songhai

The Agric-YES Songhai located in Avia, Badagry, is fashioned after the Project Songhai of Benin Republic and replicated in other states in Nigeria. The Songhai model is a blueprint for translating the socio-demographic opportunities into reality, and turning agriculture into a productive, efficient, sustainable, and remunerative enterprise. It is designed as a catalyst for a broader, multi-partnership programme to support the state government in promoting access of youths, men and women, to appropriate agribusiness entrepreneurial, leadership and management skills in agribusiness. The project therefore aims to bring what we call ‘Green Rural City’ to Lagos where we will adopt indigenous technology, waste recycling and zero waste technology.

An average of 250 youths per annum would be trained by the programme and the Trainers had been trained at Project Songhai, Benin Republic. Facilities are already being put in place at the centre and vegetable production has already commenced.

Estate Initiatives

In response to the declining land for agricultural activities and minimising the activities of land speculators as well as promoting the utilisation of agricultural land for its intended purposes whilst providing institutional support, the ministry has intensified the establishment of agricultural estates that will boost food production and create jobs and also provide an enabling environment for public private partnerships.

These initiatives include the Poultry Estate at Erikorodo, Ikorodu, with capacity for about 1 million eggs and 600,000 life birds annually; Vegetable Estate at Iyaafin in Badagry, covering 25 hectares of land for the production of local and exotic vegetables. The Fish Farm Estate at Ikorodu produces about 1,500 tons of fish annually valued at over N650 million creates 3,000 direct and indirect jobs, while the 400-plot Ketu-Ereyun Fish Farm Estate will produce about 10,000 tons of fish per annum at full capacity.

Also, the Arable Crops Estate at Agbowa will be developed into pineapple, maize and plantain farms, and 1,292 youths have indicated their intention to participate in the programme.

In collaboration with the Federal Government and the World Bank through projects like the Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) and the Third National Fadama Development Project are running in the states. The two projects alone have impacted on over 6,000 farming families in the areas of technology innovation, rural infrastructure (network of roads and energy), markets, water supply and acquisition of pilot assets.

These had translated into 46 percent increase in income of about 75 percent of the beneficiaries as at project mid-term. Also, Lagos State is among the six states to benefit from the $200 million additional financing put together by the Federal Government and the World Bank to develop the Staple Crops Processing Zone.