IN RESPONSE TO MR PRESIDENT’S FACEBOOK STATUS UPDATE ON THE 31ST OF MARCH 2011

Dear Mr. President
 
In response to Mr. President’s Facebook Status update on the 31st March 2011
 
“As I said in today's debate the first skyscraper in this country, the Cocoa House, and the first television station in Nigeria were built from procceds of cocoa by a visionary, Obafemi Awolowo. That is why the PDP government wants to tap from that vision and revitalise agriculture. We must do it and that is why in the next four years, I make a vow that we are going to revitalise all our dams to boost irrigation. GEJ”

I believe the issue of agriculture is a very simple one. It employs over 65% of Nigeria's total labor force, yet accounts for less than 15% of GDP. By virtue of our human and natural resource endowment, agriculture has the potential to cut poverty, end hunger and transform Nigeria's economy but only if the agricultural sector is revitalized. For Nigeria to attain at least 4.4 total factor productivity and 6% annual growth rate in the agricultural sector as evisaged by AU-NEPAD and FARA, for agriculture to generate well paying jobs, generate foreign exchange earnings and make Nigeria a major contender in the global economy, there are roles to be played by the Government, Private sector, Farmer organizations, Civil society groups, universities, research centres and development partners, to ensure: (i) sustainable land and water management (ii) access to market and infrastructure (iii) food and nutrition security (iv) agricultural research, education, extension, technology dissemination and adoption. Government needs to allocate AT LEAST 10% of its annual budget to agriculture as agreed by all African heads of state and governments in Maputo 2006. Only 4 countries have done this and they are reaping the benefits (Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and Burkina Faso). Create enabling policy environments in relation to land tenure and generating public-private partnerships is also imperative. Most importantly agriculture is a rural thing and most of the people engaged in it are small holder farmers, most of whom are women that produce the bulk of the food we eat. So to revitalize the agricultural sector, you need to work with RURAL DEVELOPMENT and AGRICULTURE EXPERTS and development should start from the grass-root, from the people actually need these supports.
 
There a re new high yielding crops out there at research centres but they are not getting to the farmers who need them. We need to out-scale these technologies. Evidence from Northern Nigeria shows that the IAR4D concept developed by FARA works, and has made the sub-Saharan African Challenge programme a success there. Farmers have increased the area under cultivation for rice from about 19,000 hectares to over 200,000 hectares in just two years with tonnes of yields in a place where rice was not even grown about a decade ago. Mr. President, to revitalize the agricultural sector, you need to work with Nigeria's CAADP Compact agreement. Revamp the Ministry of agriculture, Agricultural research council of Nigeria and bring in old, but most especially young experts who are ready to put research into use and apply modern knowledge and technologies to ensure the revitalization of Nigeria's economy. If South East Asia can make it, We can make it. Long Live Nigeria!
 
Written by Idowu Ejere.