Farmers and experts in the agricultural sector have strongly urged President Bola Tinubu to appoint a qualified specialist and not a politician as the country’s next Minister of Agriculture.
The experts highlighted the key issues that the Tinubu government should address in the agricultural sector while stressing its capacity to generate more revenue for the country.
Emmanuel Ijewere, Coordinator, Nigeria Agri-Business Group, NABG said:
“First and foremost, under no circumstance must a politician be made a minister of agriculture. Secondly, the new government must realise that agriculture is a business.”
Ijewere described every farmer as a capitalist, emphasizing that farmers were not state employees.
He said:
“Don’t feel for them. They are hardworking people, but just give them an enabling environment.
“Thirdly, all agriculture in Nigeria happens in the local government areas. Not many agricultural activities happen in the central area of Abuja or in Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos.
“Agriculture is a local practice, therefore, local governments must be encouraged to do what they are supposed to do it to become developmental organisations.”
The NABG coordinator added that the government should stop giving subsidies to farmers as some people have been defrauding the farmers and the government through such schemes.
Ijewere advised the new government to focus on creating an enabling environment for farmers and other agricultural producers in the sector.
He said:
“The fourth thing I will say is that the government should stop using the word subsidy. Farmers are cheated by using the word subsidy. Monies are stolen from the treasury and they pick people who know nothing about agriculture and share the money.
“Rather, the government should create an enabling environment. For example, how many farmers in a particular village are producing yam? How can they be helped to produce more?
“The IITA (International Institute of Tropical Agriculture), which is a research institution, said that within 24 months it can quadruple the amount of yam we produce in Nigeria because of the way seedlings are now produced. But this cannot get to the farmers in the villages as required.
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“So, the IITA, which is a big organisation, needs to work with the government to create an enabling environment by training people in local government areas to achieve things like this.”
The President of the All Agriculture Association of Nigeria, Kabir Ibrahim, also speaking explained that there was a need to reform the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, (FMARD) and implement the current agricultural policy properly.
Ibrahim said:
“We think the FMARD should be reformed by putting people who know what to do to drive the processes. The new agricultural policy that should last till 2027 should be implemented judiciously and transparently.
“The National Food Reserves Agency should be resuscitated as the former President instructed. But because of the incompetence of the out-gone leadership in the ministry, it was not resuscitated. Also, currently, we do not have a food strategy plan and if there is a famine, where do we get buffer stock?”
He advised that farmers should be involved in all decisions that affect them.
He said:
“The President said that he was going to create hubs in all the zones of the federation. He also said he was going to build storage, which means that he does not know that we have dry storage.
“So, I hope he is referring to cold storage to avert or minimise post-harvest losses. He should supervise it and follow it up to ensure that it is done. He is also making policies that will make food more affordable to the general population of the people.”
The FMARD President also called for an enabling environment for farmers to optimise their productivity.
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He said:
“The policies of the former administration have not been that bad, but implementation was the problem. So, what is expected is that the current President should appoint the right people to manage the activities of the various MDAs that have cross-cutting issues with agriculture.
“This will ensure that people are not working in silos. Also, the CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) intervention should be such that it is appraised to reach the actual farmers, not as it is today.”
