CULTIVATING A HOME-GROWN GREEN REVOLUTION IN NIGERIA

1. CULTIVATING A HOME-GROWN GREEN REVOLUTION IN NIGERIA

2. Professor J.O. Gefu, PhD., FNSAP, FAvH, KSM�Invited Paper presented at the2010 National Agricultural Show Theme: �Repositioning Nigeria�s Agricultural Economy at Golden Jubilee��Organized and hosted by National Agricultural Foundation of NigeriaKm. 28 Abuja-Keffi, Tudun Wada, Karu LGA, Nasarawa StateOctober 13-14, 2010

3. Nigeria is the 3rd fastest growing economy in the World, after Japan and China -IMF, 11 October, 2010 reassuring news

4. The FGN should be mindful of the country�s rising debtWorld Bank, 11 October, 2010 Domestic ca. US$ 22 bnExternal ca.US$ 3.9 bn

5. Some of the world�s poorest persons and communities are found in sub-Saharan Africa where 7 of every 10 persons live on less than $1 a day. The poorest of the poor are often found in rural areas engaged in rudimentary primary production activities. Overview

6. They have very limited access to social infrastructure considered fundamental to meet human basic needs for a decent and meaningful life. Infant and maternal mortality is high and on the increase. Life expectancy is low. This scenario can be said to largely apply to the situation in Nigeria. Overview

7. The extreme poverty experienced by this group has shot the doors of education against them and their children; has driven rural populations, especially the youth, to the cities who (due to poverty) are often driven to prostitution that could trap them in the HIV/AIDS nest and other diseases and conditions that are precipitated by poverty. Overview

8. Land policies by many African governments are increasingly eroding the rights of the rural farmer to land, forcing poor farmers to become tenants to land merchants and speculators. Amongst the worst affected are pastoralists, hunter-gatherers, fisherfolks and small-scale rural and peri-urban food producers. This situation, if not urgently reversed, potent security threat to Nigeria�s socio-economic stability as well as impede the realization of a Nigeran Green Revolution. Overview

9. Nigeria, like most African countries, is endowed with a variety of natural and human resources with which it can fight and win the war against hunger and poverty. What remains, therefore, is the strong political will of our leaders and peoples to ensure that public resources are fully deployed in support of productive activities. With the support of the international community, civil society, the academia and other CBOs can be empowered and mobilized to improve the livelihoods of resource-limited producers Overview

10. A Nigerian Green Revolution means providing the incentives to invest in productivity � land tenure is the critical factor. The poor are no strangers to elites displacing them, to force evictions, reported to be on the rise, so they do not manage the land with a long term or sustainable practices. Why would they if they can not be sure that their investments and labour will be to their long term benefit? Overview

11. Smallholder agriculture is not sufficiently supported and subsidized. Public funds ought to be better channeled by governments (all tiers) to stimulate employment, growth and livelihoods Critical issues

12. Small holders need access to the factor markets of production and the benefits of improving their incomes up the value chain. Where some subsidized inputs are promised often it is the larger commercial farmers who have strong lobbies and close political ties; therefore need to level the playing field by helping small holders to develop their own institutions, they are not available to producers to undertake their time-bound operations. Critical issues

13. The farmer is, therefore, compelled to buy at cut-throat price. Because of his poor economic power, the farmer is unable to use the optimum required input. The effect on productivity is not farfetched. Critical issues

14. The Nigerian (and indeed African) farmer is vulnerable to the vagaries of weather (climate change) and is ill-prepared (and, therefore, caught off guard) when disasters come knocking. There are limited facilities and expertise for early warning devices. Post-harvest technologies, especially for preserving perishable foods are still being developed, the post-harvest losses are staggering (in both crop and non-crop sub-sectors) Critical issues

15. Soaring food prices (national and global) Research and development must receive renewed impetus to provide new idead and technologies/innovations to fast track agricultural development. Even where the scientific investments can lead to improved productivity, unless the poor have secure property rights the benefits are often expropriated by the powerful once the often poor quality of land has been restored meaning that the poor not only loose from the technical improvements but they loose on the value of the labour equity that has gone into improving productivity.

16. SG - 98 SB - 98

17. Cost of loan able fund (interest rates) � need to liberalized agric loans to create/boost productivity, employment and income

18. Soil fertility problem due to over use of poor lands and erosion/overgrazing Resource use conflict between pastoralists and farmers resulting in national and regional security problems Lack of or inappropriate land policies (super-imposition of statutory land laws on customary systems) Nature of the problem

19. Low capacity of civil society groups, farmer organizations, agricultural research and extension personnel in advocacy and community mobilization. Hence need to train the trainer to enable scientists and communities express their potentials High cost of inputs, low producer price Poor quality/adulteration of inputs (especially agro-chemical, fertilizers, etc) Poor access to agricultural finance support Need for policy and institutional reforms

20. Need to hold regular dialogue between civil society, researchers, extension staff and development partners to review land situation in order to be pro-active in advancing effective action plans and needed action research Need for the international community and development partners to mobilize bilateral, multilateral and regional resources to unleash productive potentials of IP and vulnerable groups and the advancement of viable and equitable land policies Nature of the problem

21. Scale up investment in agricultural research, training and extension for effective and efficient crop and livestock production (good results emerging from ARCN) Creation and/or protection of new or existing pastoral grazing niches to minimize conflicts and promote symbiosis between the two groups. Strengthen partnership between regional governments, the private sector and the international community Monitor effect of agro-chemical use on land and water bodies Nature of the problem

22. Encourage and promote youth groups and empower them to remain in gainful agricultural production in the rural area. This will reduce the influx of young persons into the cities (CADP, FADAMA yielding good results) Encourage the use of IK for land management and livestock production Promotion of gender equity in agricultural production and extension outreach so that women can express their potentials in agric produce processing and marketing.

23. Encourage adoption of ecologically compatible and socio-culturally accepted dual purpose crops and livestock species. Marketing frontiers should be expanded, connect smallholder farmers to markets Agricultural production SHOULD be generously subsidized by governments Guaranteed producer minimum price to keep producer motivated Investment in infrastructure and human capital is a MUST to launch Nigeria into the Green Revolution arena

24. The UN-system and development partners can play vital roles in mobilizing action in encouraging Nigeria and other African countries to produce agricultural goods in which they have comparative advantage and so have a fair share of the world trade and globalization

25. Livestock accounts for 40 percent of the global value of agricultural output, employs approximately 1.3 billion people and supports the livelihoods of almost a billion extremely poor people (those living under �a-dollar-a-day�). It is an integral part of mixed farming systems: raising farm productivity and contributing to food/nutrition security through access to high-quality food providing protein and vital micro-nutrients. In developing countries 90 percent of milk and 70 percent of ruminant meat are estimated to be produced in such systems, as are over one-third of pig and poultry meat, and eggs

26. Livestock enhance food security in households as an asset, a safety net to be sold for income or consumed in times of crisis, as collateral for credit, or an investment which can lead to higher incomes through increases in productivity and diversification of income sources. A 2009 FAO survey of 14 countries, showed that an average of 60 percent of rural households keep livestock, with a significant share of outputs sold and contributing to household cash income, for example for purchasing lowercost staple foods PLACE OF LIVESTOCK

27. Livestock can provide a pathway out of poverty for smallholders and associated low-income actors in livestock value chains, while also contributing to food/nutrition security by providing access to high-quality food, thereby helping to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (MDG1). Furthermore, improving the resource-use efficiency of livestock production can play a significant role in increasing sustainability of natural resource-use, and protecting and promoting biodiversity (MDG7). PLACE OF LIVESTOCK