Post by Honorebu on Mar 10, 2016 23:22:20 GMT
The South-West used to be a major player in the agricultural sector and a force to reckon with in foreign exchange earned through farm produce. But now, hunger seems to be staring the region in the face in spite of arable land and good weather. Why is this so? Why did the nation abandon agriculture for oil? What can be done to remedy this situation? YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports the views of stakeholders on this development.
Over the years, food crisis in Africa reached unprecedented proportions, taking a turn for the worse in the early 80’s and though Nigeria did not experience the brunt of the crisis, it is caught in the backlash. This many found unexpected because in the distant past, agriculture and food production was the backbone of the Nigerian economy.
Agriculture used to be the mainstay of the country’s economy, providing 70 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and there was an abundance of food for the populace.
In fact, before the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956, the agricultural sector was the industrial and economic platform depended on by the nation and the leading indices in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
And in the scheme of things in those days, the South-west was a force to reckon with in all spheres especially agriculture. In many states of the southwest, the major source of occupation and income is agriculture. And the region is known for the production of both food and cash crops which includes rice, yam, cassava, maize, cowpea, millet, cocoa, oil palm, kolanut, plantain, banana, cashew, citrus and timber.
Despite the reliance on traditional tools, the South-west was a homogenous social entity that was important to the well being of the country. In fact, the economic well being of Nigeria as a country depended mainly on the South-west and its farm produce as well as the income from the export of its cash crops.
In those days, the South-west had an abundance of food and did not rely on neigbouring regions for sustenance. Indeed, almost every household had a garden where fresh fruits and vegetables are cultivated. In those days, lack was not about what to eat as every family had enough food to sustain itself and food security was a term that was not in the dictionary of many.
Fast forward some decades and the story becomes a different one. Farming has gone almost extinct in the South-west and no one seems to have gardens any longer. The South-west has forgotten every practical aspect of farming; subsistence or arable, cash crops cultivation, riverside planting for dry season and anything that has to do with agriculture. Indeed, all efforts to revive such; the farm settlement schemes, river basin authority’s project and the back to land schools project had all failed woefully.
The reason for this is not farfetched – farming is on the decline, there exists at present only few farmers, majority of who are old men as most young men prefer to move into wage labour. Also, due to civilisation, there is shortage of land for cultivation as well as shortage of labour and a low level of technology
This situation is underscored by a popular rhetoric of socialism which states that “the facts of life are that development profits a minority of elites and deprives the masses of the peasantry and agricultural workers landless.”
A great percentage has blamed easy money gotten from crude oil as the cause of decline in agricultural activities. For a long time, oil has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and it brought in so much money easily that it became difficult for agriculture to compete with it. The journey was a happy one that brought industrialisation in huge proportions and agriculture automatically took a back seat but now, it is difficult for the country to produce enough food, cash and industrial crops to support its acclaimed industrialisation process.
And the southwest, which in the distant past was a force to reckon with lost its pride of place. Today, the South-west depends on other regions for the basic needs in food crops. Unlike before when vegetables, corn, pepper, and cassava is the preserve of the South-west, now, unless the northerner brings in pepper from the north, the southwest market has no pepper to sell, same goes for yam from Benue, beans from the north, palm oil from the east and such other products.
The dependence of the southwest on other regions had reached a frightening stage that stakeholders including farmers and food security experts have started making urgent calls for a rethink and a retrace of step. There have been various calls that the Southwest look inwards if it doesn’t want to fall in line of seeking food aid, if anything happens the security of the entity called Nigeria.
There had been blame trading on reasons for the decline in agriculture while many theories have been postulated as solutions but nothing seems to have given the required results. The only counsel that had remained unshaken is the fact that the South-west as an ethnic nation needs to aim for self sufficiency in food production.
According to United States based Research Chemist who is a Nigerian by birth, Professor Kayode Fakinlede, the South-west must not be contented with watching other regions develop and pass him by but must be willing to take a pride of place and explore its capacity to bring greatness to Nigeria.
Some years back, farmers at a forum in Lagos also contributed their quota and prescribed solutions to the ills plaguing agriculture. At the seminar organized by the Initiative for People Oriented Programmes, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Omotayo Jamiu, the Chairman of Omotayo farms stated that the wrong policy formulation by past leaders and ignorance of the peasant formulation are the bane of the agriculture sector, adding that previous efforts to ensure food security like Operation Feed the nation and Green Revolution collapsed due to faulty implementation.
“I have traveled across the country and some other countries in Africa, but it is sad that the attitude of our government to farmers and agriculture generally is not encouraging. What you see on ground across the country, like the Agricultural Development Authority in most of the states are just mere liaison offices which serve as inter-machineries between the federal and state governments. Majority of these agricultural development authorities cannot lay claim to any meaningful projects that are beneficial to the farmers, which in turn should push up agricultural production. But what is annoying about all these is that those implementers are the President, governors or chairmen of local governments,” Jamiu said.
Another farmer, Segun Adebanjo, urged the Federal Government to fulfill its promise to reposition agriculture and be farmer-friendly. “Development of agriculture sector is one of the government’s seven-point agenda and more than a year into the Yar’Adua administration, we are still expecting the government agenda on the sector. Government should always carry the local farmers along in all its activities in efforts to increase the frontiers in the fight against hunger and food insufficiency in the country,” Adebanjo said.
Also at the seminar, the Chairman of Ibikunle Farms, Chief Remi Ibikunle, said the government should make farmers feel the impact of governance, adding that farmers faced problems that needed urgent attention for food security to be achieved.
“Infrastructure in the rural areas is not there. Farmers transport their produce to markets with tears and pay high taxes. The challenges before government on agriculture are enormous and they need full attention,’’ he said.
And a cassava farmer in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, Funsho Adegoke, stressed the need for the government to dialogue with the farmers to know how best to help them. “Government should be more sensitive to the yearnings of the farmers,’’ Adegoke said.
But away from all these, food security experts have stated that the problem is not only about the government, adding that the greatest challenge has to do with the orientation of people about agriculture and emphasizing the need for people especially youths to go back to the farm. This is premised on the belief that in Nigeria today, agriculture is greatly undermined and underrated as a business for the unlettered. In fact, many youths see farming as a venture that is strictly for the aged while the rich meant for believes it is a job for the poor. But this is not the situation in developed countries as farming remains an essential part of the economic drive.
A school of thought believes that the Nigerian Government is doing little to solve the nation’s food or agricultural problems while a large number of farmers are not only illiterate but also lack modern agricultural technology and education. But some do not agree with this, they believe that there is already a change in the horizon.
This school of thought may not be wrong according to a farmer that spoke with Nigerian Tribune. Dotun Ayandiran is not an illiterate and he is a full time farmer. According to him, farming is the vocation of the youth; both literate and illiterate, in many towns of Oke Ogun community now. Ayandiran, who graduated from the College of Education, stated that though many people have abandoned farming as a vocation, the trend has changed in recent times.
He explained that in Sepeteri now, many youths have gone back to farming especially vegetable farming in the swamps. “It is true that people in the South-west for long have abandoned farming. Our people do not want to go to the swamps again but in Sepeteri now, we have all retraced our steps to embrace farming. People especially youths have gone back to the swamp because the Ogun Osun river basin helps in irrigating our farm whatever it is that is cultivated be it maize, cassava or vegetables.
“We are all going there to get parcels of land to plant whatever we want
There are many youths engaged in farming in Sepeteri now, the youths form the greatest percentage of farmers here at present,” Ayandiran said.
He was however optimistic about what the future holds if more people go back to the farms. “By God’s grace, with the rate we are going and if more people in towns across the South-west join this drive, in addition to the present level of government intervention, in five years time, farming will be ahead of many occupations in the South-west. Now, we cultivate yam, maize and cassava, tomato and water melon. In one year, the interest one will get will be beyond what he invested, it will be double. In every gathering, I encourage people to go back to farming because it is a job that brings proceeds and helps the community,” he stated.
Ayandiran concluded that they have no challenges selling their produce because once they harvest, people come to buy from neighbouring towns, adding that their products get to every main market across the neighbouring states.
This sentiment was echoed by Professor Fakinlede in his book, “Wealth of the Yoruba people” where he said, “We want to become a strong agricultural power again. We are aware that we have lost our leadership in this area and have suffered terribly because of this. We now know that a developmental scheme that does not embrace a strong agricultural development as its backbone is nothing but a pipe dream. We will find ways to achieve agricultural superiority again without losing sight of our ambition to become an industrialised people.
“We always have all the resources that make for a great agricultural economy. We have a rich soil, mostly flat terrain and a climate suitable for the cultivation of many crops. There is an availability of enough rain and surface waters. We still have enough human resources with adequate entrepreneurial acumen,” he said.
Prof Fakinlede concluded that the first instrument of modern enslavement is the deprivation of a society of its ability to feed itself which is done by convincing the society that with its new found richness, it doesn’t need agriculture.
For the South-west to regain its pride, all its institutions may indeed need to see agriculture as the main engine that drives its economic machine and be oriented towards its success by going back to the farm.
Tribune
Over the years, food crisis in Africa reached unprecedented proportions, taking a turn for the worse in the early 80’s and though Nigeria did not experience the brunt of the crisis, it is caught in the backlash. This many found unexpected because in the distant past, agriculture and food production was the backbone of the Nigerian economy.
Agriculture used to be the mainstay of the country’s economy, providing 70 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign exchange and there was an abundance of food for the populace.
In fact, before the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956, the agricultural sector was the industrial and economic platform depended on by the nation and the leading indices in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
And in the scheme of things in those days, the South-west was a force to reckon with in all spheres especially agriculture. In many states of the southwest, the major source of occupation and income is agriculture. And the region is known for the production of both food and cash crops which includes rice, yam, cassava, maize, cowpea, millet, cocoa, oil palm, kolanut, plantain, banana, cashew, citrus and timber.
Despite the reliance on traditional tools, the South-west was a homogenous social entity that was important to the well being of the country. In fact, the economic well being of Nigeria as a country depended mainly on the South-west and its farm produce as well as the income from the export of its cash crops.
In those days, the South-west had an abundance of food and did not rely on neigbouring regions for sustenance. Indeed, almost every household had a garden where fresh fruits and vegetables are cultivated. In those days, lack was not about what to eat as every family had enough food to sustain itself and food security was a term that was not in the dictionary of many.
Fast forward some decades and the story becomes a different one. Farming has gone almost extinct in the South-west and no one seems to have gardens any longer. The South-west has forgotten every practical aspect of farming; subsistence or arable, cash crops cultivation, riverside planting for dry season and anything that has to do with agriculture. Indeed, all efforts to revive such; the farm settlement schemes, river basin authority’s project and the back to land schools project had all failed woefully.
The reason for this is not farfetched – farming is on the decline, there exists at present only few farmers, majority of who are old men as most young men prefer to move into wage labour. Also, due to civilisation, there is shortage of land for cultivation as well as shortage of labour and a low level of technology
This situation is underscored by a popular rhetoric of socialism which states that “the facts of life are that development profits a minority of elites and deprives the masses of the peasantry and agricultural workers landless.”
A great percentage has blamed easy money gotten from crude oil as the cause of decline in agricultural activities. For a long time, oil has been the mainstay of the Nigerian economy and it brought in so much money easily that it became difficult for agriculture to compete with it. The journey was a happy one that brought industrialisation in huge proportions and agriculture automatically took a back seat but now, it is difficult for the country to produce enough food, cash and industrial crops to support its acclaimed industrialisation process.
And the southwest, which in the distant past was a force to reckon with lost its pride of place. Today, the South-west depends on other regions for the basic needs in food crops. Unlike before when vegetables, corn, pepper, and cassava is the preserve of the South-west, now, unless the northerner brings in pepper from the north, the southwest market has no pepper to sell, same goes for yam from Benue, beans from the north, palm oil from the east and such other products.
The dependence of the southwest on other regions had reached a frightening stage that stakeholders including farmers and food security experts have started making urgent calls for a rethink and a retrace of step. There have been various calls that the Southwest look inwards if it doesn’t want to fall in line of seeking food aid, if anything happens the security of the entity called Nigeria.
There had been blame trading on reasons for the decline in agriculture while many theories have been postulated as solutions but nothing seems to have given the required results. The only counsel that had remained unshaken is the fact that the South-west as an ethnic nation needs to aim for self sufficiency in food production.
According to United States based Research Chemist who is a Nigerian by birth, Professor Kayode Fakinlede, the South-west must not be contented with watching other regions develop and pass him by but must be willing to take a pride of place and explore its capacity to bring greatness to Nigeria.
Some years back, farmers at a forum in Lagos also contributed their quota and prescribed solutions to the ills plaguing agriculture. At the seminar organized by the Initiative for People Oriented Programmes, a Non-Governmental Organisation, Omotayo Jamiu, the Chairman of Omotayo farms stated that the wrong policy formulation by past leaders and ignorance of the peasant formulation are the bane of the agriculture sector, adding that previous efforts to ensure food security like Operation Feed the nation and Green Revolution collapsed due to faulty implementation.
“I have traveled across the country and some other countries in Africa, but it is sad that the attitude of our government to farmers and agriculture generally is not encouraging. What you see on ground across the country, like the Agricultural Development Authority in most of the states are just mere liaison offices which serve as inter-machineries between the federal and state governments. Majority of these agricultural development authorities cannot lay claim to any meaningful projects that are beneficial to the farmers, which in turn should push up agricultural production. But what is annoying about all these is that those implementers are the President, governors or chairmen of local governments,” Jamiu said.
Another farmer, Segun Adebanjo, urged the Federal Government to fulfill its promise to reposition agriculture and be farmer-friendly. “Development of agriculture sector is one of the government’s seven-point agenda and more than a year into the Yar’Adua administration, we are still expecting the government agenda on the sector. Government should always carry the local farmers along in all its activities in efforts to increase the frontiers in the fight against hunger and food insufficiency in the country,” Adebanjo said.
Also at the seminar, the Chairman of Ibikunle Farms, Chief Remi Ibikunle, said the government should make farmers feel the impact of governance, adding that farmers faced problems that needed urgent attention for food security to be achieved.
“Infrastructure in the rural areas is not there. Farmers transport their produce to markets with tears and pay high taxes. The challenges before government on agriculture are enormous and they need full attention,’’ he said.
And a cassava farmer in Ijebu-Igbo, Ogun State, Funsho Adegoke, stressed the need for the government to dialogue with the farmers to know how best to help them. “Government should be more sensitive to the yearnings of the farmers,’’ Adegoke said.
But away from all these, food security experts have stated that the problem is not only about the government, adding that the greatest challenge has to do with the orientation of people about agriculture and emphasizing the need for people especially youths to go back to the farm. This is premised on the belief that in Nigeria today, agriculture is greatly undermined and underrated as a business for the unlettered. In fact, many youths see farming as a venture that is strictly for the aged while the rich meant for believes it is a job for the poor. But this is not the situation in developed countries as farming remains an essential part of the economic drive.
A school of thought believes that the Nigerian Government is doing little to solve the nation’s food or agricultural problems while a large number of farmers are not only illiterate but also lack modern agricultural technology and education. But some do not agree with this, they believe that there is already a change in the horizon.
This school of thought may not be wrong according to a farmer that spoke with Nigerian Tribune. Dotun Ayandiran is not an illiterate and he is a full time farmer. According to him, farming is the vocation of the youth; both literate and illiterate, in many towns of Oke Ogun community now. Ayandiran, who graduated from the College of Education, stated that though many people have abandoned farming as a vocation, the trend has changed in recent times.
He explained that in Sepeteri now, many youths have gone back to farming especially vegetable farming in the swamps. “It is true that people in the South-west for long have abandoned farming. Our people do not want to go to the swamps again but in Sepeteri now, we have all retraced our steps to embrace farming. People especially youths have gone back to the swamp because the Ogun Osun river basin helps in irrigating our farm whatever it is that is cultivated be it maize, cassava or vegetables.
“We are all going there to get parcels of land to plant whatever we want
There are many youths engaged in farming in Sepeteri now, the youths form the greatest percentage of farmers here at present,” Ayandiran said.
He was however optimistic about what the future holds if more people go back to the farms. “By God’s grace, with the rate we are going and if more people in towns across the South-west join this drive, in addition to the present level of government intervention, in five years time, farming will be ahead of many occupations in the South-west. Now, we cultivate yam, maize and cassava, tomato and water melon. In one year, the interest one will get will be beyond what he invested, it will be double. In every gathering, I encourage people to go back to farming because it is a job that brings proceeds and helps the community,” he stated.
Ayandiran concluded that they have no challenges selling their produce because once they harvest, people come to buy from neighbouring towns, adding that their products get to every main market across the neighbouring states.
This sentiment was echoed by Professor Fakinlede in his book, “Wealth of the Yoruba people” where he said, “We want to become a strong agricultural power again. We are aware that we have lost our leadership in this area and have suffered terribly because of this. We now know that a developmental scheme that does not embrace a strong agricultural development as its backbone is nothing but a pipe dream. We will find ways to achieve agricultural superiority again without losing sight of our ambition to become an industrialised people.
“We always have all the resources that make for a great agricultural economy. We have a rich soil, mostly flat terrain and a climate suitable for the cultivation of many crops. There is an availability of enough rain and surface waters. We still have enough human resources with adequate entrepreneurial acumen,” he said.
Prof Fakinlede concluded that the first instrument of modern enslavement is the deprivation of a society of its ability to feed itself which is done by convincing the society that with its new found richness, it doesn’t need agriculture.
For the South-west to regain its pride, all its institutions may indeed need to see agriculture as the main engine that drives its economic machine and be oriented towards its success by going back to the farm.
Tribune
