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Rain-fed farming unreliable to guarantee food security-Northwest stakeholders

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Rain-fed farming unreliable to guarantee food security-Northwest stakeholders

Some stakeholders in the agriculture sector have called for the introduction of an Action Plan aimed at boosting the involvement of the citizenry in irrigation farming.

The stakeholders, made up of farmers, agriculture experts and disaster management personnel, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano, Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara that with the rainy season becoming increasingly unpredictable, threat to national food security was apparent.

They cited the example of this year experiencing unprecedented downpour, with its colossal damage to food crops, as against some years back when farmers had to grapple with drought or dry spell during the wet season.

According to them, time has come to de-emphasis reliance on rain-fed farming because of it unreliability, and replace same with dry season irrigation farming that enables farmers to control situations on ground.

They also suggested the provision of information or data on the right choice of variety crops to be planted, based on the anticipated rainfall pattern of each year as envisaged by NiMet.

The stakeholders also advised farmers on measures to take to avert losses

Dr Nurudeen Abdullahi, Territorial Coordinator of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Kano, advised farmers to embrace irrigation farming, as well as intensify mitigation and response efforts to check the effects of heavy downpour on crops

He admonished farmers to always take with utmost seriousness, climate prediction by NiMet to reduce the vulnerability of their crops to destruction by heavy rainfall.

Dr Aliyu Barau, a lecturer with the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bayero University Kano, also said that farmers must embrace irrigation farming to make up for their losses.

He expressed fears about the possibility of astronomical hike in price of food items, just as he suggested that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture should be providing data and information on what was suitable for farmers to cultivate, ahead of rainy season.

An Agricultural Consultant, Dr Ahmad Abubakar, stressed the need for farmers to embrace irrigation farming to avoid negative impact of flood.

According to him, the excessive downpour that characterise the 2022 rainy season, posed a serious threat to food security in view of the calamities that have befallen farmers.

“Although we are still in the season, we have to start thinking, as stakeholders, on how to address the anticipated shortfall in food production to avoid hunger in the land”, he said.

Also, Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kano chapter, Alhaji Abdulrashid Rimingado, called on the appropriate authorities to be taking preventive measures by providing modern storage facilities to farmers.

He said such measure would minimise post-harvest losses and mitigate the impact of damage to crops by heavy rainfall.

He said the country had been incurring losses annually due to damage to crops by downpour and lack of well-equipped storage facilities.

In his contribution, Chairman of Rice Farmers Association (RIFAN) in Kebbi, Alhaji Abdullah’s Argungu, advised farmers to be planting early maturing crop varieties.

He said such varieties could resist the effects of climate change that had been manifesting in the form of erratic rainfalls pattern.

In Zamfara, flood had destroyed over 3000 hectares of farmland, according to the Public Relation Officer to the Ministry for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Bashir Kabir.

He told NAN that although all parts of the state were affected, most hit were Bukkuyum, Gummi and Talata Mafara.

A household from Talata Mafara community, Hamisu Garba, said flooding had damaged houses and foodstuffs crops and domestic animals.

The situation is the same in Sokoto State, with some farmers lamenting the damage to their crops.

A large scale farmer in the state, Alhaji Halilu Aliyu, told NAN that rice and millet crops were most affected.

Aliyu said due to the rainfall pattern of the State, farmers usually planted crops with short maturity period that required minimum rainfall, but that this year, the volume of rain had become too much for such crops.

Rain-fed farming unreliable to guarantee food security-Northwest stakeholders

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Agriculture

Experts, CSOs Propose Bill to Outlaw Genetically Modified Crops in Nigeria

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Experts, CSOs Propose Bill to Outlaw Genetically Modified Crops in Nigeria

By: Michael Mike

Coalition of Civil Societies Organisations and several agricultural experts including farmers have proposed a bill for an Act for the prohibition of Genetically Modified Organism (GMOs) in Nigeria, insisting that it is to guide against degeneration of health and wellbeing of Nigerians

The experts who took turns to speak at a press conference on investigative research and public hearing on GMOs.held on Wednesday in Abuja, said the proliferation of GMOs in the country is worrisome and should be outlawed in the country.

The Programme Manager of Health of the Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF) Joyce Brown lamented that the Nigeria Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA) is yet to conduct any clinical trials on the GMOs being brought into the country, claiming that what is seen on their website is the applications for bringing in GMOs into the country with no assessments report to actually certify that the GMOs are safe.

She said the country does not need GMOs to solve it’s food insecurity, insisting that food insecurity is caused by poverty, insecurity, inequality among others, noting that instead of resorting to GMOs, the country should rather addressed the problems.

She however advised that looking at the country’s agricultural landscape, a sustainable approach such as agroecology should be adopted to boost food production and not GMOs

On his part, a renowned teacher and agricultural consultant, Prof Johnson Ekpere said that the previous government ratified GMO without understanding the basic precepts that guide GMO which is the Cartegena Protocol on Biosafety

He stressed that the government must ensure that the basic tenets that guide this protocol is understood by those implementing the law for successful adoption and integration.

He also called on the government to set up a biosafety research facility that will help them understand what they are doing and take drastic risk assessment of our biotechnology

The Deputy Director of Center for Food Safety and Agricultural Research, Prof. Qrisstuberg Amua stated that NBMA should be a biosafety regulatory agency not a management agency, insisting that the misapplication of their names has translated them into a promoter of foreign technology that are at the detriment of Nigerians

He however warned that that the unregulated biosafety research can exercebate biosafety challenges which is what is currently manifesting in Nigeria as the chemical pesticides used are known disruptors of echo systems.

Another expert, Dr Segun Adebayo called on the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Federal Completion and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to rise up their duty by controlling what is being brought into the country saying Nigerians are eating poison.

A farmer Mrs Ejim Nnena insisted that farmers say No to GMO as the adoption of the technology means poverty, serious nutrition crisis among others.

She maintained that if they are given GMO seeds and cannot replant it, it is poverty in disguise adding that if they have to spray chemicals to enable the seed germinate properly that means farmers are being pushed out of the field into slavery..

She said what farmers are asking for is adequate security on the farms, extension workers to guide the, mapped out areas for farm activities, provide seed banks.

Experts, CSOs Propose Bill to Outlaw Genetically Modified Crops in Nigeria

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ThriveAgric partners Mercy Corps to launch its first multipurpose grain cleaning and milling facility in Gombe

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ThriveAgric partners Mercy Corps to launch its first multipurpose grain cleaning and milling facility in Gombe

ThriveAgric, a leading agri-tech company committed to advancing food security in Africa in collaboration with Mercy Corps has unveiled its Multipurpose Grain Facility project in Nasarawo Industrial Layout in Gombe State.

The project, which is under the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity (RRA) initiative is intended to enhance the local economy, empower smallholder farmers and improve the agricultural value chain.

It Is also expected to contribute to Nigeria’s self-sufficiency and economic diversification goals.

As part of the project, a multipurpose rice cleaning and milling facility was established at the layout.

Inaugurating the facility on Wednesday, Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State who was represented by the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry and Cooperatives, Dr Barnabas Malle, said that the facility would help to reduce post-harvest losses.

Yahaya said that such losses often caused huge financial losses to smallholder farmers.

He said that the project would complement the State Government’s commitment toward strengthening agriculture and enhancing the lives of smallholder farmers.

He said that rice production plays a crucial role in food security and local livelihoods.

“Our farmers have often faced serious challenges, from post- harvest losses to limited access to modern facilities.

“This new facility, made possible through the collaborative efforts of ThriveAgric and Mercy Corps under the RRA, is a direct response to these challenges.

“It will enhance our ability to process rice efficiently, improve the quality of our yields, and minimise losses that impact both income and food availability.

“This is a catalyst for economic growth as this facility is set to create value addition to the commodity,” he said.

The governor commended ThriveAgric and Mercy Corps for their support, adding that it would reduce poverty and ensure farmers get good returns on their investment.

The Chief Executive Officer of ThriveAgric, Mr Uka Eje, said the initiative was one of the many partnerships aimed at supporting smallholder farmers through value addition.

Eje said that value addition remains a necessary tool to helping farmers to earn more from their labour.

According to him, the project launch symbolises ThriveAgric’s commitment to building an Africa that feeds itself and the world, adding that “by enabling local processing, we’re addressing a core challenge in the agricultural value chain – post-harvest losses while empowering farmers with the tools needed to produce high-quality grains that command better market prices.

“For us, we want to make sure that the farmers are rightly incentivised to go back to farming in order to earn more.
“Agriculture is beyond a cultural activity, it is largely commerce and through this work and initiative, we want to ensure that it is profitable commerce for the smallholder farmers.

“This launch is a groundbreaking achievement as ThriveAgric’s first multipurpose grain cleaning and milling facility.

“We’re not just building infrastructure; we’re creating a sustainable solution that positions Nigerian agriculture for greater economic impact and resilience,” he said.
He said that the rice processing facility would impact 20,000 farmers directly and indirectly.

Also, the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager of Mercy Corps, Mr Shadrack Gideon, said that the initiative was business model to help drive investment into the state.
Gideon further said that the move would improve smallholder farmers’ incomes, hence he urged them to embrace the initiative.

A rice farmer from Billiri, Mrs Blessing Stephen, said the initiative would greatly assist smallholder farmers, reduce wastage during rice processing, improve rice quality and farmers’ incomes.

Stephen said: “I am happy that we now have this facility where we can clean and process our rice to look like foreign one, this will help us to sell them quickly with more profits.

“It usually took me months to process 100 bags of paddy rice manually.

“And because of the stress, I ended up selling them at give away prices, but now within days I can process all my paddies.”
Our Correspondent reports that the multipurpose grain cleaning and milling facility which is a state-of-the-art facility with a processing capacity of 15-20 metric tonnes will enhance the quality of grains such as rice, maize, and millet by removing impurities like stones and dirt.

The advanced equipment, including temperature and humidity control systems will also ensure that farmers can access premium markets with a projected income increase of up 30 per cent.

With over 50 local job opportunities directly created through the new facility, and an additional boost for agri-SMEs engaged with the One-Stop Shops, the project is set to drive economic empowerment, especially for women and youth.

ThriveAgric partners Mercy Corps to launch its first multipurpose grain cleaning and milling facility in Gombe

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Agriculture

Farmers Harvesting Unripe Sorghum, other Farm Products in Yobe

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Farmers Harvesting Unripe Sorghum, other Farm Products in Yobe

By: Kolo Gulani

There’s no doubt, Yobe State Government has been trying in terms of security of lives and properties in the state since the assumption of Hon. Mai Mala Buni CON and beyond.

Recall that in 2019, Gov. Buni donates security patrol vehicles to NDLEA, NAFDAC and other security agencies mainly to rid the state of the problem of drug abuse and the use of unwholesome products, especially among the youths.

It’s also worth to mention that the state government had also donated 30 Toyota Hilux vehicles for security surveillance to the Nigerian Police and other security agencies in the state.

The governor made the donation while constituting ‘Haba Maza Squad’ involving Nigerian Police and other security agencies aimed at ensuring peace and security across the state.

Meanwhile, we have to also commend the establishment of Operation Haba Maza as they have tried their possible best in safeguarding the state.

Unfortunately, in the recent days, there are some lingering problems that the attention of Yobe State Government has to be drawn. The issue of farmer/herder conflicts which forced many farmers harvesting unripe sorghum and other farm products in the state.

It’s found out that many farmlands were destroyed by the herders in various local government areas in the state more particularly, Gulani and Gujba. The menace is yet to be curbed despite the efforts made by the state government, traditional rulers and concerned authorities in deploying security personnel to various areas as well as constituting dialogue.

Findings also revealed that there are cases of robbing the vulnerable people inside keke, burglary and theft in the Damaturu metropolis.

Farmers Harvesting Unripe Sorghum, other Farm Products in Yobe

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