The participants, here present, comprising domestic and international investors, sector experts, investment brokers, technical partners, high-level State and Federal Government officials entrepreneurs, industrialists, deserve a gallant of honours from us all for their unflinching faith in the capacity of our beloved nation to rise from her ashes and launch herself into her glorious dawn. They are unlike some entities that are divesting from our economy because of the little difficulty we are presently experiencing because of the volatility of oil prices in the global market, which is adversely affecting our economy.
They are portfolio managers, and fair weather friends who are only interested in the short- term benefits they can derive from our economy, rather than being genuine entrepreneurs and risk takers who want to partner with us to grow our economy and their businesses on a sustainable basis. It is regrettable that these divesting entities are unmindful of the fact that even in the face of the present difficulties confronting us as a nation, Nigeria is still a land of abundant opportunities with bright prospects for long-term prosperity and profitable gain for businesses to thrive, given the favourable governance climate in the country under the disciplined and exemplary leadership of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, CGFR.
It is a thing of profound delight that this Investment Forum is being organized around three basic building blocks of ‘Environment, Transport and Agriculture’ bearing in mind that they are complementary and mutually reinforcing. It is informed by the realization that all the developed and emerging economies of the world– constituting the global economic powerhouses- have, in the course of time and in various degrees, collectively and individually, derived their strength and potency by harnessing the catalytic factors in these three enabling variables to attain the enviable heights they have found themselves today. It is, therefore, fitting that, in the same vein, Ogun State has expressed its readiness to join this league of enterprising and goal-driven nation-states by organizing this forum to focus on what is essential and compelling for unlocking the potentials of the State for its systematic, programmed and accelerated development.
As Honourable Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, my turf is well defined, and I intend to restrict myself to this jurisdiction in this address. Let me flag it off by stating that
Agriculture is the soul of nations, hence any nation without a vibrant agricultural sector is already deprived of its essence and its soul. In this regard, a nation that cannot feed her citizens cannot be regarded as a land of dignity. The agriculture sector is the first industry given to man by God, and it is a source of blessing to humanity from the divine as long as it is profitably harnessed for the collective good of all. Accordingly, in many countries across the world, agriculture has always served as a source of livelihood and an engine of growth for wealth creation, employment generation within the overarching objective of improving the quality of the life of the citizenry towards enhancing human dignity and human security.
It is in recognition of the strategic importance of agriculture to national transformation that the Administration of His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari is giving the revival of the agricultural sector the priority it deserves in the on-going national development efforts. So what are our priorities over the next four years? The first priority is the achievement of self-sufficiency, and excess, in our local staples namely: cassava, rice, maize, sorghum, millet, wheat, fruits and vegetables, poultry, honey, sugar, beans, soya, oil-palm, fish, milk, vegetable oils. Through the cooperative efforts of all key stakeholders in the agricultural sector that we expect to key into this vision and help us to actualize it, we are confident that over the next four years, the huge import bill that we are incurring presently should gradually be a thing of the past while we conserve foreign exchange for deployment to areas of strategic importance, and improve on our employment generation capacity, especially for youths, which invariably will help to guarantee shared prosperity and enhance national security.
The second issue of concern is enhanced agro production for export in the areas of our comparative advantage namely: Cocoa, Coffee, Kolanut, Cotton, Cashew, Tea, Sesame, Soya, Fruits & Vegetables, Banana, Onions, Pineapples, Ogbono, Gum Arabic. We can all recall that at independence, Nigeria was a world-leading exporter of many cash crops including groundnut, palm oil, cocoa and cotton till the subsequent period of petroleum resource dominance that overshadowed the agricultural sector for many decades. The South Western geo-political zone of the country, of which Ogun State is a key member, financed most of its development programmes with earnings from the agricultural sector which made it a pace setter in many areas of human endeavour in the country. We urgently need to recover lost grounds in these areas given the realization that we controlled a sizeable share of the global market for these crops in the past.
We believe that the various measures that we are putting in place to re-energize the production of these crops in larger volumes, both as raw materials for home industries, and as exports, will help to restore our market share within the next two to four years. Given its proximity to Lagos State and the investment-friendly disposition of the State which has attracted more corporate organizations and industries into it lately, it is evident that Ogun State will be a key beneficiary of this policy drive of enhanced agro production and export in our areas of comparative advantage.
The third priority is addressing meaningfully and decisively the topical issues of certification, quality control and packaging, which have either led to under-pricing, or rejection of some of our agricultural exports in time past. Part of it entails replacing the use of polypropylene bags with jute bags for packaging. This, hopefully, should lead to the creation of thousands of on-farm jobs through the production of Kernaf as raw materials for making jute bags,. This is a huge window of opportunity for inflow of investment. We are mindful that the good practice, world-wide, now is not to export produce except in carbon-free packaging items, hence we are determined to ensure that our agricultural products increasingly pass the certification, quality control and packaging tests to enable our farmers have adequate returns on their harvests and assure us of regular inflow of additional income streams in foreign exchange to facilitate our economic recovery. We, therefore, welcome interested investors to key into this area of immense opportunities.
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, to enable us achieve these three-prong actions of self sufficiency in our local staples, enhanced agricultural production for exports and certification, quality control and packaging, we shall build zonal capabilities and comparative advantages in each geo-political zone of the country to ensure that each part of the country engages in the cultivation of crops and tendering of animals that are best suited to its peculiar circumstances. This will enable us to avoid unnecessary dissipation of energy on unprofitable ventures while ensuring that resources are efficiently and effectively applied for the maximization of the agricultural potentials of each state/zone. For example, cassava and rice (ofada) production as well as kolanut, poultry and aquaculture are distinct areas of comparative advantage in Ogun State which should be attractive to investors in the agricultural sector. In addition, investment on existing processing facilities such as cottage industries for high quality cassava flour (HQCF), industrial starch, sweeteners and Ethanol will require deepening and further consolidation.
Achieving higher yields through the utilization of improved seeds and seedlings is critical towards the revival of agriculture. In this connection, we shall source for improved seeds and seedlings by working cooperatively with all key stakeholders, including our research institutes and private sector seed production entities, bearing in mind that the law of nature recognises the reproduction of one’s kind-because a poor seed cannot yield a good increase. To this end, we are committed to the implementation of a sustained programme of strengthening our research institutes and providing the necessary incentives to seed companies to enable them play a vital role in producing high quality seeds and seedlings for enhanced agricultural production and agro export.
We are not satisfied with the extension system in the country, hence our determination to overhaul it by revitalizing the extension system by having an extension outfit in every local government in the country, as one stop shop, in order to reverse the abysmal low ratio of extension worker to farmer presently put at 1:10,000. We are committed to improving fertiliser types and ensuring that the delivery reaches farmers on schedule. Investors are, therefore, welcome in the area of fertiliser production and haulage to enable our farmers begin to use a new breed of fertilisers that is crop and soil specific. This is to help them move away from an era of using all-purpose fertilisers without reference to their suitability for crops or different soil and climatic conditions. We shall improve access to credit farmers by working towards removing all the existing barriers militating against improved credit penetration to farmers and other key stakeholders in the agricultural sector.
We are conscious of the fact that the future of agriculture lies with our youths. We shall empower our youths and place them at the epicentre of our revival and reinvigoration efforts. Also instructive is the critical role of women in agriculture, hence the need to put in place measures and incentives to encourage their continued participation in all activities across the agricultural value chain. I urge all interested investors in the agricultural development value chain to factor the concerns of youth and women in all their undertakings.
The Federal Government is already partnering with State Governments, including Ogun State, in this regard, through the agricultural equipment hiring enterprises (AEHE), scheme to provide value added services, such as leasing/hiring of various kind of agricultural equipment for land preparation, harvesting and post harvesting, repair and maintenance of such equipment, and as an incubator for training of personnel within farming communities. The participation of the private sector is, therefore, welcome in this important area, with immense potentials for growing the agricultural sector.
The need to re-activate, expand and utilize the existing dams and irrigation facilities, in the country, as well as exploit our underground water reserves, to meet the water needs for agricultural production and agribusiness cannot be more compelling, especially in view of the need to make agriculture an all year round activity rather than being rain fed/dependent. I urge investors here present to consider partnering with the State Government in water management and provision of irrigation facilities and services to promote dry season farming. Fortunately, Ogun State is abundantly blessed with its own fair share of water resources that can be harnessed for irrigation for enhanced agricultural production and agri-business. Another window of opportunity is increasing tractor density in the country for enhanced agricultural production through land acquisition, preparation and ownership.
The Federal Government is already partnering with State Governments, including Ogun State, in this regard, through the agricultural equipment hiring enterprises (AEHE), scheme to provide value added services, such as leasing/hiring of various kind of agricultural equipment for land preparation, harvesting and post harvesting, repair and maintenance of such equipment, and as an incubator for training of personnel within farming communities. The participation of the private sector is, therefore, welcome in this important area, with immense potentials for growing the agricultural sector.
On a closing note, let me assure all interested investors in the agricultural sector that agriculture is still a profitable venture. We recognise that without land, agriculture cannot be undertaken as a profitable business. It underlines our commitment to partnering with the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory Administration, for the provision of accessible land with secure tenure to investors in the agricultural sector. Given the immense pressure on land as a valuable asset, which is in short supply, we shall also work collaboratively with State Governments to ensure that the agricultural sector is not short-changed in getting adequate land for its needs in view of competing needs from other sectors. The increased investment by the Federal Government on enabling critical infrastructure such as power, rail, roads, education and health in the 2016 budget will also impact the agricultural sector positively over the short, medium and long terms.
We shall endeavour to take advantage of the institutional capacities and networks of the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant Federal and State Agencies to advance the cause of investment production in the agricultural sector. I, therefore, wish to assure you all that our determination to revive the agricultural sector is real and not a mere wishful thinking, hence our determination to provide all the necessary incentives and support to interested investors to enable them flourish in this sector for the enthronement of a new dispensation of an agricultural-led growth for sustainable national development.
-Keynote Address By Chief Audu I. Ogbeh, OFR, Minister Of Agriculture & Rural Development At The Third Ogun State Investors Forum, Held In Abeokuta, Ogun State, On Wednesday, 10th May, 2016.
Credit: TheNewsNG
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