Launch Of The Agricultural Sector Roadmap: The Green Alternative Agriculture Promotion Policy

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE LAUNCH OF THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR ROADMAP, THE GREEN ALTERNATIVE AGRICULTURE PROMOTION POLICY ON AUGUST 15, 2016.

PROTOCOLS

I am pleased to be here this morning to participate in this epochal event, the launch of this Administration’s Agricultural Sector Roadmap, befittingly described as The Green Alternative Agriculture Promotion Policy 2016 -2020. The present administration came into office to meet an economy essentially in meltdown. We realise that we had to make difficult decisions, and in short-medium term, in order to repair the huge damage done. Despite the dependence on oil, but worse by not investing in infrastructure or deepening the base from our economy, or even building our reserves when oil sold at over a hundred dollars a barrel, we knew that we had to set aright the economy and put that economy of the past to inclusive growth, with job opportunities for our huge population.

One of the most critical components of that plan is to position agriculture as the arrowhead of the economic recovery effort. There’s no question at all, that if we get agriculture right, we will get our economy right. A roadmap that we are about to present identifies two key challenges; the first is the inability to meet domestic food requirements, this is a productivity challenge driven by an input system and farming model that is likely inefficient. The lack of good seeds, fertilizers, irrigation, crop protection etc. And two, the inability to export at the level required for marketing, which is stupefied by an inefficient system for setting and enforcing food quality, poor knowledge of target markets, a weak inspectorate system and poor coordination amongst relevant agencies.

With great clarity, The Green Alternative sets out strategies for resolving these challenges. I am personally impressed that The Roadmap does not dismiss the Agricultural policies of the past. Indeed, the policy says that itself “building on the successes of the agricultural transformation agenda, closing the gap” The problem has never been a lack of policy, it has always been the focus and capacity to stick to the plan, to modify when necessary and ensure also that the plan aligns with all aspects of the economic plan of the Government.

This particular issue of alignment is crucial, just to give some obvious examples, you cannot have a policy of encouraging local production of food and on the other hand, have a high tariff on imported agricultural equipment. There is no way that we can encourage local production, when we allow unbridled importation of the same things that we are trying to produce. There is no way we can do the scale of agricultural production both for domestic consumption and export, without ensuring local improved seedling development, alongside those that have been bought and of course encouraging the work of the Agencies, Ministries of Science and Technology, who have been making great in local development of agricultural improvement.

Still, on the issue of policy alignment, our social investment program is designed to align with our agricultural and other policies and so part of the 500,000 Teacher Corps that will be engaged, 100,000 of them will be trained as extension workers for our farms. Our Home Grown School Feeding Programme which seeks to provide a meal a day to primary school children is described as homegrown specifically because the food will be from the farm in each state. Some of the states that have started the programme are already seeing the important multiplier effects in their agricultural sector.

Financing of agriculture is also a crucial policy. With double-digit interest rate at the moment and the almost religious block of the banks to lend to agriculture, we must develop some funding options in the short term. The Anchor Borrowers Scheme of the CBN has proved to be extremely useful. Indeed, the phenomenal success of the Kebbi rice programme where the farmers move from 3.5MT per hectare to 7.5MT per hectare was largely because of the single-digit interest rate extended by the Anchor Borrowers Scheme of the CBN which they use to purchase the right fertilizer quality and other inputs. The Ministry of Finance has practically concluded to recapitalize and re-engineer the Bank of Agriculture. We expect that before the end of this quarter, the Bank of Agriculture should be ready to give single-digit interest loans to farmers.

Let me commend Chief Audu Ogbeh, Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, for spearheading the effort of developing this roadmap which undeniably is our pathway to sustained and rapid progress in the agricultural sector. Indeed, not only has Chief Audu Ogbeh developed this roadmap effectively and within a very short time, but he has also conducted advocacy of the kind we have not seen in a long time in the agricultural sector.

I congratulate also, the Hon. Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Sen. Lokpobiri who has worked very hard alongside the Minister of Agriculture, as well as other key stakeholders of the agricultural sector of the national economy for working in synergy for us to develop this new policy. This administration is indeed very proud of you all for your dedication, resourcefulness and patriotism.

Ultimately, our commendation goes to President Buhari, for his renewed vision of an agricultural led economy as an alternative proposition to an oil-dependent growth. You will recall your excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, that early in the life of this administration, Mr. President urged all Nigerians to return to the farms with an urgent call given the need for us to liberate ourselves from the periodic cycle of boom interlaced with bust and meltdown. It is an urgent call for our nation to embrace the truth that oil-dependent economy would never provide enough for 170 million people and still grow in leaps and bounds.

But Mr. President and Hon. Minister of Agriculture are farmers so they practice what they preach. The rest of us are being slowly converted. The President has promised me some cows from his farm in Daura and I intend to take possession of them as soon as I am able to find sufficient land to start my own legal ranch.

This agricultural revolution calls for us all to farm, even small vegetable farms. The only conventional activity that our constitution allows a public officer is farming, so we have no excuse. I like to thank you all for your kind attention and I hereby launch the Agricultural Sector Roadmap, the Green Objective Agriculture Promotion policy 2016 – 2020.

I thank you for listening.