Lation together – Agric minister

him to embrace agriculture in 1973. He was sworn in on 21st Nanono from Tofa Village of Gabasawa District of Kano State k (AIB). In-between he was a civil servant and taught at the licy and Administration with specialization in Development ost prominent amongst which was Advanced Management nies and parastatals including Kano State Foundation from Development Authority (HJRBDA) 1989 and Chairman Kano elopment, Sabo Nanono has blazed the trail, transforming ire to do his best to make the ministry a pace setter. “I am ding the economy and we need to work in synergy to move Excerpts: able to achieve so far?

Well, it is important to appreciate that at the time president Buhari took over the administration of this country (2015), the economy was on the verge of collapse. Oil prices have dwindling down to $27 per barrel as against a $100 per barrel. There were mountain import bills especially food items – rice, wheat, millet etc. It was very dear that the government had to do something and one of the first declaration of Mr. President was “we produce what we eat and we eat what we produce” and the first policy direction was to drastically reduce the importation of rice and gradually ban it. At a time, this policy was being implemented there was resistance from large section of Nigerians especially big importers and smugglers of rice. And this policy paid-off and Nigeria is now the 13th producer of rice in the world and number one in African. And Nigeria has the potential to be number tour in the production of rice in the world. It is also important to note arising from the clusters mills are working to full capacity. In fact, in Kano, there are now 42 integrated mills with a 100 to 400 tonnes capacity per day employing directly between 200 to 300 workers. Smaller integrated mills with clusters around Kura, Doguwa, Tudun Wada, Bebeji, Gezawa in thousands and similar mills are coming up in Katsina, Sokoto, Bauchi, Adamawa, Lagos etc. This is an important achievement of president Buhari’s administration. It is also important to note that the current policy of government to internalize what we eat has given rise to a lot of initiatives on the part of the private sector to go into the agricultural sector – direct crop production, horticulture and live-stock farming. For the record, the policy of the present administration for the importation of rice in particular has saved the country form a lot of discomfort arising from the Covud-19. It would have being a disaster if this policy initiative of producing the rice we eat was not taken earlier. We would have being in a situation that we would have no foreign exchange to import and even if we have, nearly all countries closed their borders.

Can you tell us some of the initiatives from the agricultural sector?

There are also other initiatives from the agricultural sector i.e. production and processing of exportable commodities such as sesame seed, hibiscus, benniseed, sheanut and many other related crops. In fact, my ministry is working on policy on exportable commodities which are listed above and the blue print will be coming out for public consumption as soon as the government gives its blessing.

What are you doing in the area of cocoa and other cash crops especially in the area of value addition?

This is an important question. People will recall that we lost our position in the product of coca and palm oil over the years. Countries that were looking up to us for leadership in this area are now leaving us; for example, Malaysia and Indonesia on Palm oil, Ghana, Vote D’voire on Cocoa. We have the capacity and the strength to regain our position. It requires two ( 2) fundamental issues. The political will of the government and the private sector will and resolve to invest in this sector. On our part, the ministry through its agencies, cocoa research institutes and palm oil research institutes have now produced high yielding cocoa and palm oil which start maturing in 2 1/2 – 3 years.

Some of us in the financial and economic journalism in the country were surprised that despite a major contraction of many other sectors of the economy, the agricultural sector grew up despite the lockdown. How can this be sustained?

Well your question is very important. Agriculture is the reality and this covid-19 has shown the resilience of this all important sector. All the sectors of the economy with exception of commercial banks showed declining trend; Agriculture on the other hand showed an increased growth rate even though at a declining trend. But all the same, it shows the importance of this sector and it is the one as I said earlier that holds the country together and I am happy to note that Nigerians have now taken up the challenge to take agriculture to the next level. The financial sub-sector under normal circumstances and arising from the covid-19 should have shown a declining trend as manufacturing and other services declined. But unfortunately most of our commercial banks earnings were coming and still are coming from foreign exchange dealings and importation of goods of direct consumption with absolutely no value addition. It is therefore, important to reflect and look forward to the contribution of this important financial sector (commercial banks) in the future development of this country. The contribution to the development of the real sector – agriculture, manufacturing, construction etc. is far below the national aggregation of various sectors of the Nigerian economy.

I am sure you are very concerned as a long standing farmer, someone who understands the dynamics of Nigeria economy, insecurity, banditry, kidnapping and insurgency in the country. How have these impacted on agricultural output for this farming season and what are you doing to deal with the situation?

Despite the security problems in the country, farmers have really invested a lot in the farming business this year. From the preliminary reports 1 received all over the country, the situation is not all that bad and we can be able to contain it. It is unfortunate that the devastation of food in the north and drought in the south is likely to affect the production of rice and maize especially in states like Kebbi, Jigawa, Niger and Kwara etc and in the South Edo, Imo and Ebonyi. However, the federal government is taking early measures to contain the situation, in our ministry; we are preparing to support rice and maize farmers in the coming rice season through input and financial support. You will recall under the federal government’s Economic Sustainability Programme, small scale farmers- 1 acre to 5 acre will be funded with interest free loan to the tune of N600 Billion.

What should Nigerians expect from this ministry in the next three (3) years?

One of the most important things I will like to be remembered is to ensure the availability of food at affordable and a reasonable price. This may not come easy but is it my wish. It is also important that we make the farmers happy and make farming more attractive to our learning population of young Nigerians. I will also like to see a strong synergy between Agriculture and industrial sector as it is the surest way to create jobs and empower our youths to earn good income to take of their families, pay for their health and education bills as when due.

What do you do ensure maximum productivity of your own staff to help you achieve this idea? How do you ensure cohesion of agencies under supervision key into this vision?

The most important thing is change of attitude. The world is changing and agriculture cannot be left behind. We have to train our people for the future development of agriculture in this country. We are looking at the overall situation in the agricultural extension service, we are going to train about 75,000 extension workers within the next two (2) years, we have already gone half way, I am happy to note that the private sector and donor agencies have also taken up the challenge. In the next two (2) years, an informed knowledge and technology will be innovating agents in the agricultural sector. Our mechanization programme which will take off soon, will be a platform for training youths in modern agriculture.

What about agencies under your ministry?

I have about 42 agencies including four (4) University of Agriculture. This is an enormous responsibility on the part of the federal ministry of Agriculture. We are currently in the process of streamlining the research agencies to be more cost effective and productive. There is currently a Bill in the National Assembly on this issue. As I have mentioned earlier, some of the research institutes are focusing on the development of new seedlings in cocoa and oil farms. Others have developed good seeds like the institute of Agriculture Research Samaru, Zaria and the Chad Research Institute, Borno State.

You have been privileged to serve this country as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, what legacies would you want to leave behind?

I think I would like to be remembered for uplifting the agricultural sector to the next level; enabling poor and peasant farmers to become rich by playing their part in the development of this country

I think I would like to be remembered for uplifting the agricultural sector to the next level; enabling poor and peasant farmers to become rich by playing their part in the development of this country. I hope to see by the time I leave office that farmers’ income have increased, employment in the agricultural sector has gone up and the synergy in the agricultural and industrial sectors is strengthened. I would like to see that our rural agricultural population is linked up with good access roads. Under the Covid-19 Economic Stimulus Package, we are building over 260-kilometer rural roads. We also intend to increase the rural roads by 300 – 400 kilometer roads under PPP arrangement.