How Nigeria Can Become Self-sufficient in Food Production

Ugo Aliogo suggests that Nigeria could become one of world’s leading markets in food production by encouraging young Nigerian entrepreneurs who are making giant strides in plantain farming

Self-sufficiency in food production has been identified as one of the key growth drivers in every economy. Despite the abundance of arable land and food crops in Nigeria, the country is still heavily dependent on imported foods to feed her huge population.

Since the fall in oil price, there have been calls on the federal government to diversify the economy away from oil and develop agriculture as a major revenue earner. This move according to experts will also reduce the financial drain on the economy especially in the area of food importation. It will also reduce the craving for white collar jobs and make the youths to think inward on how to support the country’s agro-economy. To drive this growth, young entrepreneurs are investing in agriculture and agro-allied businesses as part of measures to boost food production.

Sage Vincent is one of those entrepreneurs who have decided to venture into agriculture not because he lacked the knack for white collar jobs, but because of his desire to assist the country boost its capacity in food production. He explained that the country’s population is expected to record huge growth by 2020 and about 60 per cent of that population would be within the ages of 30. He noted that that the huge population needs to be fed; thus the need to attain self-sufficiency in food production.

Vincent cultivates two large plantain plantations in Ilah and Okpanam in Asaba, Delta State with 18 workers. He told THISDAY that his desire to cultivate plantain was because as a staple food, it doesn’t go into wastage as it can be recycled in different ways. He said the crop has high yield and low investment startup capital with long term benefits.

He noted that the cultivation of plantain farming is easy for start-ups especially because suckers can be purchased from Ministry of Agriculture, or from big plantations.

Vincent explained that after the initial planting stage, the subsequent expansion would be from the plantain suckers, which imply that the farmer doesn’t need to keep buying suckers yearly.

“As a staple food, plantain can be recycled after the purchase of the first suckers. This ensures that in the next planting season, the farmer doesn’t need to buy again. More suckers are usually produced from the ones planted which is part of the recycling process.”

He also stated that during harvest, nothing is wasted as plantain can be eaten unripe, ripe and over ripe, adding that it can also be sun-dried and ground into plantain flour. There is also a new trend of known as packaged plantain porridge, he said.

He added: “Currently, we are in our production stage and we have plans in place to go into plantain Research and Development (R and D) to enable us expand the resources of the plantain value chain and the medicinal purposes. As for the required start-up capital, it’s relatively low excluding land acquisition or lease.

“Going into plantain farming is highly rewarding, beside the clearing and preparing of the farm site, the purchase of good stock of plantain suckers, the purchase of pesticides and fertilizer, the rest is just the maintenance of the farm and labour.

“The maintenance is not difficult and the harvest is bumper. The growth prospect is large and more youths are beginning to see the opportunities in the sector. The sector will witness growth in the coming decades as there are efforts on the way to use technology to make the sector more financially rewarding.”

He explained that the huge challenge the farmer faces is transporting the farm produce from the farm to the market.

According to him, like other farm produce, some don’t get to the market due to the poor road network, resulting in big losses for the farmer.

Vincent explained that apart from the poor road network, another challenge is the nonavailability of low cost economically viable utility vehicles, noting that most times the buses used by the farmers to convey their produce damage it.

According to him, “The product processing options are limited; most farmer don’t have the financial muscle to build top notch processing facilities. Governments both at federal and state levels are not investing enough in the sector. If industrial processing facilities are managed under a Public Private Partnership (PPP), there will be an improvement in the quality of the products and the grading will be done to meet international markets standards.

“In Africa, the need for ease to prepare meals is growing as evident in the Indomie success story and the turnover of fast food restaurants is a testament that there’s a demand.

Having a local delicacy on the go will gain wide acceptance provided that the preservation method is healthy and organic. We are still in the research stage of the most appropriate method of long term preservation. Many persons want to eat healthy meals but may not have the time and the local recipe and our goal is to provide a healthy nation with cost for quality and not provide overly processed foods that are not healthy.

“In terms of R and D, I think that we are far off track as a nation and the concrete efforts to grow the innovative centers for the next generation is lacking in technological know-how and a dearth of necessary infrastructure. Our Universities that are supposed to be the hub for innovation have not lived up to expectations. Now is the time for big companies to invest in private innovation/creative centers as part of strategic innovation growth plan. This will help provide the right synergy for innovative advancement.”

Pest and Weed Control Vincent further explained that in mitigating the risks of weeds and pest, farmers should focus on using some agro-chemicals that are adaptable in fighting and controlling weeds, stressing that most times they embark on manual clearing depending on the nature of pest infestation or weed attack.

He added: “Sometime, we also spray with chemicals, but you have to be careful otherwise it may damage the plant and the root which would prevent it from growing. Therefore, for weed control, we spray roll by roll because it is properly spaced. If your space is not properly done, you will encounter the problem of spraying on the plant. When you are spraying, you go very close to the grass and spray. You have spread it triple because it doesn’t die easily; it is drought resistant and can survive with low water application. For pest control, we use both traditional and modern methods.”

Market for the Produce Vincent stated that presently there is no robust market for the produce because they haven’t entered the value chain planned. He remarked that their plan is to penetrate the Nigeria market, with a focus at exporting while working to get to their logistics right in the area of research and development (R&D).

He remarked that there are markets in Delta and Lagos, where produce are sent to after harvest. He added that most times, the produce are moved to Lagos, because Lagos has a ready market for it.

“Presently, we have not started measuring our production in tonnes or kilos because as they mature, we sell off and besides, we are still growing,” he noted.

Access to Loans Vincent noted that for an entrepreneur starting up a business, there is need for that entrepreneur to bootstrap from initial savings, monies from family and friends to begin the business, rather than obtaining loans from Bank of Industry (BOI) and Bank of Agriculture (BOA).

He explained that using loans to start a business, puts it in negative trading, therefore any money realised from the business would be used to repay the loans collected.

Vincent added: “The failure to pay back some of these loans are the reason why many businesses collapse after five years because they don’t understand any aspect of it. People end up repaying the loan without understanding the position and prospect of their business, leaving out the moral and ethical side of the business and the reason why they are in the business.

“Your vision should be the drive; why you are in the business. You don’t go into the business only for the money sake, but because of the vision you have for it; therefore my advice is don’t start a business with loans, it can come in the mid-point to support, but starting up with it is not good enough.

“BOI has initiatives that are good enough such as single digit interest rate, but BOI doesn’t just sponsor start-ups; you must have gotten your business running. They are not charity organisations; they are in the business to make money. Therefore as an entrepreneur, you should be able to look for opportunities instead of going to BOI and BOA to borrow loans.

The entrepreneur can key into equity investment, rather than these loans. One of the factors affecting Nigeria entrepreneurs is the lack of partnership. People are more concerned with the fact that they can do it on their own. So that they don’t share the ideas with another person, in other climes, businesses encourage partnership.”

Improving the Plantain Value-Chain Vincent explained that the Nigeria agroindustry is still at the agrarian stage, but noted that with full industrialisation in the area of food production, a value chain would be created for plantain.

He stressed that if there is a value chain for plantain, people can tap into the opportunities with a focus of converting the latex from plantain into a gum.

He lamented that people are interested in consumption without focussing on industrial use of plantain, adding that the peels can be ground and used as animal feed, but there is no focus on this direction.

“There are some good initiatives, which government is embarking on; but it is not structured from the top to the bottom to affect those deeply interested in agriculture. It is political and doesn’t come down to the common man. Sometimes, the government sets certain criteria which don’t favour those that are interested in agriculture.”

“If we get our logistics right, we would go into exportation. Africa population is currently, at 1.2billion people, which is huge market to tap into. The food has wide acceptance. From plantain, you can get starch, flour, alcoholic beverage, biscuit and other derivatives. Raw export of plantain is part of our plan, but not the end. In 2016, the world production of plantain exceeded 100 billion pounds,” he noted.