BATNF urges farmers to explore opportunity in commercial agriculture

ABIMBO LA OKOYA, EXECU TIVE DIRECTOR at British American Tobacco Nigeria Foundation (BATNF) has urged smallholder farmers to explore business opportunities existing in commercial agriculture to attain sizeable income levels.

Okoya, speaking at the Lagos Farm Fair acknowledged there were challenges constraining farmers’ ability to switch to bigger scale but said the Foundation, in partnership with Lagos state and Stanbic IBTC, supported the fair to create a market linkage for smallholder farmers.

“Small-scale farmers have low volumes of marketable surplus and their farms are mostly located in remote areas with poorly developed infrastructure and transportation, leading them to face high transaction cost and risks in production and marketing of such commodities. It is expected that the Fair will provide a platform to expose farmers to opportunities in the city without the financial burden or risks involved. It will help the public access fresh and organic farm produce, and encourage farmers to switch from low quality bulk produce to high value agricultural produce,” she said.

Akinwunmi Ambode, the state governor, addressing the theme “Our Actions are Our Future: Zero Hunger World by 2030 is Possible”, said the state was working at ensuring food security for its 20 million population size, noting that collaborations to enhance productivity in agriculture value chain were being expanded with others states.

Ambode who was represented by Tunji Bello, the secretary to the state government said the greatest challenge to the global objectives on food security is climate change, which has continued to manifest in the form of high heat intensity and flood experienced around the country but can be mitigated through the development of new farming strategies.

Nnena Okoro, Stanbic IBTC head, consumer client coverage corporate and investment banking said the bank has demonstrated support for the agriculture sector by making an injection of N50 billion to fund the sector in partnership with Nigeria Incentive Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural lending (NIRSAL).

According to her: “The bank will continue to work with farmers across the country at various levels because for us, it is about the value chain and how we can help players in this sector to unlock real and sustainable value”.

The Human Resources director, Temitope Akinsanya, commended the contributions of the rural smallholder farmers who constitute about 80 percent of the farming population and produces about 98 percent of food consumed in Nigeria.

She stated that the foundation has been supporting government efforts at eliminating hunger and malnutrition concurrently with creating market for the smallholder farmers through a Farmers Market Program where fresh farm produce are offered for sale at Lagos and Ibadan offices.

“BAT Nigeria recognises the fact that 64 percent of the nation populace lives in rural communities is committed to continuous funding of the Foundation to deliver on its mandate to support sustainable agriculture and improve the livelihood of those living in rural communities,” she said.

Buyers from near and far were drawn to the fair which served as a platform for farmers to display and sell the beauty of Lagos vast water body from giant fishes, to prawns and even crocodile. Various land farm animals including well-fed cows, pigs, chickens, rabbits as well as processed food items such as cassava meal, plantain meal were on display.