Nigeria - Agriculture stakeholders have stressed the need for President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure that a capable person is appointed as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in the new dispensation. According to Agency reports, the stakeholders made the call in Abuja weekend as part of ongoing agenda initiatives by various sectors for Jonathan as he prepares to appoint a new cabinet. The Vice-President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mr. Ike Ubaka said that the sector required a minister who would work to ensure that agriculture served as a catalyst to drive the economy of the country. According to him, it was time for Nigeria to strive for higher results given the huge amount that had been invested in the sector.

He suggested that the president must focus more attention on the implementation of agricultural policies and programme.

Ubaka said that the incoming minister must also be ready to address the challenges of low yields, value addition, storage capacity, processing and marketing, among others.

The nation's agriculture potential, if well harnessed, could lead to accelerated growth of the economy and job creation, he said.

Ubaka said that the new minister must set targets on the minimum level of growth to be achieved before the end of this administration.

This could be done by embarking on a series of intervention programs to boost production of some selected agricultural commodities with export potential.

He further advised that the incoming minister must be ready to work with AFAN as the umbrella body of all farmers in Nigeria.

In his own contribution, Dr. Victor Okoh of DFID PROPCOM said the incoming minister should realize that agricultural development could only be operationalised through sector policies, strategies and plans.

Okoh stressed that without sound policies and implementable strategies, government would not be able to translate its vision into concrete program.

He said that a lot still needed to be done in the rural areas through adequate provision of infrastructure and inputs, especially fertilizer.

He expressed regret that in spite of the role of the rural populace in agriculture and food production, they still faced many constraints.

Okoh identified food sufficiency as the only solution to the food insecurity, adding that the only way to achieve it was through adequate investment in agricultural development.

He said that the ministry needed a minister who would understand the problems of farmers, especially with fertilizer being their major concern.

He said focus should be on liberalizing the fertilizer sector and creating room for fair play as a way to redress the adverse effect of its distribution in the country.

"Government must partner with relevant organizations especially PROPCOM/DFID and IFAD and various governments towards achieving the desired goals and objectives," he said.

Mrs. Amina Bala-Jibrin, the President, Association of Small Scale Agro Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN) claimed that previous administrations were not sensitive to the plight of small-scale farmers.

"A good example is the N200 million intervention fund for the sector. In this particular case, 60 per cent of the fund was allocated to commercial farmers while 40 per cent was given to small-scale farmers.

"What is the logic in that?, she asked, and accused organizations such as the Bank of Agriculture and the Nigeria Agricultural Insurance Corporation of not being farmer friendly in the implementation of their policies.

Bala-Jibrin also noted that more than 79 per cent of farmers in the rural areas had no access to basic infrastructure.

"These deprivations are part of the factors militating against the development of the agricultural sector," she said.

She however, advised that the incoming minister should ensure the implementation of the 2001 National Integrated Rural Development policy, to lay a solid foundation for national development.

Bala-Jibrin also spoke of need to ensure proper funding of agriculture and the grouping of farmers into cooperatives to enable them to have independent source of funding.

Dr Ayoola Oduntan, the Chairman, Poultry Association of Nigeria, South West chapter, said the new Minister must be visionary.

"We want a man who is practical and who has the knowledge of agriculture to understand the challenges," he said.

Oduntan said the appointee must recognize the challenges in every section of the ministry and be ready to proffer solutions to them.

Comrade Ahmed Bungudumni, the National President, Agriculture and Allied Employers Union of Nigeria, said his union was expecting a minister who must be ready for field work, stressing that agriculture was not an office work.

He noted that the challenges in the sector were enormous and as such needed someone who was ready to work.

According to him, the issue of subsidy to farmers should be reviewed because it "has destroyed so many initiatives that would have stabilized the sector".

Also commenting, a staff of the ministry who preferred anonymity stressed the urgent need for a fundamental restructuring of the ministry, noting that some of the workers had over stayed their tour of duty.

"They have formed themselves into a cartel, determining what comes or goes out of the place," the source said.

The source added that there should be proper sanitization of the ministry's store and procurement unit and called for a mechanism for proper monitoring of procured inputs.

Daily Champion/20/06/2011