•Seeks faster action to avert food crisis
•Osinbajo: Nigeria can be free of food insecurity in 10 years
• Says agric sector turn around in sight
•Launches special agro-industrial zone scheme
•Seven states, FCT to benefit in first phase
Deji Elumoye and Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina has called for faster action to avert food crisis in Nigeria, expressing worry that the country was yet to sign and utilise a $244 million funds for emergency food production approved by the AfDB since July 2022,
The AfDB President, who spoke virtually, during the launch of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) in Nigeria, yesterday, said it was worrying that despite the approval of $244 million for emergency food production by the AfDB since July 2022, Nigeria was yet to sign for implementation.
This was just as the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo yesterday, at same event, declared that food insecurity could be banished from Nigeria within a decade if certain decisive steps were taken by government
According to Adesina, to help Africa prevent a food crisis from the Russian war in Ukraine, the AfDB launched a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility, to support 20 million farmers to access climate resilient agricultural technologies and produce 38 million metric tons of food valued at $12 billion.
“The African Emergency Food Production Facility provided $134 million to Nigeria, one of the highest levels of support across African countries.
“I would like to thank the Japanese International Development Agency (JICA) for co-financing this with an additional $110 million.
“That means we collectively made available $244 million for emergency food production in Nigeria.
“Your Excellencies, we must act faster, to avert a food crisis in Nigeria.
“It is worrying that these emergency funds approved since July 2022, for emergency food production, have yet to be signed for implementation by Nigeria.
“Yet the seasons wait for no one, while the hungry await timely help. “There is need for greater action, responsiveness, and delivery.”
He lamented that with 65 per cent of the uncultivated arable land left to feed over nine billion people in the world by 2050 being in Africa, what Africa does with agriculture would determine the future of food in the world.
The story, he stressed, was no different in Nigeria, despite positive efforts that had been made to improve the agricultural sector, adding that food is now beyond the reach of many.
Citing the 2022 Global Hunger Index (GHI), released just a week ago, he said Nigeria ranks 103rd among 121 countries facing hunger crisis in the world, noting that hunger in Nigeria cannot be justified.
“Nigeria has the land, with 34 million hectares of arable land with rich and diverse agroecology.
“It has the water. It has the labour. It has great sunshine. Nigeria must achieve zero hunger. There is no reason for anyone to go hungry in Nigeria.
“As the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres said recently “if we do not feed people, we feed conflict.”
Adesina recalled that to help turn this situation around for African countries, he prioritised agriculture when he was first elected AfDB President in 2015, adding that since then, the bank has committed $25 billion to investments in agriculture.
“In the past six years, the African Development Bank’s financing for agriculture has provided over 76 million farmers with improved agricultural technologies for food security.
“Through its Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT), the African Development Bank has also provided 12 million farmers with improved climate smart agricultural technologies within three years.
“In Ethiopia, TAAT provided heat tolerant wheat varieties to farmers.
The cultivated area under the heat tolerant wheat varieties expanded from 5,000 in 2018 to 645,000 hectares in 2022.
“This year, Ethiopia became self-sufficient in wheat in just three years. Next year, Ethiopia will become a net exporter of wheat to Kenya and Djibouti.
“The Bank’s support to Sudan has also helped it to reduce its wheat imports by 50 per cent within two years.
“The African Development Bank is also supporting Nigeria, through TAAT, to produce more wheat, rice and maize.
“This support will allow Nigeria to cultivate by next year 900,000 hectares of rice, 250,000 hectares of wheat and 107,000 hectares of maize,” he said.
He explained that if Ethiopia and Sudan can do it, Nigeria could also do same.
However, to achieve these results, he said Nigeria must decisively tackle insecurity challenges that prevent farmers from going to their farms.
According to him, the private sector cannot invest when there is insecurity, adding that food security needs national security.
He stressed that the AfDB was strongly supporting Nigeria, and has always done so.
“When Nigeria faced a massive recession in 2016 and needed support and no financial institution in the world was there to provide support, the African Development Bank came to Nigeria’s rescue, with an approval of up to $1 billion in budget support. We are doing a lot for Nigeria.
“The African Development Bank’s portfolio in Nigeria, at $4.6 billion, shows the high priority that we accord to Nigeria, across several sectors.
“To boost food production in Nigeria, the African Development Bank is already investing $522 million, with additional co-financing of $420 million from partners,” he noted.
Adesina, a former Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development in Nigeria said to fully unlock the potential of Nigeria’s agriculture, more needed to be done to promote and support the agribusiness sector.
According to him, transforming agriculture must start with recognising that agriculture is a business, a wealth creating sector, not just a way of life.
“Unlocking wealth in agriculture requires the provision of appropriate technologies to boost productivity, development of agricultural value chains, financial structure to support agricultural value chains, and investments in infrastructure to unlock investments by food and agribusinesses.
“That is why the African Development Bank has launched the development of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs).
“The SAZPs are new economic zones, located in rural areas, to be fully supported by infrastructure (power, water, roads, digital infrastructure, and logistics) that will allow food and agribusiness companies to locate within such zones,” he stated.
He noted that this would put them close to farmers in production catchment areas, provide market offtakes for farmers, support processing and value addition, reduce food losses, and allow the emergence of highly competitive food and agricultural value chains.
The development of the SAPZs, he added, is one that he had envisioned when he was t Nigeria’s minister.
Seven years after his ministerial portfolio, he said the dream to establish these SAPZs continued, stressing that today, the African Development Bank is investing over $1 billion in SAPZs in 18 African countries.
The SAPZs will help to transform the food and agriculture sector, he said.
In his speech, Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari at the launch of the SAPZ programme, stressed that Nigeria could in less than a decade, banish food insecurity, while radically improving export earnings from agriculture, creating millions of lucrative agro-industrial jobs and opportunities for its citizens.
He noted that the launch of the SAPZ programme heralded a, “profoundly important moment in the nation’s agricultural odyssey.”
“If the Special Agro industrial processing zones programme delivers on its objectives and we have no doubt that it will, then we would in less than a decade deal a fatal blow to food insecurity, create millions of good paying agro-industrial jobs and opportunities and radically improve export earnings from agriculture,” he added.
According to him, the scheme was a clear plan for the deliberate development of value chains and a pathway to net exportation of their produce.
Highlighting the significance of the SAPZ programme to Nigeria, the vice president noted that the programme was now, “a critical component of our agricultural strategy, which is to accelerate the industrialisation of our agricultural sector with the objective of being ahead of our constraints in providing food, nutrition and wealth for the largest population in the African continent.”
His words: “The Nigeria Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme (The SAPZ programme) is a government-enabled and private sector-led initiative that will to mobilize private sector investment to develop value chains for selected strategic crops and livestock in the participating states.
“Nigeria will implement the first phase of the SAPZ programme with co-financing from the African Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)”.
The vice president, who noted that the SAPZ programme was recently approved by the Federal Executive Council, stressed that the scheme was a major cross-cutting value chain investment effort driven by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, in alignment with the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy of the Federal Government to incentivise agro-industrialization for private sector development.
According to him: “The SAPZ programme is a five-year programme, being implemented by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), state governments and private investors, in seven participating states (Kano, Imo, Kaduna, Cross River, Kwara, Oyo and Ogun) and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).”
In the first phase, the vice president noted that the programme was expected to achieve significant milestones, including reducing the country’s current food import bill through import substitution, boosting revenue from agricultural exports, creating wealth for rural farming communities, creating new sustainable jobs, especially for women and youths.
He added that the programme would also stem rural-urban migration, boost rural livelihoods and revive stranded public and private sector funded assets; and decisively improve food security.
SAPZ would also vastly improve the business environment for agro-industrial processors as it would improve their productivity and enable value addition for inclusive, adaptive economic growth.
“In the next phase we will bring on board another 18 states,” the president said, adding that the SAPZs also stand to benefit from two salutary developments: technology and innovation, and the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).”
On the opportunities that AfCFTA would offer, Osinbajo said the agreement would open up for Nigeria to be the breadbasket and the agri-business hub of the region.
“This convergence of resource and opportunity is certainly auspicious for the great impact that we look forward to from the SAPZs.
“The operation of the SAPZs will also leverage on other Federal and State programs including the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP: 2019 – 2028), and the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP),” he stated.
The vice president further noted that the agricultural sector was pivotal in pulling Nigeria’s economy out of recession, and is the single largest employer of labour, so there is need for incentivise agriculture through greater investments and an enabling environment for private sector participation, and to advance the national agro-industrialization drive.
“The federal government of Nigeria is profoundly proud of the strategic relationships with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Food for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Islamic Development (IsDB) over the years in building long term national prosperity for our country through agriculture. And we thank them for their steadfast support through the years.”
Also yesterday, Osinbajo said the relationship between Nigeria and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), was helpful, noting that the bank understands the nuances of countries in the global South and for that reason, “you (IsDB) are able to be more creative and more sensitive to our needs when you consider requests coming from us.”
Using the funding request for the Nigerian-Moroccan Pipeline project as an example, the vice president submitted that idf given all of the considerations today with the global North Development Finance Institutions, Nigeria will not be considered favourably for the facility because of the talk about defunding fossil fuel projects and all that.
“But it is evident that we cannot do without fossil fuels at least for the next several decades and we have fossil fuels, this is a natural resource for us and it is available not just for industry alone but also for cooking.
“I think that we are fortunate that we have IsDB, they are there… if we were to be subjected to the policies of the global north DFIs, we will be in serious trouble. So, I thank you again, and to say that the collaboration between the Bank and Nigeria is a strong one and one that we respect greatly,” Osinbajo added.
Earlier in his remarks, the President and Chairman of the IsDB, Mr. Muhammed Al Jasser, said Nigeria is one of the bank’s most valued partners, noting that the relationship between Nigeria and IsDB would continue to grow stronger.
