NEWS: Agriculture Should Be Treated As Business

Nigeria: Agriculture Should Be Treated As Business - -Experts

30 May 2014 , By Jimoh Babatunde, Source: Vanguard

Experts from the agricultural sector in Africa emphasized that shift in mindset is paramount in breaking the problem of low production of both food and cash crops on the continent. The experts agreed that although Africa has a large labour force in its agricultural sector, comprising 57% of the working population, it still heavily relies on food imports.

"This means that farmers are simply not producing enough food to feed the continent's surging population estimated at one billion people."

In an interactive session titled "From Farm to Market" at the just concluded Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in Kigali, Rwanda, the experts brought to light solutions to persistent challenges in the agricultural sector.
"Despite the fact that Africa has a rich biodiversity and most of the people are engaged in farming activities, production is still very wanting. Africa imports US $25 billion worth of food each year, with only US $1 billion coming from Africa. It means that we are not fully exploiting the opportunities in this important sector," Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina, said.
"It is high time we realized that agriculture can no longer be treated as a social activity or a normal development program. It must be treated as a business and managed as an enterprise because it is the future of Africa's socio- economic development."

He said that mechanization and irrigation programs must be emphasized throughout the continent, while governments must concentrate on finding more incentives to farmers. "We must think of mechanization; irrigation activity in Africa's arable land is still as low as 3%, while farmers still predominantly use hoes to till their gardens. We need to use production methods that are adequate, that add value and volume to the produce coming from farms," he said. "Governments should ensure that farmers' products have ready markets. They should also register all biometrics about the farmers in their countries, so that they follow them up and know all their challenges."

According to the founder of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), Philip Kiriro, Africa's youthful population should be trained to develop agri-business models that not only create jobs but also contribute significantly to the continent's food basket.