AFRICA AGRICULTURAL NEWS Nigeria: CADP – Moving Farming to Profitable Business Impressive progress in agricultural science and food production has helped significantly in feeding the world’s growing population over the past 30 years. However, major challenges remain. Of the 5.1 billion people who live in the developing world, 1.2 billion still confront the ravages of poverty on daily basis. According to a report by International Food policy Research Institute (IFPRI), about 800 million are food insecure while 170million children under five are malnourished.  Agricultural productivity growth in developing countries, once rapid, is now decelerating. Investing in agriculture, according to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, is the surest path to reducing poverty and hunger in Africa. Despite the challenges African farmers face today- poor seeds, poor access to markets, insufficient access to finance and credit and too little government support- African smallholder farmers produce most of African’s food. Realizing that achieving food security for all will require access to resources by the poor, better technologies for producing and distributing food supplies, many African governments, agencies, and Non- Governmental Organisations have come up with policies and strategies in the areas of food production and markets. In Nigeria, one of the international agencies’ projects that is impacting positively in changing the face of agriculture is the World Bank’s Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP). It is a World Bank Assisted Project aimed at strengthening Agricultural Production Systems and facilitating access to market for participating small and medium scale commercial farmers. Commercial Agriculture Development Project (CADP) is aimed to improve Agriculture production in Nigeria by supporting the commercialization of agriculture production, processing and marketing outputs among small and media-scale commercial farmers and agro-processors. Today, CADP is supporting Nigeria strategy options of diversifying into non-oil sources of growth by assisting to improve access of participating farmers to new technologies, improved infrastructures, finances, and output markets, to strengthening agricultural production systems and facilitate access to market for some targeted value chains in five participating states of Cross Rivers, Enugu State, Kaduna State, Kano State, and Lagos State. At an event in Lagos recently, beneficiaries of the projects in the selected value chains- Aquaculture, Poultry and Rice- narrated their success stories. In the area of aquaculture value chain, the project has supported 1,483 farmers with various inputs including collapsible fish tank, extruding technology, fish seed, solar submersible pumping machine smoking kiln, pen and cage culture system, tricycle etc. With the support of CADP through acquisition of improved smoking kilns and improved packaging materials, Commodity Interest Groups (CIGs) in the state under the Aquaculture Processing value chain made breakthrough.  Mrs. Bolaji Dania, Quicklink Farms, a member of the Ikorodu Fish Farm Estate and the President of Commercial Agricultural Development Association (CADA) has this to say “I have benefited greatly from CADP. We got collapsible tanks which reduce stress of mobility. “If I decide to change location today, my business would still continue because all I have to do is find a way of moving my fish and my collapsible fish pond. The collapsible fish pond is an improved fish rearing pond system. Also, we got fish inputs which includes the improved Clarias Garriepinus (Dutch breed) and quality fish feed. We also got automatic fish grader (sorting machine). “In areas of training and capacity building, we have participated in a lot of workshops and seminars which they organize regularly for us. We also go on agricultural fairs to showcase our produce and interact with other farmers which have really been beneficial to me and my farm.” Dania added “The farm can boast of a standard hatchery, located on the farm with six (6) concrete nursery tanks by the side of it. The hatchery turns out up to 100,000 juveniles per month and the farm turns out about 12tonnes of table size fish per month. So prior to CADP’s intervention, Quicklink Farms used to produce less than 70tonnes per annum but with encouragement from CADP and with what we see at seminars and workshops, our output has increased to about 150tonnes per annum.”  The story is the same for Mr. Abdul-Ghaniyy Alabi-Ojolowo of Rice 4 Job Cooperative Farms (A Member of Rice 4 Job Commercial Cooperative CIG). He is one of the 741 farmers under the rice value chain. The project had supported the farmers under the rice value chain with various inputs including tractor, milling machine, threshing machine, combine harvester, storage bin, rotary dryer, willower, de-stoner, agro chemicals, tricycle, improved seeds, and motorized sprayer among others. With Intervention of CADP, Land preparation for rice has changed from manual to mechanized system with provision of 4WD Tractors and implements. This has reduced the cost of land preparation from N30, 000 to N5, 000 per Hectare. “The cost of land partition has drastically reduced unlike before the CADP intervention.  Likewise, the project also supported us with the procurement of bird scare (Gas gun) because before the project intervention there has been complaint of bird gathering and damage of the rice field but with the introduction/demonstration of gas gun technology by CADP to farmers, it has helped us to reduce the cost we spend on scaring of bird because ordinarily what we do is to hire human labour to be on the farm for about two months- morning till evening and we have to feed them morning, afternoon and possibly evening. “We were given the combine harvester which is another important support of the project. Initially, we use to harvest our field with human labourer also. It is either they use their hands, knife or sickle and it will take 7 to 10 days for 20 able women to harvest a hectare but the combine harvester can harvest two hectares in one day and if the operator can go the extra miles and with a favourable weather, it can harvest three hectares in a day. Source: VANGAURD
Posted on: Wed, 22 Jan 2014 05:47:24 +0000
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