As Nigeria continues to experience an economic slump because of the fall in crude oil prices in the international market, stakeholders are expressing concern on how to initiate realistic ways of reviving the country’s economy.
Economists insist that the country’s mono-product economy aptly explains why the negative trend in international oil pricing has caused a downturn in national income.
The development has consequently triggered dwindling monthly allocations from the Federation Account to the three tiers of government.
The experts note that the development is the rationale behind the failure of many states and local governments to fulfil their financial obligations, particularly the payment of workers’ salaries.
As governments are battling to find a lasting solution to the current economic challenges facing the country, analysts underscore the need to diversify the economy.
They insist that increased emphasis should be placed on agriculture, the erstwhile mainstay of Nigeria’s economy prior to the discovery of petroleum in the country.
Sharing similar sentiments, the Golden Cocoa Growers’ Association, at its recent National Executive Council meeting in Ilorin, urged the government to devise pragmatic ways of boosting the economy via improved agricultural production.
Chief Moses Aliwa, the President of the association, stressed that Nigeria was going through an economic crisis because of the years of neglect of the agricultural sector.
He said that government should strive to encourage the youth to participate in farming, particularly cocoa cultivation, as part of efforts to guard against the country’s economic collapse.
“We want government to provide credit facilities such as grants and loans, which would encourage our youths to go into cocoa farming.
“We also want government to also provide genuine agro-chemicals such as pesticides to protect our cocoa farms from pest attacks,’’ he said.
Aliwa, who decried the inability of farmers to get market for their produce, also appealed to government to intervene by getting markets for the farmers’ produce so as to avoid post-harvest losses.
He, however, expressed confidence in the ability of the Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, to turn things around.
Nevertheless, Mr Umogbai Benji, one of the trustees of the association, urged the government to make improved seedlings available for cocoa farmers across the country.
“There are varieties of cocoa that can produce within 18 months and replace the old ones which have become aged.
“We want government to make it possible for the reactivation and establishment of cocoa seed gardens close to the farmers.
“If every cocoa grower is sure of getting improved cocoa seedlings from cocoa seed gardens, he will acquire and plant them, while expecting a good harvest,’’ he said.
Besides, Benji advocated the inclusion of cocoa drinks in the Federal Government’s school feeding programme.
He stressed the need for Nigerians to eat what they produced, saying that other countries were making better use of cocoa products like chocolate and cocoa drinks.
Enumerating the factors inhibiting youth engagement in farming, Dr Tunde Arosanyin, another member of the association’s Board of Trustees (BOT), said that the lack of appropriate price mechanisms for agricultural products was a disincentive to youths who were interested in farming.
He argued that farming in Nigeria was not as attractive as it was in Europe because Nigerian farmers often sold their produce at prices far below the actual production costs.
“That is why you see people jumping out of farming after two to three years because profit is not coming as expected.
“This is because government has not put in place appropriate price mechanisms to ensure that there is premium price, even if a farmer produces and is not able to get market.
“What is government going to do? That is why we talk about off-taker, where government buys from farmers, instead of allowing his produce to waste.
“These are challenges that have led to a nosedive in the production of cocoa and some other crops”, he said.
Arosanyin, who is a former chairman of the All Farmers’ Association (AFAN), urged the government to recruit youths, while giving stipends to them, pending the maturation of their farm produce.
He said that cocoa could also be inter-planted with crops like cowpea, potatoes and soya beans, among others, which would mature earlier, adding that such arrangements would enable the young cocoa farmers to eke out a living before harvest periods.
“Also, there must be access to credit at single digit rate of between five and six per cent.
“The issue of moratorium should also be examined because most farmers do not have the wherewithal that would enable them to say `let me take loan today and the interest will start to count tomorrow’.
“So, there must be a moratorium, at least to defer payment of interest in the first year. Let the farmer invest and make profit before the government begins to charge interest.
“The issue of collateral should as well be waived. Most farmers do not have land with C of O (Certificate of Occupancy).
“These are major impediments, and government needs to look at them holistically,’’ he added.
Arosanyin, nonetheless, said that one of the major factors hindering the development of agriculture was inconsistency in agricultural policies due to changes in government.
He said that there used to be a “policy somersault’’ whenever there was a transition in government.
“Each time one government goes and another comes in, there is always a policy somersault and so, we move forward and move backward or remain static,’’ he said.
He, therefore, stressed that any new government should always review the policies and programmes it inherited, without any form of prejudice or bias, in order to acknowledge the good ones among them and make good use of them.
Arosanyin particularly advised the youth to explore and use the existing potential of agriculture to their advantage, urging them to also see agriculture as a worthwhile venture.
“We should not forget the fact that agriculture used to be the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy before the advent of oil.
“Food has been the basic sustenance of man, after air we breathe. We think food, we talk food and any nation that cannot feed itself cannot claim to be a sovereign nation,” he said.
Arosanye stressed that government did not have any business in importing rice and fish, among others, only if it could create an enabling environment for youth participation in agriculture.
“If you see the amount of money which the government is spending on food imports; you will understand why the economy is into a serious crisis, searching for foreign exchange.
“Nigeria has no business in importing rice, importing fish and the like. What needs to be done is for government to improve agricultural production by creating an enabling environment for increased participation of citizens, particularly the youth.’’
All in all, stakeholders, including farmers’ groups, insist that agriculture remains the most viable way of boosting the Nigerian economy.
They, therefore, underscore the need to initiate pragmatic strategies to diversify the oil-based economy into an agriculturally driven economy.
A News Analysis by Usman Aliyu, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
