[size=13pt]New agric strategy targets 3.5m jobs, others[/size]

HE National Economic Management Team (EMT) held its second meeting since its inauguration on August 17 this year at the Presidential Villa Abuja, unveiling an Agriculture Transformation Action Plan (ATAP) that will create a total of 3.5 million jobs in the next four years through a massive focus on five crops – rice, cassava, sorghum, cocoa and cotton.

The ATAP programme is also expected to inject a total of N300 billion ($2 billion) additional income into the hands of Nigerian farmers and N350 billion ($2.2 billion) into the economy through rice sufficiency.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, along with Co-ordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Governor of Adamawa State, Murtala Nyako and chairman of the Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, told journalists at the end of the meeting that the aim of the new programme is to take agriculture as a business with emphasis on partnership, investment and accountability, and not as a development issue.

To drive the programme, government would hands off the sale of fertilizers. Okonjo-Iweala explained that the aim of government in the removal of the subsidies on fertilisers is to get “fertilisers to 95 per cent of farmers as against the 11 per cent today.”

The end game, Adesina noted, is to diversify the agriculture sector, using it to “enable Nigeria to be food secure by increasing production of key food staples by 20 million metric tons.”

Under this programme, government intends to move the production of paddy high quality processed rice from 3.4 million metric tons presently to 7.4 million metric tons by 2015, with one million additional jobs in that sector.

Specifically, cassava tuber production is expected to increase from 34 million metric tons (12.5 metric tons/Ha) to 51 million metric tons (25 metric tons/Ha) with 1. 2 million additional jobs by 2015. Sorghum production is expected to rise from 9.3 million metric tons and a yield of 0.75 metric ton/Ha to 11.3 million metric tons and a yield of 2.5 metric tons/Ha with 150,000 jobs created.

Cocoa beans production is projected to increase from 250,000 metric tons with a yield of 300 kilogrammes/Ha to 500,000 metric tons with 500 kilogrammes/Ha with a job target of 360,000 by the same 2015.

For the cotton lint sub-sector, the agriculture ministry aims to achieve a record increase of 140,000 metric tons with 400 kilogrammes/Ha yield and a job projection level of 125,000 from its present dismal production level of 20,000 metric tons and a 150 kilogramme yield.

Adesina stated that Nigerians should not worry about implementation of the new programme because “what you will find in this new administration by Mr. President is a laser focus on execution. I don’t know what countries you go to where the President sits down for three hours on one key sector, asking questions on what needs to be done, how will it be done and when it will be done, how you will monitor and evaluate it and how do you hold people accountable. That is the kind of discussion we just had and I think that it is fantastic for the country. This is because words don’t matter. People don’t eat words. They eat food as far as my sector is concerned.

“We intend to use four key principles in executing the programme. First is a principle we call subsidiarity. We are not going to sit in the Ministry of Agriculture and tell states what to do. We are going to start with the states to identify the cultural value chain whether it is sorghum, cassava, or yam, whatever it is that they want to play in. We will work with them from the bottom up. That way, everybody knows what they are accountable for. Secondly, we are going to work within a framework of partnerships. Partnerships by the private sector, civil society and particularly with farmers. Third is that we are going to focus on investments because investment must generate a return. If an investment is not generating return you must know.

“So, that is the discipline we are bringing into the sector now for agriculture as a business. We are going to monitor all the monies and things we are doing as projects and investment. Finally is accountability. We are going to produce an agricultural scorecard in which we are going to look at the progress we are making and not just the Federal Ministry of Agriculture but a lot of ministries that are critical to making that sector work. The issue of power, water and roads, so we are going to come up with a plan in which there is going to be accountability at all levels. I want to emphasize that in this new administration, we are going to hold ourselves accountable, because Nigerians deserve to see results.”

Asked how this is possible given the state of infrastructure in the country, Okonjo-Iweala acknowledged that “there are so many problems in our economy but we can’t wait for infrastructure to be perfect before we try to improve. So what are we going to do? We have to select a few things. What we are looking at now and saying what are the major arteries in terms of roads in this country that need fixing.

Not all of them, because when you try to tackle everything you end up tackling a little and nothing happens. So the minister of works is also part of the implementation team and that is why it is important to have this implementation.  We are sitting down to say if you have a value chain in rice, where is it likely to come from and where are we going to transport it to, which of the roads we need to look at to make this work, and then we will tackle that. We will not be able to tackle everything at once. We just have to select one by one and then do the ones we can link to the major food production that we have. That is the way we are going about it, therefore you are not going to see a miracle overnight.”

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60503:new-agric-strategy-targets-35m-jobs-others&catid=1:national&Itemid=559

Sounds good but can they do it for real?

To be honest, it's very impressive on paper as they seem to have concrete plans, I would be much more delighted just as many other Nigerians , if we can actually see this plan get implemented. Initiative wise, i give them 10/10, execution?Lets wait and see.

That is just it. Great plans, great policies, what about implementation?

Good intents , Nigerians are waiting for the execution and the results aftermath.

As I watchded last nite and saw dis adesina agric minister guy reelin out these inch perfect initiatives wit his smooth talkin phonee english he reminds me of fani-kayode of obj days.why won't de tell us wat happend to all de intervention funds in agric. dat they have been givin 2 their paper farmers before they start sharin dis $2m to real farmers

this is another new story haba! Na today? abeg ooo! This ppl get many format ooo!

Different meetings, different promises!!!

Another way of stealing again.I want these people to surprise us or proof us wrong that actually they have the interest of the country at heart.That when they bring up a program,it does not have a personal undertone.

The starting point is always 'idea'. Let's hope they have the political, and bureaucratic will power to pursue this laudable idea - of course without losing sight of other sectors.

PointB:

The starting point is always 'idea'. Let hope the have the political, and bureaucratic will power to pursue this laudable idea - of course with losing sight of other sectors.

Only positive comment so far. sometimes I wish we were not so pessimistic. but what can I say? it isn't really our fault. who wouldn't give up in a situation like this?

if only economic diversification will be implemented in this country,people will look towards that direction.

I am afraid i have seen a key factor that made OBJ cassava initiative fail repeated here; Access Market!

just like in OBJ's time farmers mass produced cassava, lack of processing facilities and access to lucrative markets abroad made farmers have HUGE losses making many swear never to touch the crop.

The problem was twin - processing and easing the process to markets

the problem of processing is quite clear and easily sumountable, but I expect them to set up a marketing companies (Public and privately held) that will go through the almost impassable Nigerian export procedure on behalf of the farmers. this marketing company/boards will compete among themselves to offer the best prices to farmers and export. This will ensure some form of price stability. And trust intelligent Nigerians to recorgnise business opprturnity, many will go into farming (and crucially dry season farming) drawing in much needed investment from the private sector.

Its simple; demand encourages investments much faster than just production for the sake of it.

^^^
Word!

is it only that has not seen strategies for the implementation all these monies, how would my grandmother who need funds for her farming get access it to it!

@OP : I've been following this rhetoric since yesterday but unfortunately, from the press statemets, i can't see any starategy. what i can phatom out is just a wishful thinking by the govt people. what i see is a politiceconomedia masturbation.

from my analysis of the original post and the immediate few replies, i have these to say. i may be corrected, though.

@engineerd : there is niether "concrete plans" nor "intentions"

@efisher : No "great plans" or "policies"

@gtnapes : no "good intentions"

@amaham : no "inch perfect initiatives"

@PointB : No "laudable ideas"

chiozor:

is it only that has not seen strategies for the implementation all these monies, how would my grandmother who need funds for her farming get access it to it!

Chiozor has a more practical look at the socio-politici-econono-media masturbation.

So far, this is just a wishful thinking NO PLAN OR STRATEGY TO GET TO THE DESTINATION.

Except they have it documented somewhere, and may release it for public consumption and action by those who will like to key in to the programs. i mean stakeholders.

naija,everything sum up,even if it is 500,it wllbe500000000

I just don know about this our new Minister of Agriculture, he's been reeling out statistics massive figures ever since he got in there, hope there a practical agric ministers to support him cos i just see theories and statistics all the time