Nigeria is offering to lease farmland to Gulf countries seeking food security and will allow investors to export all of their produce, the head of a private Nigerian agriculture consultancy firm said.

Gulf countries reliant on food imports have intensified efforts over the last year to buy land in developing nations ranging from Pakistan to the Sudan and Ethiopia.

"Nigeria has the terrain to provide 100 percent of the Gulf's food needs," Enbong Jimie Idiong, chief executive of Global Corp, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of an industry conference in Dubai.

Global Corp is working as a consultant to the Nigerian government on ways to develop the agriculture sector, Idiong said.

Nigeria has around 71.2 million hectares of farmland, of which less that 50 percent is being used, according to data from the firm.

"We need investment to fully utilise this land and we will allow the investors to export back 100 percent of the crop and this will create employment opportunities for people in Nigeria," said Idiong.

The land could be leased for up to 30 to 40 years at a cost of around $10,000 per hectare for that period, he said.

"Because of the large size of land we can offer investors as much as they want, and there is no particular kind of crop that can't be grown in Nigeria."

For years Nigeria relied on oil production to fuel its growth, and paid little attention diversification, said Idiong.

"The oil is a curse, and all of these large oil companies are causing a lot of pollution and I think for our generation this is a time we need to pay more attention to developing agriculture."

Asked what type of guarantees could be presented to investors, a common concern for Gulf nations when considering investments in Africa, Idiong said the government would back any deals.

"Before you step in to invest one penny you will have a sovereign guarantee from the government," he said. Developing countries all over the world have been competing to attract foreign investors seeking food security to buy or lease land under attractive terms.

Last May, Pakistan offered investors 6 million acres of farmland to lease under long term agreements, but will require outsiders to share half of their crop with local growers.

So far Nigeria has not signed any deals with Gulf nations to lease farmland. "Regrettably this has to do with the attitude of our officials who are not proactive, I don't understand why Saudi and the UAE have gone to places like Pakistan and Sudan where climate and political conditions are less stable," said Idiong.
"We are just not marketing ourselves enough."

Foreign investors have acquired some 15-20 million hectares of farmland in poorer countries since 2006, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Ibime:

Since inept leaders in the jungle called Nigeria dont know what to do with our land, they should lease it to those who do, and can at least proivide some employment for some of us. . .

Ibime:

This is a trending development in International finance. . . increasingly, we will start to see more developed countries relying on less developed ones for access to farmland to grow soft goods. .  . China, South Korea and Gulf states have been leasing land in Madagascar, Kazhakstan etc. . . .

Since inept leaders[b] in the jungle called Nigeria [/b]dont know what to do with our land, they should lease it to those who do, and can at least proivide some employment for some of us. . .

AjanleKoko:

Good God!!!

"We need investment to fully utilise this land and we will allow the investors to export back 100 percent of the crop and this will create employment opportunities for people in Nigeria," said Idiong.

The land could be leased for up to 30 to 40 years at a cost of around $10,000 per hectare for that period, he said.

"Because of the large size of land we can offer investors as much as they want, and there is no particular kind of crop that can't be grown in Nigeria."

Onlytruth:



Bro Ibime, I never knew you dey vex like this. lol!

Beaf:

This is an exercise on "how to sell your mother"!
Enbong Jimie Idiong and his Global Corp must be stopped!

AjanleKoko:

I guess you have a point. But trust me, beyond labourers and farm hands, which are available already, you won't see much by way of employment.
Just watch and see.

Onlytruth:




Why not these people enter into some kind of partnership with Nigerian investors on this? I'm highly apprehensive of leasing out HUGE portions of land to foreigners for any reason. "No be to give monkey water be the problem, na to collect the cup back".

wirinet:

Look we have to understand that we have to learn to feed ourselves, we did it before the foreigners come, we did it before Nigeria came, so why can we not do it now that we have all this free oil money and a population busting at the seams.

We have to go back to the basics, go back to the farms and produce our own food, from there we would have raw materials for production, and then we can start a real process of industrialization, instead of the fake industrialization we are doing now, relying on foreign raw materials and manpower.

9jaganja:

ThIS IS BAD!!!!!!!!!! They will be exporting 100% Now when Nigerians are ready to farm, our lands has been leased to foreign investors. Wowowow do people even think for a second or they just want investors. at the poster above, do you even know what is going on in Pakistan? People worry about electricity and want unrealistic economy. I can live without electricity but I can't live without food. What is wrong with people? Food first!!!! Electricity can wait till food is surplus. Do people understand the meaning of basic needs?.

papas:

Nigerians that want to farm are already farming. Will you happily agree to grow and tend to crops if you were given land for it? Most Nigerians I know will not want to even think of doing this, so don't say "when we want it, it won't be there".
Please present your facts of what is happening in Pakistan with regard to the leasing of land for farming. I have not heard yet.