In our series of letters from African journalists, writer and novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani looks at why some of those key to boosting agricultural output in Africa's most-populous nation are giving up.

Rotimi Williams was seen as one of Nigeria's most successful rice farmers seven years ago, but now the 42-year-old's land stands idle.

The problem: insecurity, which has ground his farms to a halt.

In 2012, Mr Williams left his career as a banker and ventured into agriculture. He was profiled in international media and described as the second-largest producer of rice in Nigeria, with thriving farms across the north.
But the threat to his life and the lives of his workers grew too much.

"There was a time my car was shot at on my way back from the farm," he said. "There were also kidnap attempts."

In the past three years, a sharp rise in insecurity has led to gangs kidnap hundreds of people for ransom in Nigeria, and staff of prosperous agricultural enterprises have been particularly targeted, forcing many farms to abandon or reduce operations.

More than 350 farmers were kidnapped or killed in the 12 months up to June 2022 alone, according to a Nigerian security tracking website.

The majority of attacks took place in the northern region where there is swathes of uncultivated land and some of the country's largest farms.

In January 2022, five people were killed in an exchange of gunfire between security agents and armed gunmen on motorbikes, gang members known locally as "bandits", who attacked the premises of GB Foods, a tomato-processing plant in the north-western state of Kebbi.

When the multi-million-dollar factory, partly funded by the central bank, had launched to great fanfare in 2020, it was described in the media as Nigeria's second-largest food processing plant and included the country's largest tomato farm.

Bandits then tried to kidnap some of the staff. They failed, but the plant has been out of operation since.

"There's nowhere else in the world where people require armed security to go to the farm," said Mezuo Nwuneli, the managing partner of Sahel Capital.

His agriculture investment firm is in its ninth year of a 10-year contract to invest $66m (£54m) in the farming sector on behalf of the government and its partners, including the UK government and some Dutch investors.

On one of Sahel Capital's farms, a security officer was killed during a kidnapping attempt.

"They used to be comfortable working till 10pm but because of the attack, they don't feel safe to work late. In other parts of the world, you can run a farm 24/7."

'Green revolution'

Prior to the discovery of crude oil in 1956, Nigeria was known for a long list of cash crops, such as palm oil, cocoa, and groundnuts, but the government's focus on the booming oil sector led to the underdevelopment of non-oil sectors, such as agriculture.

This began to change after Olusegun Obasanjo was elected as president in 1999, and made a push to revive agriculture. His government offered farmers improved irrigation as well as new machinery and crop varieties to help boost agricultural productivity.

However, the magic really began to happen when the subsequent administration in 2010 appointed the sleek, bowtie-wearing, charismatic Akinwumi Adesina, as the minister for agriculture.

"When Adesina was minister, he was able to communicate the opportunities in the sector in a way that was exciting for people," said Mr Nwuneli, a graduate of Harvard Business School, who launched Sahel Capital in 2010 when he was 35 years old.

"Around that time, there was a lot of excitement and interest in the youths and the many people coming into the sector at the same time."

The next few years saw the emergence of many young Nigerian agriculture entrepreneurs, like Mr Williams and Mr Nwuneli, in a period that many reports described as Nigeria's "green revolution".

"We had 20 million youths entering the oversaturated workforce from 1990 to 2010. For us, we are committed to unlocking the power of agriculture and job creation with the goal to create 10 million jobs by 2030," said Kola Masha, another Harvard graduate, who founded Babban Gona, which means "Great Farm" in Hausa, in 2010.

His firm uses innovative technology to help its more than 20,000 smallholder maize farmer members to improve crop yields, reduce the cost of production and increase the sale price.

In 2017, Mr Adesina, by then head of the African Development Bank, was awarded the World Food Prize "for driving change in African agriculture" and "his breakthrough achievements as minister of agriculture".

'We lost 300 farms'

All that progress now seems to be unravelling, with nearly 25 million Nigerians at risk of facing hunger between June and August 2023, according to the UN.

"We've lost about 300 farms," said Stella Thomas, who in 2011, at the age of 32, founded Techni Seeds. Based in the north-western city of Kano, the company applies scientific research to produce quality seeds that it then distributes to thousands of farmers across Nigeria, whose work they supervise from planting to harvesting, to ensure maximum yield.

"We call them 'out growers'. We found out that because most farmers use saved seeds - they recycle their seeds - [then] over time, they don't get enough output. So, we give them the seeds that they use, and we are responsible for ensuring that they do the right thing."

The insecurity has forced hundreds of her "out growers" to drop out of the network of supervised farms.

Mr Williams used to enjoy spending months at a time on his farm, organising barbecues for the farmers at the end of a hard day's work, complete with a stereo and loud music.

He is now in the process of moving his rice production to other West African countries, such as The Gambia and Senegal, which also consume rice in large quantities.

His current calculations show that transportation costs would make it unprofitable for him to supply rice to Nigeria from those countries, and he predicts that the rising food inflation in Nigeria will only get worse - if the government continues to slack in its handling of security.

"If there's no security, there's no agriculture," he said. "It's that's simple."

Bola Ahmed Tinubu was sworn in at the end of last month as the new president taking over from Muhammadu Buhari - and the insecurity is his problem to solve.

"We all have hopes that this issue will be dealt with," said Mr Williams, reflecting on the future, "but we will see."

Sablexxxtoons:
Imagine.. so the terrorists are attacking our food security

lalasticlala:
Insecurity: Recruit 50 million youths into army, Tinubu urges FG

All Progressives Congress chieftain, Bola Tinubu, on Monday, urged the Federal Government to recruit at least 50 million youths into the Nigerian Army to boost Nigeria’s fight against terrorism, banditry and all forms of internal and external security threats confronting the nation.

Tinubu spoke at the 12th colloquium to celebrate his 69th birthday in Kano State.

He said, “We are under-policed and we are competing with armed robbers and bandits to recruit from the youths who are unemployed —33 per cent unemployed?”

“Recruit 50 million youths into the army,” he stated, adding that “what they will eat —cassava, corn, yam, will grow here.”

The APC chieftain, while reacting to recent statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics that over 23 million Nigerians are jobless, also urged the government to create jobs for youths in the agricultural value chains.

He said, “Don’t talk about illiteracy, anybody who can hold a gun, who can handle a gun, who can cock and shoot is technically competent to repair a tractor in the farm.”

https://punchng.com/insecurity-recruit-50-million-youths-into-army-tinubu-urges-fg/

tensazangetsu20:
Emmaodet how you dey secure your farms

Gerrard59:
It is the reason when someone says he or she does agribusiness on a huge scale, I am always interested in how they cope with the rising insecurity. I recall sending Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli an email to her personal email address, which she replied, but I did not follow up. But I admired the work they did. Even Rotimi Williams made the news then as the second largest rice grower after Olam. How do ordinary agribusiness entrepreneurs cope if these folks with their HBS qualifications and network cannot secure their farmers? Also, a few are wailing on TwitterNG. Although Tomato Jos by Mehta and Yemisi Iranloye of Psaltry International are doing pretty well, I am curious how other big agribusiness entrepreneurs are coping? Especially if out-growers who they depend on are being killed.

But bants aside, if HBS folks cannot use their influence to stem the insecurity tide, e get as e be o. I thought HBS know the movers and shakers in the countries they work in. After all, Mehta na HBS alumna too

Nezzjnr:
I just laugh when people say "Enter Agriculture".

If you don't have any background experience in it... Just stay mute.

Let me not even go to security.

Farm workers are the biggest threats... They can make or mar you.... One of my workers sprayed herbicides on my Cucumber project last year... Or is it theft from them?.

One pulled gun on his fellow colleague... I couldn't deal and I sent both of them packing.

Rural dwellers are always envious especially if the owner of the farm is a young person.... You can come one morning and find out that everything has been wiped out.

Last year.... A Friend of mine had his 15 acres of plantain Farm razed down by fire by some rural dwellers.

If you have a fragile heart and fragile mind... Please don't enter Crop production so you won't start having wrinkles on your face.

We pray for a better Nigeria so people can do the business of Agric with ease.

Gerrard59:
It is the reason when someone says he or she does agribusiness on a huge scale, I am always interested in how they cope with the rising insecurity.

emmaodet:


It is a long story bro but will explain in details tomorrow

LordAdam16:


Na to pour Scotch read better tori.

-Lord

Wodu89:




Locals initiated voodoo on a farm land I got last year. Immediately I moved tractor to the site and cleared like 30 acres, I got sacked from a very stable job I had kept for over a year that was funding the enterprise. Imagine losing 1.2M PEr month paying job because of some adventures


Information must be balanced though, I've been to hundreds of farming communities asides from this one I mentioned I never get envoius vibes, rather they support us. Let's not overplay the negative narratives.



I saw the rave, vibe and headlines Rotimi made. A whooping 10,000 - 30,000 acres farming project. The problem isn't insecurity in it's entirety but Nigerians and greed. How can someone have a farmland that can generate billions per annum and can't have stable security strategy, systems and workers and spend maximum of 10 Million per year. The farm owners of large scale farms are simply greedy. I've seen their setup well enough to recognize it. If I own a large scale farm, I must invest heavily in security.

Wodu89:


Locals i

I saw the rave, vibe and headlines Rotimi made. A whooping 10,000 - 30,000 acres farming project. The problem isn't insecurity in it's entirety but Nigerians and greed. How can someone have a farmland that can generate billions per annum and can't have stable security strategy, systems and workers and spend maximum of 10 Million per year. The farm owners of large scale farms are simply greedy. I've seen their setup well enough to recognize it. If I own a large scale farm, I must invest heavily in security.

Saladdin:


Dr Gerrard59, most of the principles and knowledge learnt at HBS will fail in Nigeria o. This is because it lacks the necessary 'local content'.

Most of our top guys in corporate Nigeria only go there for bragging rights and the network. Nothing overly special with HBS. In Nigeria, MBA from LBS is practically more useful than the one gotten from HBS.

Nwuneli's is really trying, but her business is yet to get the expected trajectory. This still leads to the first paragraph above.

Mira Mehta's agribusiness enjoys fully support from Kaduna State politically, fiscally and security-wise courtesy of Kaduna State Government. Most businesses in the state do not enjoy this privilege.

Her factory is located in the Northern Part of Kaduna which is relatively safe, plus it is well-guarded by the police and the military. Plus she got the large portion of land at near zero cost.

She's used by El-Eufai as the 'postal child' of Modern entrepreneurship in Kaduna (El-Rufai actually made significant strides here). This is because he wanted to attract more investors to the state and brag about an Oyinbo doing business in his state. Even at that, she's barely staying afloat, as foreign pastes (e.g Gino) are still beating her to it in Kaduna and the entire North. You can hardly find her paste around.

Gerrard59:


To an extent, I agree, especially in "dirtier/hands-on industries". However, anyone with an HBS MBA degree is expected to have a strong network regardless of the country. A Nigerian with an HBS degree who moves to Brazil should be able to call/meet folks who are influential in the business community. So, what is Mehta doing that Nwuneli is not? To even think both Nwunelis are HBS MBA holders. So double connect, yet nothing comot.



That is because the kind of crops they work on has less economic value compared to Mehta. I have not checked for a long time, but the seeds I saw there are not economically viable, in my opinion. It does not move the needle regarding agribusiness. But to each his/her own.



I noticed the same. Well, governments should support businesses to thrive effectively. Wonder why Nwuneli and Rotimi's cases are different. Even the Babban Gona too is also affected.



To be fair, she just started production. She started very well, securing a consistent, constant and quality supply of the raw material. Whereas Dangote just mounted a tomato paste factory and shut it down within a year due to inconsistency in the supply of tomatoes. I don't see her shutting down, as the supply is there. Gino has been in the game for donkey years, so unfair comparison. With time, she will boom, especially if she makes an exotic form of the paste and exports to wealthy markets. That is what big agribusinesses should focus on. Target Europe and America.

What about the Erisco and Shonga Farms? Did Erisco later run to China and continue production from there due to insecurity and an inconsistent supply of tomatoes?

cc: nlfpmod