₦airaland Forum

Aareonakakanfo:
Before these guys messed up the whole thing,i posted this news.please lets discuss


Non-oil export earnings drop by N52.2bn in Q2



THE Nigerian Export Promotion Council has said that the country’s earnings from non-oil exports dropped by N52.2billion ($261million) in the second quarter of this year.


The country’s non-oil export dipped to N78.2bn ($391m) in the second quarter of 2015 from N130.4bn ($652m) recorded in the second quarter of 2014, representing 39.25 per cent decrease.

The figures were disclosed in Abuja yesterday by the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Mr. Olusegun Awolowo, during a courtesy call on the Council by the new Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd).Awolowo attributed the slump in non-oil export revenue earning to the suspension of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the insurgence in the North East. “The situation is compounded with the non payment of the Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and the insurgency in the North East which is the agricultural basket of the nation.

He said, “The nation is not only losing on the economic front, the lull in the non-oil export is also affecting the capacity of the manufacturing sector to employ, lamenting that in the period under review, the nation lost 50 per cent of its labour force.“The country has taken a dip of 60 per cent in oil revenue. For any country across the world, it is huge. However, the challenges we are having in the oil sector are also affecting the value of our non-oil export. One of the challenges is the continued rejection of products by foreign importers, which he noted was due to improper documentation by clearing and forwarding agents. Awolowo stated that an inquiry into some of the causes of products rejection revealed that most exporters ran foul of documentation rules adding that exporters employed the services of cheap agents who do hasty jobs for them.

Services of cheap agents

On what the Federal Government is doing to put an end to rejection of products from Nigeria, the NEPC boss noted that an inter-agency committee was working to ensure zero rejection by 2016.

“In a bid to unearth the reasons behind the rejection of our export products in Europe, we went to London with seven agencies of government. We visited the largest Port where Nigeria and other West African countries’ goods pass through. To our utter disgust and amazement, many of the rejects were based on improper documentation. They route some of the goods through fraudulent clearing and forwarding agents. We have to work with the Customs service to address this. When we have an export portal, people can track their exports.

In his response, the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), Col. Hameed Ali, assured the NEPC of the Service’s support in removing all impediments to export trade. On the EEG which was meant to boost the nation’s exports but was suspension by the past administration due to alleged abuse of it, Ali said that Ministerial committee set up by the past administration would submit its findings to President Mohammadu Buhari for necessary action as soon as the Ministers get to work.


http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/11/non-oil-export-earnings-drop-by-n52-2bn-in-q2/




Abeg let's discuss this

What measures should South-west Governors take to improve our non-oil export.

Clearly we're suffering from the troubles facing the north.When we don't even provide our own food in the south-west

Shymm3x:
Isn't the meagre oil money the same reason why some of these lazy folks like "one-Nigeria"? How much do they even get from the oil? They all shared N300 billion last month. That's about £1 billion. How can you even develop and run a country of over 180 million heads with something as small as that? Bear in mind that 50% of the money will be looted, while 30% will go to recurrent expenditure - with only 20% left for the people. You can make over 10x in other sectors if these folks can leave the oil alone and diversify the economic.

London (not the UK) generates over 20x what the whole Nigeria shared last month, monthly from banking alone. And that's just a city. The South South folks need to take their oil and keep it to themselves - and let's see if these folks won't get busy.

Shymm3x:
9jacrip

Thanks for the post. I'm about to hit the road to do a few things. Will read it later.

Sweet!!

quimicababes:
It matters not what non-agriculture people think.I am thinking if you pursued some kind of agriculture training ..no it be because you have a passion for it? Agriculture is a field...all can't be in the office nor does all want to be in the office.A lot of agriculture graduates I know want their own farms but the cost of land is a huge barrier.Why not empower those who are interested in farming but because of land issues they can't afford it o.Not all farmers own the land but farmland on lease.If land is the issue...perhaps diasporas who have access to land or can buy land can set up co-operatives where the land is leased to those graduates at a reasonable price.

If it be fertilizers...why not educate them on organic farming etc especially as that's where the world is heading.Even in terms of mechanization...Asia uses low tech for their farming and they are able to feed themselves and export.No everything have to be about mechanization. Aren't there different levels of agriculture training in terms of certificate,diploma etc...may times some of those graduates feed into field workers.

I know the oyo governor was complaining the youths aren't willing to farm...but are they paying the youths a living wage? Tony emumelu released the list of their teep 2015 entrepreneurs and quite a bit of them were yorubas and many were agriculture/agribusiness start-ups.My thing is if the government is not giving those folks much support can't diasporas act as investors in those folks start-ups etc.Naija case also is the youths who are trying get very little to no support.

Eh...my philosophy is focus on those trying especially to ensure they don't lose it.

Ibebe:
You're simply my brother from another mother lol.

Yes, I too am fascinated with Yoruba "mythology".

Shymm3x:
I noticed a lot of Europeans and other countries are buying up lands all over Africa for agriculture - to feed their growing population. Hopefully, Yorubas won't sell any part of our lands to these folks. We're better off investing in agriculture and making profits via export.

Read this (very troubling):

How food and water are driving a 21st-century African land grab

We turned off the main road to Awassa, talked our way past security guards and drove a mile across empty land before we found what will soon be Ethiopia's largest greenhouse. Nestling below an escarpment of the Rift Valley, the development is far from finished, but the plastic and steel structure already stretches over 20 hectares – the size of 20 football pitches.

The farm manager shows us millions of tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables being grown in 500m rows in computer controlled conditions. Spanish engineers are building the steel structure, Dutch technology minimises water use from two bore-holes and 1,000 women pick and pack 50 tonnes of food a day. Within 24 hours, it has been driven 200 miles to Addis Ababa and flown 1,000 miles to the shops and restaurants of Dubai, Jeddah and elsewhere in the Middle East.

Ethiopia is one of the hungriest countries in the world with 2.8 million people needing food aid, but paradoxically the government is offering at least 3m hectares of its most fertile land to rich countries and some of the world's most wealthy individuals to export food for their own populations......

..."The foreign companies are arriving in large numbers, depriving people of land they have used for centuries. There is no consultation with the indigenous population. The deals are done secretly. The only thing the local people see is people coming with lots of tractors to invade their lands.

"All the land round my family village of Illia has been taken over and is being cleared. People now have to work for an Indian company. Their land has been compulsorily taken and they have been given no compensation. People cannot believe what is happening. Thousands of people will be affected and people will go hungry."....

Leading the rush are international agribusinesses, investment banks, hedge funds, commodity traders, sovereign wealth funds as well as UK pension funds, foundations and individuals attracted by some of the world's cheapest land.

Together they are scouring Sudan, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Malawi, Ethiopia, Congo, Zambia, Uganda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Mali, Sierra Leone, Ghana and elsewhere.....

"The biofuel land grab in Africa is already displacing farmers and food production. The number of people going hungry will increase," he said. British firms have secured tracts of land in Angola, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania to grow flowers and vegetables....

"This is the new, 21st-century colonisation. The Saudis are enjoying the rice harvest, while the Oromos are dying from man-made famine as we speak," he said.

...The reality on the ground is different, according to Michael Taylor, a policy specialist at the International Land Coalition. "If land in Africa hasn't been planted, it's probably for a reason. Maybe it's used to graze livestock or deliberately left fallow to prevent nutrient depletion and erosion. Anybody who has seen these areas identified as unused understands that there is no land in Ethiopia that has no owners and users."

Development experts are divided on the benefits of large-scale, intensive farming. Indian ecologist Vandana Shiva said in London last week that large-scale industrial agriculture not only threw people off the land but also required chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fertilisers, intensive water use, and large-scale transport, storage and distribution which together turned landscapes into enormous mono-cultural plantations.

"We are seeing dispossession on a massive scale. It means less food is available and local people will have less. There will be more conflict and political instability and cultures will be uprooted. The small farmers of Africa are the basis of food security. The food availability of the planet will decline," she says. But Rodney Cooke, director at the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development, sees potential benefits. "I would avoid the blanket term 'land-grabbing'. Done the right way, these deals can bring benefits for all parties and be a tool for development."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/mar/07/food-water-africa-land-grab

Ibebe:
@shym3x

I'm a little iffy about this. There's an assumption that foreigners are buying up African lands to use as agricultural base to grow food for [not African people] their foreign lands.

Where does this lead to? Noe-colonialism and subtle slavery.

While we're discussing agriculture, we need to be cautious of foreign land grabbers.

Aareonakakanfo:
Ewo tu leleyi ni sin ehn.This Ambode guy is just chasing shadows.I don't even know who's more clueless between him and the grey cap ex-president.I'm not saying this is unimportant but this is not the biggest challenge facing Lagos right now.Registration of residents doesn't stop romanis from coming from their caves on a daily basis so why the stress.

razid:
O da bi eni wipe won sese k'asa yen ni. Eleyi ti o wa ni ipinle Ondo n pe tire ni "Kaadi Igbe Ayo" nigba ti arakunrin ti n be l'Osun n pe tire naa ni "Kaadi Omoluwabi". Gbogbo re gan wa polukumusu nitori wipe okan ni ijoba apapo n se lowo nisinsinyi. E wo tun wa ni ki ijoba ipinle tun gun le eto ti ijoba apapo ti da wole.

quimicababes:
It matters not what non-agriculture people think.I am thinking if you pursued some kind of agriculture training ..no it be because you have a passion for it? Agriculture is a field...all can't be in the office nor does all want to be in the office.A lot of agriculture graduates I know want their own farms but the cost of land is a huge barrier.Why not empower those who are interested in farming but because of land issues they can't afford it o.Not all farmers own the land but farmland on lease.If land is the issue...perhaps diasporas who have access to land or can buy land can set up co-operatives where the land is leased to those graduates at a reasonable price.

If it be fertilizers...why not educate them on organic farming etc especially as that's where the world is heading.Even in terms of mechanization...Asia uses low tech for their farming and they are able to feed themselves and export.No everything have to be about mechanization. Aren't there different levels of agriculture training in terms of certificate,diploma etc...may times some of those graduates feed into field workers.

I know the oyo governor was complaining the youths aren't willing to farm...but are they paying the youths a living wage? Tony emumelu released the list of their teep 2015 entrepreneurs and quite a bit of them were yorubas and many were agriculture/agribusiness start-ups.My thing is if the government is not giving those folks much support can't diasporas act as investors in those folks start-ups etc.Naija case also is the youths who are trying get very little to no support.

Eh...my philosophy is focus on those trying especially to ensure they don't lose it.

Nigeria losing $1bn on fresh tomato wastage | by Louis Iba | The Sun Newspapers

Disconnect between farmers and processors
The last government of President Jonathan was focusing on agriculture with emphasis on farming and I think they got it right because of the high yields we were having on some of the target crops focused on. Our farmers are doing well. But then, what about the processing aspect of it? That I think was neglected and so there was a gulf. Today there is a glut of some of the foods or agricultural products our farmers are producing and only a vibrant processing industry can soak that up, which Nigeria lacks.

Contrast what is happening in Nigeria with India, China and Indonesia, which are some of the countries with similar challenges like Nigeria decades ago, and you will find out that they have developed their agricultural and processing industry to such an extent that as their farmers are bringing out their harvest, the processing industry is already stand-by to take it up, and store and process into various other products both for the local market and for exports. And this ends well for the farmers and the larger economy. In Nigeria, we are not farming fresh and eating fresh because of the absence of the requisite storage and processing facilities.

Some of the food items coming into Nigeria have been proven to be preserved using the same chemicals they use in preserving dead bodies, and this is causing a rise in cancer and kidney related diseases in Nigeria such that we have never witnessed in our country and for which most medical experts in Nigeria are now beginning to raise the alarm.

Problem with tomato business
Let me take you into tomato farming or business, which I know and deal with.

Nigeria is about one of the most blessed countries in the world with the right climate that can grow tomatoes in commercial quantity and also harvest it in two different seasons in a year and in commercial quantity. We are that blessed. No country in Europe can do that; and India and China cannot do so.

We have better land and our tomatoes have better nutritious value than any found in the world, and there are other agricultural products in Nigeria that experts will tell you we are equally so blessed above other countries. Yet, we waste about 70 per cent of the tomatoes harvested in the country by our farmers. They rot and waste away due to the lack of storage and processing facilities. Farmers get so little value out of their input into tomato farming and this is just too sad a story to tell. http://www.sunnewsonline.com/demo/nigeria-losing-1bn-on-fresh-tomato-wastage-umeofia/

tupacshakur:
Is Af@m4ev@ still a Mod?

I learnt on NL sometimes ago that the Nigger left $eun's tutelage to start his own blog but failed woefully.

He has always been a bast@rd, so I'm not surprised.

Awon Mods Oloshi!

You Can Get Govt. Land For Farming | by Emmanuel Onyeche, Damilola Okpetu and Seun Oladunjoye | December 13, 2013 | Agric Business | Success Digest Online

In Nigeria, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.

Yet, despite this nasty statistic, there exists at least one million hectares of government owned farmland available for farming in remote villages across Nigeria.

These plots of farmland are already being given out to local and foreign investors at very cheap rates. The farmland is being managed by the River Basin Development Authorities, Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs) and farm settlement schemes. They are being leased at about N1, 000 per hectare for a period of about eight months.

Mr. African-farmer Mogaji, Chief Executive Officer, Xray Farms Consulting, is one man who has benefitted from this unique opportunity for over a decade.

He says, “I changed my name from Afi-Oluwa Mogajji to African-farmer Mogajji in 2005, legally published, and it reflected in all my documents. I started my agricultural journey over 16 years ago, and I stayed in the business on a small and medium scale in 1996, with Ogun/Osun River Basin Authority operating in Lagos.

“I was growing corn and vegetables (Ewedu and the likes). I had also stepped into bee keeping in year 2000, when I won NYSC Award for introducing bee keeping into Jigawa State and funding it successfully. Then in 2002, I farmed quite extensively, using the Ogun/Osun project in five states. I have used land as much as 250 acres”.

He adds that virtually all states in the federation have lands cleared for farming, and that majority of the lands are owned by the Federal Government and some by state and local governments.

Mogaji says, “These lands can be utilized by anyone - whether foreigners or Nigerians, because they are not being used, so the (River Basin) management embraces whoever shows up. Payment is by ‘Pay As You Go’, like using telephone recharge cards.

“Many Nigerians do not even know these lands are available, and when they do they are not keen on doing businesses in such remote places.”

Process Of Getting The Land

Mogaji says, “You just need to get there, tell them you want land – there are cleared areas, and if the area you want has not been occupied, you pay your money. They ask you what you want to plant, you fill a form; and if it is not late in the day, they take you to the land, and that is the end, after issuing a receipt to you”.

Mr. Abiodun Olorundero, Director, Abiodun Farms, Lagos and Oke-Odan, Ogun State, is another beneficiary of the scheme. He says, “Getting the land is a very simple process. What I did was that I headed straight to the Ogun/Osun River Basin in Abeokuta; from there I was told that there are two major sites in the state – one at Oke-Odan and the other in Mokoloki. Then, I had to choose Oke-Odan, because it was closer to me. I got there, met the project manager, and asked him one or two questions about getting the land; and I got my allocation, with a token of N2,500 for one hectare – which is 2½ acres.”

Mr. Seun Onamade, another farmer under the scheme says, “Just meet the man in charge in the person of Mr. Aare in Itiokin Farm Settlement. You have to notify him on what you want, because they have different areas for planting different crops. It just depends on what you want to plant. Further procedure is that you are charged N2,500 per hectare, and for harrowing and ploughing. Ploughing is the first stage, which entails clearing the land. For these extra works, you pay N5,000 for 20 litres of diesel per hectare, mainly for fueling the tractors. Though, if you can provide the diesel yourself, it is ok. The joy of it is that you can get the lands just a day after going through the process”.

Where are the lands?

Mogaji adds, “There are project sites in different states. In Lagos State, we have the project sites (about 500 acres), in Ogun State, they have in four locations, and in each of the locations, they have 100, 250, 300 acres and so on. They have in Oyo State, which is very large in four or five locations, with as much as 5,000 acres. They also have in Osun State, with 800 Acres. They have it in different states like that, so you choose which one is closest to you, or the one you like, based on what you want to do. For instance, I moved to Iseyin from Lagos; because Lagos was getting too choked up for me, and I was able to use 250 acres. From there, I moved to Sepeteri – I have been moving”.

Requirements To Meet

Mogaji says there are no requirements. “Though, they will ask you if you have farmed before, they are not concerned with that, you want land and they will give you. So, it is as simple as that. The usage of the land depends on the available spot per time. Your payment is renewable, so as long as you are really utilizing the land, you may be allowed to use the land for 40 years provided you are paying yearly, if not they will allocate it to someone else – you can’t just hold the land without using it”, he says.

Olorundero says, “There are no serious requirements like that. Basically, because of the high demand for land around here, you might not get allocation for more than one or two hectares of land for a start, and you must strictly plant annual crops such as cucumber, tomatoes, maize, cassava, among others”

Onamade says, “All you need to do is show seriousness and your genuineness. They need to notice that in you, before allocating the land to you. There are so many people that will just come and make enquiries and go without coming back. But, with your seriousness, they will work with you. Also, their own way of doing things is that they won't want you to pay and go away - they want you as the farmer to be on ground as much as possible”.

Price Of The Land

Mogaji says, “We have one part of the land called up-land, in the high areas; for this, you have to pay N2,500. It used to be N1,000 (for over 30 years) up till early last year, before they increased it. For 2½ acres, which is equivalent to one football field – or 15 plots of land - you pay this amount for a year.

When To Plant

Mogaji says, “You can’t plant anything from October; it is basically from February or March till October. This is because it is in February you take your decision and plan; and when one or two rains fall in March, you start preparation.

Policy Change That Opened Up The Land To Private Farmers

Mogaji says, “People didn’t have money to buy bulldozers to clear the land. So, government bought and cleared these lands. Before then, the River Basin Authorities were initially producing rice, cassava and garri massively, with different equipment to fry and process cassava to fufu; thus, making sure food was readily available. But, as you know how government policies work: along the line policy changed… that they should not produce again, but face water (Irrigation). So, they introduced the policy that farmers can come in to rent those lands, while they will be providing water and all other equipment, which are on ground. Every year, they add new equipment. So, they are just providing a platform where people, or interested farmers come and they make farming easy”

Period Of Usage

He says one can use the land for 100 years (and more). “It depends on you. It doesn’t have a limit. You determine that, in the sense that: if you are not farming on it after a year, they take it from you, to be allocated to someone else. You are renting”.

Challenges

Mogaji says there are no challenges that can crop up. “In this same Nigeria that people are complaining, nothing of such has been happening on those lands, which I have been using for 16 good years in four different states – Osun, Ogun, Oyo and Lagos; and I have used four locations in three states. There is nothing like “Omo-Onile” or hoodlums called “Area boys”; rather the lands are just crying for people to use them.

For instance, there was a location in Oyo State called Igbo-jaiye. It was over 4,000 hectares, about 10,000 acres all cleared, and people were farming in every corner of it. But now, 50 per cent of the land has been occupied with trees, because of non-usage. I have operated on a location in Oyo State that is about 11,000 acres. The lands are there. I asked a question in 1996, when I was about starting, and that was what triggered me. The question was, “When Awolowo, Azikwe and Tafawa Balewa died, did they take the lands along with them?” “No! Then we have agricultural revolution. It means the lands were just lying fallow”, he says.

Olorundero says, “The challenge is that if you have to engage in irrigation yourself, it is very expensive because government support is lacking. like I heard, those that did the irrigation say it cost them about N41,000. This covers the cost of renting of the land, ploughing twice and it covers the cost of irrigation for the next six months. There has never been an issue of “Area boy or Omo-Onile” disturbing or invading the land. The crops are safe, no issue of theft, harassment and no violence”. Read more here: http://successdigestonline.com/articles/view/with-as-little-as-n2500-you-can-get-govt-land-for-farming

laudate:
A few state govts in the South-West have tried to offer some solutions to the challenges faced by farmers, but many folks do NOT know about their efforts, and efforts to publicise these offers are still like a drop in the ocean:

Hmmmn i think its high time this mysterious laudate character reveals him/herself


We know you're not Yoruba but we want to know your tribe.

We want to know if you're male or female

You're as pro-Yoruba as everyone here

You're as knowledgeable as everyone here regarding Yoruba/South-west matters

I'm asking these questions on behalf of everyone here,please we need answers

We want to know you

quimicababes:
It matters not what non-agriculture people think.I am thinking if you pursued some kind of agriculture training ..no it be because you have a passion for it? Agriculture is a field...all can't be in the office nor does all want to be in the office.A lot of agriculture graduates I know want their own farms but the cost of land is a huge barrier.Why not empower those who are interested in farming but because of land issues they can't afford it o.Not all farmers own the land but farmland on lease.If land is the issue...perhaps diasporas who have access to land or can buy land can set up co-operatives where the land is leased to those graduates at a reasonable price.

If it be fertilizers...why not educate them on organic farming etc especially as that's where the world is heading.Even in terms of mechanization...Asia uses low tech for their farming and they are able to feed themselves and export.No everything have to be about mechanization. Aren't there different levels of agriculture training in terms of certificate,diploma etc...may times some of those graduates feed into field workers.

I know the oyo governor was complaining the youths aren't willing to farm...but are they paying the youths a living wage? Tony emumelu released the list of their teep 2015 entrepreneurs and quite a bit of them were yorubas and many were agriculture/agribusiness start-ups. My thing is if the government is not giving those folks much support can't diasporas act as investors in those folks start-ups etc.Naija case also is the youths who are trying get very little to no support.

Eh...my philosophy is focus on those trying especially to ensure they don't lose it.

Aareonakakanfo:
Hmmmn i think its high time this mysterious laudate character reveals him/herself

We know you're not Yoruba but we want to know your tribe.

We want to know if you're male or female

You're as pro-Yoruba as everyone here

You're as knowledgeable as everyone here regarding Yoruba/South-west matters

I'm asking these questions on behalf of everyone here,please we need answers

We want to know you

hinohsend:
Hi Guys,Asides the LASG which other state govt operates a twitter account.

Aareonakakanfo:
[size=14pt]Agriculture is a major sector for which south-west states can collaborate for higher productivity. We have the potentials to grow different agricultural products.Our combined effort in the exploitation of agriculture for economic development will ensure that we have a firm grip on our comparative advantage to the benefit of our people. I imagine a Southwest Nigeria where the people in Lagos state can be daily served with foods,vegetables from Oyo State and Osun state and fisheries from Ondo State.We can replicate this collaboration in all spheres of human endeavors like health,education,tourism,sports and other areas where the states can partner for the boosting of their economies.The key word is collaboration.[/size]

laudate:
Egbon! E jowo e sanu mi...have mercy! I spent part of my adolescent years growing up in the South-West....that's all!

IlekeHD:
I think the common theme I'm witnessing is that information is not well spread out.

Radio Kudirat?

Aareonakakanfo:
Ilekehd sign the petition for the mysterious laudate to tell us about him/herself

IlekeHD:
I already know. And no, I'm not telling if she won't.