Of technologies, agric and economic resuscitation

AS of Friday, May 1, 2020, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Nigeria stood at 1932. While this comes with various reactions, the Federal government has decided to relax the lockdown for a partial lockdown as from May 4, 2020 giving joy to the majority of the economic class who are already fearing the effect of continuous lockdown on their financial status. The occurrence of the novel Covid-19 has seen a major reduction in the price of crude oil all over the world, putting the price of one of the sole products on which the economy of Nigeria lies on Bonny Light (Sweet crude) at $10/barrel. As Africa’s largest oil producer and the sixth largest oil producer in the world with a daily production of 2.5million barrels, Nigeria is predicted to be among the most hit countries in the world, having a high tendency of going into a recession for the second time in 5 years. However, Nigeria’s case does not come as a shock to most economy conscious individual, as the price of the sweet crude as seen a sharp decline over the last few years.The current oil price cuts across nations worldwide, but its greatest effects being on countries without a diversified economy. Based on historical data,we were living the last days of crude oil, but no one expected it to end asquickly as it is beginning to seem. The quagmirein which we have found ourselves has been evaluatedby economic and financial experts on numerous occasions,where agriculture has been concluded to be the best option to lead the diversification of the economy, amongst exploring other natural minerals.

The reasons for this are not far-fetched as it is an industry we have been successful at establishing. The glorious days in which Nigeria boasted of a strong agrarian economy only need to be relived.Our magnificent pyramids of groundnut in Kano, hide, and skin from the northern region;vast and beautiful plantations of cash crops such as cocoa and production of coffee from the western region; rubber from Delta in the south-south region; and Oil palm with its by-product fromthe eastern region of Nigeria. So, just like the prodigal son in the holy book, Nigeria needs to trace its steps back, but instead of going back empty handed, we will be retracing our steps with more experiences and a better tool at our disposal. It is important to note that the country did not entirely abandon agricultural practices ever since the oil boom. Suffice to say, various governments have put in measures to support the industry at a point or the other and the private sector have really contributed a quota towards its growth which include zero percent duty of import of agricultural machinery, closure of borders to curtail rice imports and encourage local production and so on. Unfortunately, the dominant subsistence agricultural practice within the country falls short of the consumption requirement of the rapid population growth of the citizens. This means that to feed a population of over 195 million people, agricultural practice cannot solely feed the country at this scale. The sector accounts for 18% of the country GDP providing employment for about one-third of the country’s population with Nigeria being the largest producer of major agricultural items but unable to meet the need of its rising population, talk less of export enough. However, with about 77% of Nigeria land resources being arable, we possess sufficient natural resources to rewrite our history.

It takes more than goodwill to lead the agricultural revolution, consistent actions towards the agricultural development is necessary. Moreover, it takes sufficient amount of technology to lead an agricultural revolution in a shorter period. The question to be answered is no longer “What do we do to revive the Nigerian economy?” it should be more of “How do we make agriculture and mineral exploration efficient and effective for the Nation’s economy?” I say technology. Access to technology by the small scale farmers at highly subsidized prices. Currently, an average Nigerian farmer is at war trying to produce crops for consumption of sale. The processes of cultivation, planting, management, harvesting, storage and sales is a daily battle an average farmer encounters.It doesn’t end here, access to machinery such as tractors for land tillage by small holder farmers is necessary, provision of herbicides and pesticides for crop protection and management. Contract farming models which will suit farming communities should be adopted. These should be facilitated and managed by the Ministry of Agriculture of the government.

Approaches such as this have been successfully adopted and executed by individuals in the private sector, an example is Niji Group; an agri-based establishment into fabrication of machineries, cultivation of crops and processing, set up a contract farming for growing cassava (which Niji Group’s founder considers as “The real Crude oil”) with local farmers in Oke-Ogun, Oyo state. Until an average farmer can easily access the service of technological inputs with an assurance of an off-taker of the harvested products, we would continue to practice small scale, these inputs do not necessarily mean imported heavy duty machines, locally designed machines by agricultural and bio-systems engineers, who always factor in the variables encountered by the Nigerian farmer during their design process should be included, researchers in the field across the various institutions within the country and the associations such as the Nigerian Institute of Agricultural Engineers (NIAE) and Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE).Other bodies such as National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM) should head the production of such designs and make them available to the farmers at highly subsidized prices.

However, technology does not end in the farm, there’s also an increasing numbers of AgriTech companies such as Farmcrowdy, Kitovu and Verdant, who provide essential services which will rapidly boost agriculture development, but the government needs to participate in ensuring their services are effective enough, since a majority of the current farmers are not so tech savvy. Good use of agricultural extension services with the technological will establish a balance in the age bracket of individuals within the value-chain, which is dominated by the elder populace in the society at the moment. Samson Ogbole, team lead at Eupepsia Place Ltd, is one of the few leading the innovation of hydroponics in Nigeria, and recently aeroponics, Samson is defying the status quo to create farming systems without the use of soil. This is an emerging field in the country and without adequate attention can provide a considerable portion of Nigerians’ food consumption requirement, one which the youths would have a natural inclination to participate in, as it is not like the old farming ways most of them tag with agriculture.Even in developed countries, agriculture is heavily subsidized for farming to thrive, the average farmer is mechanized and has access to opportunities for development. The United States spends over20 billion dollars a year on subsidies for agribusinesses, this is done to reduce the risks encountered by farmers. Subsidy in its sense is not a long term solution, but it is a start; making access to machinery, inputs, storage and easy access to transportation for processing cheaper for the average farmer will effectively improve productivity and agricultural participation.Also, when the farmers’ income is insured, there will bean influx of youths into farming, significantly increasing employment in Nigeria which is just above 30% currently. Lastly, amidst the increasing numbers of Covid-19 cases, one of the industry which can and should continue running at its optimum is agriculture. With adequate prevention measures farmers have lower risks of contracting the virus around farm settlements, since they have lesser contacts with the public, transportation of inputs to the farm or harvest to storage/processing centres can be closely monitored by the government of the state. Technology serving as a catalyst for development in agricultural practices cannot be over emphasized, a collaboration between the Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy amongst others can lead the Agricultural revolution necessary to resuscitate our economy. They can work with private establishments through Public-Private Partnerships.

Ayanladeage147663@futa.edu.ng

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