Agriculture Archives — Page 2 of 2 — Business Bells

Business Bells

Category: Agriculture

  • NIRSAL Facilitates N148bn Agric Financing, Investments

    NIRSAL Facilitates N148bn Agric Financing, Investments

    The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agriculture Lending on Thursday announced that it had facilitated over N148bn in finance and investments for agriculture and agribusiness.

     

    Managing Director, NIRSAL, Aliyu Abdulhameed, told journalists in Abuja that the firm achieved the feat as of the fourth quarter of 2020.

     

    He noted that the agency aggregated over 3,000 agro geo-cooperatives with 500,000 farmers on nearly 800,000 hectares of land.

     

    “We enrolled 1.4 million persons onto innovative insurance products designed by NIRSAL in collaboration with a consortium of agricultural insurance underwriters,” Abdulhameed stated.

     

    He said NIRSAL was engaging with and supporting the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in the development of a policy on Secured Agricultural Commodity Transport and Storage Corridors.

     

    This, according to Abdulhameed, would curb the dismal levels of post-harvest losses in Nigeria and create efficient routes for commodity movement and storage.

     

    He said, “In the course of the last 13 months, we facilitated the flow of over N30bn into agricultural value chains from commercial banks and other sources.

     

    “Even though our operations suffered a stall during the lockdown of 2020, our technological depth gave us a pathway to return to work while remaining safe and socially-distanced.”

     

    He added, “As you know, it was important to continue, even increase, food and raw materials production as the pandemic bit harder.”

     

    Abdulhameed said NIRSAL had grown its balance sheet to N140bn, equity by 1,415 per cent and our total assets by 87 per cent.

     

    He said the number of farmers which the agency had worked with had also grown, especially as NIRSAL fully unveiled its agro geo-cooperative model in 2020.

  • FG Inaugurates Yam Storage Facility To Promote Export

    FG Inaugurates Yam Storage Facility To Promote Export

    The Federal Government on Sunday announced the inauguration of a yam storage facility at the Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University in Keffi-Shabu, Lafia, which would promote the export of the commodity from Nigeria.

     

    Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, said the facility would store 45 to 50 metric tonnes of yam seed and was estimated to cover 16 hectares of land when planted.

     

    He said the huge output of using clean seed yam would boost production, increase earnings of yam farmers and enhance the export of yam from Nasarawa.

     

    The minister disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja by his ministry’s Chief Information Officer, Ezeaja Ikemefuna.

     

    Nanono said the location of the facility within the university would add value to teaching, research and income generation for farmers in the state, as the yam storage facility would generate about 200 jobs to the value chain.

     

    The Vice Chancellor, Nasarawa State University, Keffi-Shabu-Lafia, Prof. Suleiman Mohammed, said the facility would be harnessed to support the Federal Government’s efforts towards improving agricultural productivity.

     

    He said N35m was released by the state government to establish an aeroponics system for seed production, which was also a component of yam value chain.

  • Agric Productivity Declining, Food Security Threatened – FG

    Agric Productivity Declining, Food Security Threatened – FG

    The level of agricultural productivity in Nigeria is declining due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and this is threatening the country’s food security, the Federal Government said on Tuesday.

     

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said this at the public lecture and investiture ceremony of the 6th Chairman of the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers, Lynda Elesa.

     

    The theme of the lecture was ‘Environmental sustainability and resilience for food security in Nigeria: The post COVID-19 era.’

     

    Reacting to the theme in his remarks, Mustapha said the restrictions on movement following the outbreak of the pandemic had led to a decline in agricultural productivity.

     

    He said, “As it is becoming more obvious that, especially with restrictions placed on movement, our levels of agricultural production are declining and this translates to threats to food security in the country.

     

    “The latest statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics indicate this declining levels which have also translated into inflation in food items.

     

    “That the Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Environmental Engineers is, therefore, looking ahead on how to handle this situation after the pandemic is highly commendable.”

     

    Mustapha, who was represented by an official from his office, Andrew Adeja, said the globe had changed so rapidly in the last decade and particularly in 2020 with the onset of COVID-19 as Nigeria was already witnessing a second wave.

     

    “However, we are also comforted with the fact that there is good news with adherence to laid down protocols and guidelines as well as the production of vaccines,” he said.

     

    On her part, Elesa said her team would strive to maintain a balance of the ecosystem in order to effectively support agriculture and enhance Nigeria’s food productivity, among other tasks before the current NIEE executives.

     

    This came as the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, in a statement from his ministry on Tuesday, said the Federal Government was set to commence a livestock pilot scheme in Nasarawa State to improve the sub-sector.

     

    He said Nigeria’s livestock sub-sector was a national asset worth over N33tn that should be encouraged and exploited by Nigerians.

     

    Nanono said the livestock pilot scheme in Nasarawa was worth €400,000 for a start, adding that Bauchi and Gombe states were also part of the programme.

     

    He further stated that the agriculture mechanisation programme of the Federal Government would soon commence in 632 Local Government Areas across the country.