By Ayo Akinfenwa
Nigerian has advised the Federal Government and National Assembly to pass a bill declaring 2025 the year of Nigerian Agric Processing during which we will move from being a primary producer into a manufacturer of finished goods. Their bill should contain proposals such as this:
Nigeria is lagging behind economies we should be on a par with such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Mexico, etc, because we simply do not manufacture enough. In a nutshell, we are not productive enough as a people
Nigerians consume too many goods they do not produce in large quantities. This is always going to lead to balance of trade and balance of payment deficits. Come 2025, we have to say enough is enough and no more of this nonsense
Nigeria is currently the world's number six agricultural producer thanks to the fact that we dominate the production of certain tropical crops like yam, cassava, kolanuts, shea nuts, egusi, etc and are also major producers of groundnuts, cocoa, pineapples, papaya, plantain, etc. If properly managed, agriculture could easily double the $50m a year we generate from crude oil sales
In Malaysia in particular, what they have done in the palm oil sector is plant short hybrid trees which can be harvested from the ground. They then use a special locally manufactured device to harvest the few remaining tall trees out there. Do you know Malaysia generates $10bn a year in export earnings from the sale of palm oil products?
As we all know, the Malaysians took the palm oil kernel from Nigeria and planted it. Today, these are the world's top five producers: Indonesia- 43m tonnes, Malaysia - 20.7m tonnes, Thailand - 3m tonnes, Colombia - 1.68m tonnes and Nigeria 1.05m tonnes. Nigeria actually produces more palm oil now than when she was the world's number one producer at the turn of the 19th century but other nations have overtaken us with accelerated production. It is not just about increased production but comparative cost expansion
When you do not update your production techniques, you will find it hard to compete with rivals. Even if you produce the same volume of crops as them, if you are producing 10 tonnes per hectare and they are producing 30 tonnes per hectare, their goods will be cheaper than yours
Aliko Dangote once lamented how smuggling is hurting the Nigerian agriculture industry thanks to the porous border with the Republic of Benin. What he failed to tell us is that this happens because local produce is not cost-competitive. If a 10kg bag of Thai rice is of superior quality and costs N5,000 but an equivalent bag of Nigerian produce costs N10,000 because of high production costs, the buyer is going to want the former, hence providing a booming market for the smuggler
For example, why should Nigerian bakeries and confectionery firms be forced to buy local sugar at $20 a tonne when they can obtain it from Brazil or India at $15 a tonne? This makes them uncompetitive. We have to master the art of increasing unit per head output
Our lack of innovation in agriculture is a major problem we need to address if we are to expand our reach in this sector. We have the manpower, arable land and perfect climate. We also have a competitive edge when it comes to tropical crops but value addition and enhancing productivity are areas that desperately need addressing.
Our agriculture minister really has his work cut out. He should be given an export revenue target of $50bn to match crude oil sales. If he does not achieve this within four years, he should be liable to arrest and prosecution for criminal neglect. Our herdsmen crisis is also an agricultural matter which the minister must address. This is a job for a thinking man or woman!
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