Former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and President of the Nigerian Agribusiness Group, Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere has described the Labour Party’s recently released manifesto, titled “IT’S POSSIBLE: Our Pact With Nigerians,” as being revolutionary in its agricultural development plan to move the nation from consumption to production.

In a live interview on national television monitored in Lagos, the foremost accountant noted that Labour Party’s solution to the nation’s agriculture sector is “clearly ahead of any other one” because “agriculture should be demand based.”

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW BELOW

QUESTION: Let’s look at the Labour Party. They talked about moving from consumption to production. And also marrying the long separated couple of agriculture and industry. What is your reaction?

ANSWER: Well, that is in consonance with the thinking of Akinwumi Adesina, which is revolutionary. This is a new concept. This is clearly ahead of any other one. In the sense that agriculture should be demand based. Demand what you want. That brings you to the business environment. The other one that they have mentioned is that the production itself should be the effort that should be put in. But you don’t produce unless somebody demands something from you. And the person gives you the specifications of what he wants.

We have always been supply based. We are producing this or that. Let’s give an example of cassava. Nigeria is the biggest producer of cassava in the whole world. I think about 38% to 40% of all cassava in the world is produced in Nigeria.

Despite that, Nigeria is short of cassava, why? Because as at today, we are producing about 60 million metric tons of cassava. Because we are producing only 60 million metric tons, and we are eating a lot of it. We don’t have enough for the ethanol and starch plant in Nigeria. So those production facilities cannot produce optimally because we don’t have enough supply. (That is why this one that talks about industry is very important).

The moment they start producing optimally we won’t have enough gari to eat any more. So we have to use what we have in the country. Right now IITA, which is one of the best research institutions in the world for agriculture and the one at Umudike, those are great assets. They have come up with a specie of cassava that in 18 months can move Nigeria cassava production from 60 millon metric tons to a 100 million metric tons.

These are the knowledge based things that we are talking about. It’s not just making statements. It must be business based. And there must be competition from state to state. States should outline the encouragement to give to private sectors to come to your state to develop the agricultural space.

Then you use that at the federal level. Tell the world, this state says they will help you with this and that. But the state must realise that these are investors that are coming that must be encouraged to provide jobs for their people, provide food for Nigerians. That is the concept. We need to change our mindset.

So this Labour Party’s manifesto appears to hit it on the head. Fantastic!

QUESTION: APC manifesto says they will increase arable land cultivated from about 35% to 65% in four years. How workable is this? And is this what we need to ensure food security?

ANSWER: I don’t think so. First of all we must identify what the problem is. Nigeria is one of the least productive countries in the world in terms of agricultural output. Nigeria has a lot of good arable land, but it’s not being cultivated. The education of the farmers really does not exist in Nigeria. So they are not improving.

What has also happened is that since 99% of agricultural activities take place in the villages, people are just moving out of the villages going to the cities, and these are the people who can work, so we are left with older people, whose ideas was what their grandfathers taught them. The world has moved, but the farmers are unable to move. Those who are supposed to help them move have moved to the cities. So it’s not the amount of land you cultivate, it is what quantum of products come from the land you have. I will give an example.

One of the most difficult countries in the world is the Netherlands, small land and even their land a lot of it is under water. Yet they are about the second largest producers of food because they use their brains with the little land they have. Nigeria has more land but there are inefficiencies in the system.

And what also makes it interesting is the fact that the Nigerian farmers, despite the fact that they are one of the most hard working people in the world, and least rewarded people, they produce over 120% of the food we need to eat. But the system, is fractured. The value chain is fractured. So only about 65% or even 50% of the food they work so hard to produce end up on your table.

So we are loosing the others. So increasing the land is not the solution and not even part of the solutions. Because if you go and take more lands, what you do is to carry the inefficiencies to more lands. And you make those lands more wasteful. The ones you have now, you can make them more productive by having the right kind of seeds, the right training of the people, a better value chain.

Do that, because we are already producing more than 120%. If out of 120% we loose only 20% there is 100% for us to eat. Right now we are loosing almost 50 or 60 %. So the solution should be, look at what is the problem, it’s not a question of increasing land.

QUESTION: PDP in their manifesto talk about bottleneck challenges in accessing finance because finance are issues for farmers at this time.

ANSWER: The thinking, my thinking that I am going to present to you now comes from one of the people that I have great respect for, for revolutionising agriculture in Nigeria. Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, he was a former Minister of Agriculture.

He had the courage to change what was thought was unchangeable. And his concept was this, that agriculture should be a business. It should not just be an activity. And what he also said was that, money is the last thing. Think of it first. Plan it. Then when we have planned it, money can now follow it. So if you see it as a business, treat it as a business.

So when you say the solution is to throw money at it, when the money comes in corruption immediately follows. Politicians see it as a place of making money. And many of these famers themselves are illiterate. Whatever they give to them, is what they thank God that is all I got.

But that is not what the nation is supposed to give to them to help them grow. Therefore, money is not the issue. I am actually happy that the Central Bank came with this anchor borrower scheme. It was very well structured, very well thought out. So they are doing the right thing, but the wrong way.

QUESTION: We did hear the CBN say their intervention did save us from famine.

ANSWER: Well, it had a positive impact, but I will say 25% to 30% impact. The reason is that you cannot shave a man’s head behind his back. When Central Bank was putting this beautiful idea together, did they bring the farmers? Did they bring the activists, those who are actually working in the agricultural space, to think about this with them?

Or they sat down in an air conditioned office and perceived what the problems were. And we have the money. We will provide the money. That is the only thing I think went wrong. But the idea of the anchor borrowers was good, because it was business based. Bringing people together, but they did not bring the real people who are the activists together.

So money is not what to throw at agriculture. What are the particular areas? An example is this, Nigeria has different types of soil situations in the country. And some products are more effective and more productive in some areas than other areas.

You how have to carry out what is called the soil mapping, and make this knowledge available. And the other issue that is also missing here is the fact that there is no competition. Agriculture is practiced in the villages.

Villages are in local governments, local governments are under the state government. What is the connection between the state government, the local government and the various farmers? Very little. It’s important for you to be able to link up the thinking in Abuja with the thinking in Kafanchan with the thinking in Umudike with the thinking everywhere in the country.

That is missing here. That is what I am saying that you don’t throw money at it. It’s not the money. The thinking first. The brain. Nigeria’s future should be knowledge based, not money based. Because money attracts corruption.

QUESTION: All right looking at all the manifestos now, come 2023 we hope that whoever wins would actually manifest. Let’s put it that way. But what recommendations do you have as you have listed most of these manifestos now, what would you recommend to add to make them stronger and secure food for Nigerians?

ANSWER: Whoever is going to be the Minister or Commissioner for Agriculture must not be a politician first and foremost.

Number two, they must work very closely with research institutions because that is where a lot of the knowledge is harboured. Number three, take out your soil mapping to be able to educate your people. Number four, collect data of your farmers at local government levels. How many farmers are in yam? In fact I was talking about yam.

The further research that came out from this research institutions is that within 18 months to date we can double the number of yams we are producing. They have gone that far. But because there is disconnect between government and the private sector, these things just go to waste.

However, the state government and the federal government must work with mutual respect for each other, knowing the limitations of each one. The federal government is at the top there at policy level. They don’t get involved in going to the farm because the federal government has no land.

All the lands belong to the state government. Therefore you work with the state government and say to them, we are here to support you at the national level. So first of all, like I said, they must not be politicians.

They must be people who must be given targets. If you are a commissioner or a minister of agriculture, if you are talking about rice, this year we produce this quality of rice. In the next 12 months we must have this. That is the examination you are supposed to pass. We test you at the end of that period to see whether you achieve your goals, and make it public. The more public things are put out there, the more interest people show in it.