The State Chairman, Agriculture and Allied Employers Union of Nigeria, Lagos State Council, COMRADE LANRE OBAFEMI OYENUBI, in this interview with Abolaji Adebayo, identifies poor infrastructure as the major cause of post-harvest losses in agric sector.
Every year, a lot of agriculture products are been wasted in the country, in your estimation, how much is Nigeria losing?
The fact is, let us look at a farmer using N1million in a farm project and he doesn’t realise N200,000. That means, we are losing more than 80 per cent of what we produce in Nigeria as a waste due lack of technology for prevention of the farm products. And how many of the farm produces does Nigeria consume and statistically, how many trailers of tomatoes and cows enter Lagos State on daily bases.
Which way forward for the agriculture products wastages in the country, looking at the campaign for agricultural development and if more people venture into it, there would be many produces. What happens to the produces? Again, where is the place of value chain in the sector?
We have our paper with the Mr. President, to create enabling environment for the investors to come in and invest in processing of our agriculture produces. The problem we are having before now is that because some big farmers producing tomatoes have the means of sending it outside the county to sell. And they are trying as much as possible not to allow somebody else to bring the same products into the country investing in the processing machines that can help the small scale farmers. It has been a problem and we have realised that because the big farmers in Nigeria today have links aboard to sell their products. If investors are allowed to come and invest, there will be job opportunities for the people and abundant food for all.
In Nigeria, the issue of tomatoes wastage is much in the northern region despite having companies like Dangote group producing tin tomatoes. Does it mean that they are not sorucing their inputs locally?
The problem is very clear; the point is that the tin tomatoes producers want to make maximum profit and they are into farming too. Instead of them buying raw tomatoes from the local farmers, they will go and farm as well. Again, as I said earlier, information is a problem as most of the farmers don’t know where and how to sell their raw products. Like cassava, many companies in the country are buying a lot of cassava from the local farmers. When investors are allowed into the country to invest, the local farmers will supply the raw materials to the companies but not the investors having their own farms land producing the raw materials. Such developments don’t support the local farmers in any country.
Why should the country wait for the foreign investors while there are indigenous farmers who have the capacity to invest in the sector?
The indigenous investors who go into agriculture know where to sell their end products. What Nigerians depend on are the peasant farmers’ produces. Last time, I travelled to the USA, people in the supermarket were asking for Obasanjo’s farm produces. So these are the problems because we are not ourselves enjoying the Obasanjo’s farm chicken within the country, they are exported. The problem may not stop until we have investors who will create platforms for the local farmers to thrive.
Looking at the performance of the immediately past minister, what is the union’s expectation as per the kind of minister to be appointed for agriculture sector?
We wish the president appoint the right person who will continue the great job the former Minister who is an agriculturist has done in the sector. So, anybody that will head the ministry should be somebody who has idea for the sector. And I am very sure Mr. President will bring another agriculturist to be a minister. Even in Lagos State, the governor is bringing an agriculturist to be the commissioner.
How is your union encouraging youths to take interest in agriculture sector?
It is two way things, one, lack of information is a major problem in our society. If people are aware of what to plant, when to plant, where to plant and how to sell it, the sector would be attractive to them. There are various opportunities along the agric value chain but the opportunities are not developed. Let us look at the Nigeria market today, if the government has a plan and create a center where tomatoes could be taken to for process, it would go a long way in curtailing wastage of tomatoes in the country.
Our government needs to create the environment so that people can come and invest in the sector. As unions we need to move closer to the government and as President Muhammed Bahuri has told Nigerians that agriculture will be promoted greatly and we have to work with the government to get what we want. I know a farmer who invested over N1million into his farm and by the time he harvested the products, he was not able to recover up to N200, 000. If we have the market where the end products can be sold, Nigerian farmers will make more money and profits on investment.