Farouk Gumel

  Farouk Gumel - Agriculture accounts for 70% of the entire workforce in Nigeria and therefore, remains the sector that can massively lift Nigerian’s out of poverty in an inclusive and sustainable way. It is reported that Nigeria has 60 million hectares of arable land which is grossly underutilized. Our yields remain low and post-harvest losses are extremely high. For decades, Nigeria has relied on importation to meet its food security needs. In the last 5 years, the Nigerian authorities have designed and implemented various trade, fiscal and monetary policies to support local food production and reduce post-harvest losses. One of these policies is the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016. The program’s motive was simple. To locally produce fertiliser in an affordable manner. Nigeria has a lot of the key ingredients to make fertiliser locally but in the past, has been importing most of its needs and thus, ignoring the l...

Farouk Gumel - Finally, agriculture is taking its rightful place as the sector that will take Nigerians out of poverty and into an era of inclusive and collective prosperity. Although the sector employs millions of Nigerians and accounts for an estimated 20% of the country’s GDP, many still view supporting agriculture as a charitable act as opposed to a business venture. This is the simple reason why many farmers in this sector are classified as “under employed” due to their mere inability to grow beyond the subsistence level. Nigeria is blessed as we have the potential to excel in all the key sub-sectors of agriculture. We have the land and forests for farming and grazing. We have the water (sea, lakes and rivers) for fishing and aquaculture. We have the capacity and the climate for livestock and poultry production. And of course, we have the manpower to get all this done. Therefore, it is extremely exciting for all of us to see significant investments going into this sector. We are ...

  Farouk Gumel -In a continent where some 50% of its population are farmers, Africa still imports billions of dollars of food every year to meet its needs. These imports, which are by choice and not out of necessity, have kept the demand for locally produced food items at extremely low levels. As a result, Africa’s rural farmers, except for those in export focused value chains, were left in a vicious circle of subsistence with little opportunity for growth. The sad fact is these imported food items (including grains) can be grown indigenously. In Africa, agriculture remains the key link that connects the affluent urban centres to the poorer rural areas. What does this mean you ask? Well, Africa’s growing middle class (entrepreneurs or salaried staff) live in its urban centres. They spend a sizable amount of their income on food. But due to Africa’s reliance on food imports, these funds are sent overseas thereby creating jobs abroad. As the urban consumer patronises imported food it...