At a recent empowerment seminar organized by the Dominican Centre for Human Resources Development (DCHRD) to train potential investors in agricultural business, stakeholders came to a conclusion that agriculture remains the bastion of Nigeria’s economy.

Agriculture currently contributes 47 percent to the rebased gross domestic product (GDP) and employs close to 70 percent of our total population.

It accounts for 10 percent of our export earnings. Nigeria’s foreign direct investment (FDI) stands at $6.1 billion and her GDP keeps growing at 7.7 percent, thus making the country one of the fastest growing economies in the world.

One of the key messages to the over 150 enthusiastic participants at the seminar was that Nigeria’s future rests squarely on agriculture and those who undertake to invest in it.

The speakers dissected the agricultural sector and proffered solutions.

HarvestPlus Nigeria, in line with its objectives of promoting biofortified staple crops and foods to tackle hidden hunger, malnutrition and poverty as well as empowerment of Nigerians with requisite skills in Vitamin A cassava production, value addition and marketing, partnered the Dominican Centre to organize the three-day empowerment seminar/training for members of the church.

A statement by Abayomi Awelewa, communication officer, HarvestPlus Nigeria, disclosed that the seminar held at St Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, between Friday, and Sunday, January 16 – 18, 2015, DCHRD, the arm of St Dominic Catholic Church responsible for grooming investors in Agricultural business, tagged the three-day session as ‘Wealth creation through agriculture.’

Declaring the seminar/training open, Fr. Fortunatus Okeke, director, DCHRD, welcomed the participants to a new era in the history of Nigeria and urged them to utilize the opportunities presented by the training to empower themselves economically.

“The seminar is conceived to make a statement that despite the fact that Lagos doesn’t have much land space for agriculture, the state can become a hub for other opportunities in the agricultural value chain. Some of these opportunities include: job creation, poverty reduction, capacity building, and helping individual and corporations in creating profitable and successful businesses.”

Okeke further said that agriculture remains one of the most viable alternatives to oil and agricultural investors are the ones Government looks up to in helping to solve the problems of hunger, unemployment and dwindling fortune of the economy.

He urged the participants to learn from the practical experiences of the professionals from HarvestPlus Nigeria, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), The Dominican Centre, and the special guest of honour, Chief Audu Ogbeh, CEO, Efugo Farms, Makurdi, among others, who were at the training to inspire the investors.

Delivering the keynote address, Paul Ilona, HarvestPlus country manager, described agriculture as an orphan sector because of years of neglect by relevant stakeholders. “Nigeria used to be the powerhouse of agriculture in the world; one of the biggest exporters of palm oil, groundnut and cocoa, among other crops. Agriculture benefitted most institutions in Nigeria and created jobs. But the story is no longer the same. The country has gradually become a net food importer,” Ilona said.

He lauded ongoing effort by Government, institutions and individuals to revive the sector and urged a sustainable programme of action to ensure a speedy recovery of our lost years of agricultural glory.

“Food has no substitute because man just has to eat; and agriculture is the only means through which food is produced. The advanced countries like the United States of America, the Netherland, Australia, etc, began their journey to economic greatness with agriculture. In our country where the per capita income is a little above one dollar and over 100 million Nigerians live below a dollar per day, we have no choice but to turn towards agriculture as the only way out of poverty and economic doom,” Ilona further said.

HarvestPlus country manager also advised the participants to cease seeing agriculture as a social set up but to regard it as a business and run it applying all known business principles so as to sustain their profit and remain in business for long.

He encouraged them to educate themselves in agricultural business and identify the appropriate agricultural value chain they would like to invest in before making the decision to become farmers.

In his lecture entitled “Making agriculture a realistic enterprise in Nigeria,” Chief Audu Ogbeh, said agriculture, as a business, must be protected against foreign competition. Crops like cassava, tomatoes, rice, cotton, maize, and cocoa as well as fish have been identified by the government as those for which local and global demands keep increasing. Investing in growing these agricultural produce will go a long way to enhance the country’s economy and empower the farmers to eradicate poverty and eliminate hunger.

To achieve good and sustainable result, Ogbeh opined, Nigerian farmers need Government’s help through sound economic policies and technical support.

“This will enable them to compete with their counterparts in other parts of the world and earn good profit from their investment. Our Government must be firm in their policy and decision making and must ensure that whatever we can produce, we do not import, Ogbeh said.

He lauded the participants for choosing to invest in agriculture, urging them to see one another as members of the same community with similar interests.

He promised to continue to collaborate with the Dominican Centre and relevant stakeholders to ensure that the farmers’ dreams of successful agricultural businesses become a reality.

The training segment of the empowerment seminar focused on three key agricultural enterprises, which are: fingerling production, plantain/banana multiplication, and use of agro-chemicals in modern agriculture.

Other topics addressed by experts during the three days include: “Wealth creation through Agriculture,” “Best bet practices in cassava value chain,” “Strategic investments in the agricultural sector in Nigeria,” “Funding the SME: Hope for investors,” “Wealth creation through the cassava value chain,” “Youth empowerment through agriculture: Viable option for economic development,” “Economic politics of western Europe: Implications on Nigeria’s economy,” ”Leveraging on digital marketing in agro-business,” “Proper record-keeping, financial discipline and auditing in SME,” among others.

The seminar concluded by creating a new farmer’s cooperatives which, the organizers believe, will operate a shareholding system like public liability companies (PLCs) to guarantee success. The participants were further broken into syndicate groups for effective coordination.

“Unlike similar training seminars across Nigeria, the Dominican Centre and its strategic partners like the HarvestPlus, IITA, Chief Audu Ogbeh, etc, are being pro-active in the drive to ensure a sustainable economic development driven by agriculture. We are committed to the process and we’ll organize more of this seminar in various parts of the country beginning from this year,” Fr. Okeke said.

Exhibition of various farm produce and Vitamin A cassava food products was held within the premises of St Dominic Catholic Church, Yaba, throughout the duration of the empowerment seminar.

HarvestPlus leads a global effort to improve nutrition and public health by developing and deploying staple food crops that are rich in vitamins and minerals.

It works with diverse partners in more than 40 countries. HarvestPlus is part of the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health (A4NH).

CGIAR is a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future. Its science is carried out by its 15 research centers in collaboration with hundreds of partner organizations.

The HarvestPlus program is coordinated by two of these centers, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).