ABUJA- The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has called on the incoming administration to sustain and expand the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The National Technical Adviser of AFAN, Dr Tunde Arosanyin, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Abuja yesterday.
Arosanyin said that continuity in the implementation of the ATA was critical to sustaining the current steady growth recorded in the agricultural sector.
“There are aspects of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda that are laudable, especially the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) scheme, which are impacting positively on the lives of farmers.
“GES is a technology that allows registered farmers access farm inputs like seeds, fertiliser and agrochemicals at subsidised rate via mobile phones also known as e-wallet system.
“This scheme is currently being expanded to include access to heavy farm machinery like tractors, affordable finance, insurance and extension services,” he said.
Arosanyin said that many farmers would agree that the Jonathan administration had transformed the agricultural sector through, Dr Adewumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development.
He, however, called for a review of the fertiliser distribution formula of the GES scheme.
“Under the scheme, a farmer currently receives three bags of fertiliser regardless of the size of his or her farm.
“And you discover at the end of the day, the three bags are not enough for a farmer cultivating a hectare of land or more, because buying it in the market is quite expensive and this is affecting productivity already.
“We want each farmer to get up to six or seven bags in order to improve on their productivity, which will lead to the overall development of the sector,” he added.
He also advised that the GES programme should be extended to livestock, fishery and cash crops such as oil palm, cocoa, coffee and cotton.
According to him, if the GES is improved upon and extended to these other areas, it would make the transformation of the sector complete.
Another area that needed to be revisited, he said, is the Africa Mechanism System, which was in place between 2007 and 2008.
“This initiative is a critical aspect of the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy (NEEDS) designed to support farmers from production to marketing of their products.
“It is replicated at the state and local government levels through the State Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (SEEDS) and the Local Government Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (LEEDS).
“This programme was initiated to assist farmers from production to marketing of their produce both locally and internationally,” he said.
Arosanyin told newsmen that it is sad to note that the programme, critical as it is, has virtually been abandoned as nobody gets to hear about them again.
He urged the incoming government to revisit these programmes in order to use agriculture to drive the country’s economy.
