Welcoming Buhari’s Green Alternative

The launch of the ‘Green Alternative’ last week by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo signals another important step in government’s attempt to boost the agricultural sector.  Most important is the effort being made to restore the services of extension workers in the sector. Over the years, farmers have carried on their trade without the needed support […]

The launch of the ‘Green Alternative’ last week by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo signals another important step in government’s attempt to boost the agricultural sector.  Most important is the effort being made to restore the services of extension workers in the sector. Over the years, farmers have carried on their trade without the needed support from extension workers who should provide expert support to them from one stage to another during every farming season.
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, declared that  “the launch of the Green Alternative is an attestation that the change the overwhelming majority of Nigerians canvassed for and openly welcomed by giving Muhammadu Buhari a resounding victory in the last presidential election is here.”
In view of the economic recession, the need to diversify cannot be overemphasized.   The main reason why Nigeria is hard hit by the fall in prices of crude oil is because of our dependence on oil.   There is indeed no better time to have a shift in the economy than now, and agriculture is the handy complement to crude oil as foreign exchange earner. 
We also commend the decision that loans to farmers and those in the manufacturing sector will now attract single digit interest rate. The lack of access to credit facility has been the bane of farming in the country. If adequately monitored and implemented, the single digit interest rate will in no small measure boost productivity.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)  must exercise the oversight function on  banks to ensure the credit facility is available to farmers, as technicalities have been used to block access to funds under previous  arrangements.  The present administration cannot afford to pay lip service to agriculture.
Again, this policy aimed at boosting local production and invariably, foreign exchange earnings, will amount to naught if importation of food items is not checked. Efforts must be made to block all avenues through which these items are brought into the country. Improved seedlings should also be provided for farmers so that what they produce can compete with items imported into the country. If the average Nigerian continues to see food items produced in the country as substandard, it would affect patronage and in the long run discourage farmers.
Along this line, there should be a policy to protect agricultural goods produced locally from the stiff competition it faces from imported goods, which are sold at relatively lower prices. The prices of locally produced agricultural items are higher due to the low standard of technology used in the production process and the lack of government support. In most developed countries, agriculture is subsidized, but in Nigeria it is not. The production process is still relatively crude.
The Buhari administration must consciously alter this situation by reviving the produce marketing board as a way of boosting farmers’ morale.  The support must include how to help farmers access good storage facilities. After harvest many farm produce are destroyed even before they get to the market. This situation needs to be addressed.
The idea of converting 100,000 persons to extension workers from among the 500,000 teachers being recruited should be discarded.  That is not the way to go.  The government needs to advertise the vacancies for extension workers so that those who are genuinely interested in agriculture could apply for the job. That is the only way to achieve maximum result.
We call on state governments to key into the Green Alternative policy. If they do not, then the policy will be doomed to failure. The majority of farmers are in rural areas which are closer to states than the Federal Government. If states demonstrate a lackadaisical attitude toward Green Alternative, it will go the way of other previous laudable visions that never translated to reality.