Mr. Olusola Adeleke is a consultant to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). In this interview with ‘Kunle Bakare, the erstwhile staff member of the organisation says Nigeria is capable of feeding the world.
Tell us about your journey into agribusiness.
I studied Mass Communication at the Polytechnic Ibadan. After my National Diploma (ND), I did my internship at the IITA, Ibadan, and after my Higher National Diploma (HND), I got a job there where I was sent on training to study more about the cassava value chain in Zambia, Namibia, Ghana, and South Africa. Before I came back, I had known about the cassava value chain, cashew, banana, soya beans, and plantain. I worked there for 18 years and before I left, I became a Cassava Value Chain expert, Research Farm Officer, and Technical Officer. Presently, I am one of the institute’s consultants and this is due to my vast knowledge in the cassava value chain.
I started my own company, Ridges and Furrow, where we try to bridge the gap between prospective farmers and research institutes such as IITA on how to bring values to all the crops that can be produced in tropical areas like Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Namibia, and Cameron. We educate farmers on how to create values for their crops and ensure they make more money by producing what the people need.
Are you restricted to crops, what about livestock?
We are also into that but basically what we do is to bring new breeds of cattle, pigs, and rabbits from where they are available to Nigeria, and multiply them, distribute to farmers and educate them on the methods of raising them to make more money by producing milk and meat for human consumption.
A lot has been said about sustaining the Nigerian economy on agriculture. What is your take on this?
I can say, without mincing words, that in agriculture alone, Nigeria can feed the entire world because of the climatic nature of the country. Everywhere in Nigeria is suitable for one form of farming or the other, while we also have the manpower. In other countries, they may not have it as good as Nigeria
But what is your take on the frequent clashes between farmers and herdsmen which many see as capable of discouraging people from farming?
That depends on how you operate your farm. In our own case, wherever we want to site our farm, we locate the herdsmen in the area and intimate them about our farm, we gather our farm exhaust for the herdsmen and invite them to our farm, and by the time they bring their cattle, we also gain because the waste products of the cattle also serve as manure for our crops. So we have never experienced any fracas with them since the existence of our farms.
Also, I have been to Niger where animal husbandry is more than crop farming and I never heard of any clash. Another solution is for the government to provide ranching or educate the herdsmen on the reasons to create ranching or give loans to farmers to defend their farms. IITA has about 2,000 hectares of land well-fenced with no clash with herdsmen.
Despite assisting farmers in form of loans, farming in the country is nothing to write home about, what do you think is responsible?
We have the Bank of Industry, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the Agriculture Bank that gives out loans but the real farmers are not getting the facilities. What it means is that the loan only exists on papers.
What do you then think can be done?
They should put the right people there. For instance, who is our Minister of Agriculture? who heads Agric ministries in all the states? The entire thing is now based on politics. The government needs to ensure that the right people are put in the right position so as to identify the real farmers. If the government is willing to do the right thing, it should put somebody who understands the plight of farmers to head Agric ministries and parastatals. During the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, a former director with IITA, was made the Minister of Agriculture and they were able to recognise the real farmers, and things were distributed evenly among them.
Maize as a major ingredient of livestock feeds is said to be scarce in the market now. Will you support the call for its importation?
It was the hot weather that we had last year that was responsible. A lot of farmers lost millions of naira because of inadequate rain. On my part, lost over N10 million last year and for any farmer to succeed in crop production, it requires irrigation and that is why government intervention is very essential. To irrigate one hectare of land, one needs about five million naira. Where do you expect a local farmer to get that? The impact of government must be paramount if we want to succeed in food production.
It is very difficult for an individual to tackle this except the government can come in. Oyo State alone has 30 dams but none of them is working. The money that should have been used to put the dams in place has been stolen
The search for white-collar jobs among the youth population is worrisome. Would you advocate farming as a way out of poverty?
The only job that God gave human beings is farming. Anyone producing food for others will never lack. In my backyard, I have about two plots that I use for vegetable production that fetches me about forty thousand naira every month. Our youth can venture into vegetable production, tomatoes, pepper, ewedu, etc., and I am sure they could source the required funds to start big.
Rabbit production is believed to be facing extinction. How can it be revived?
Everything about rabbits is money, the hair can be used to manufacture fabrics,
the urine is the best ammonia (NA3) that one can be found around. In fact, I will encourage the young ones to embrace rabbit production while the government should also come up with programmes that will educate and empower them into farming. They should educate young graduates on all aspects of agricultural production.
How do you think a young graduate can raise the starting fund?
They can start by contributing money. We also have the micro-finance banks that can give out little loans payable between six months and one year. They can also seek assistance from families and friends. The major thing that it requires is passion, and once this is present, such a person will be able to manage whatever is available wisely. On my own, I started with my personal savings. But what I have discovered is that our people are very lazy and lack the ability to take risks.
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