Written By SULAIMON OLANREWAJU
The Federal Government will soon boost its revenue generation while scaling down poverty among farmers and rural dwellers through the instrumentality of perishable cargo terminals meant to facilitate the exportation of farm produce.
Nigerian farmers are a hardworking lot, toiling all year round, yet many of them are a narrative in penury and deprivation. They have little to show for their labour because most of their farm produce, being perishable, go to waste consequent upon inadequate storage facilities. According to a presentation by Lufthansa Consulting, up to 35 per cent of total production is lost after harvest. Apart from those that are wasted, farmers have to quickly dispose of their farm produce shortly after harvest and are thus deprived of the full benefit of their sweat. It is for this reason that, despite many government interventions in the sector, the country does not get adequate returns from its investment in agriculture.
Yet, it is an undeniable fact that the sector holds the key to poverty eradication and youth unemployment if properly harnessed because of its capacity to absorb many people.
It is as a result of correcting this that the Federal Government has embarked on the perishable cargo terminals to facilitate the exportation of perishable items to other countries thereby boosting the revenue generation capacity of the nation’s farmers.
Already, some of the nation’s airports have been designated as perishable cargo terminals because of their proximity to the areas where various agricultural products are in abundance. According to Yakubu Dati, General Manager (Corporate Affairs), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the terminals would be built up to international standards and work has reached advanced stage on each of them with the expectation that they would be completed by the end of the second quarter of the current year. The terminals are located in Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo airports. While others are owned by the Federal Government, the Uyo Airport is owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government.
Throwing further light on the project, Dati said that the preponderance and varieties of fresh farm produce in Nigeria and the growing economic importance of the sector, which stands at $1.53 billion (about N245 billion) has necessitated the development of the perishable cargo terminals.
He added, “The cargo terminals will enhance the farm-to-market value chain, consequently improving the food security network, rural transformation by creating rural employment opportunities in storage, warehousing and air/road transportation logistics.”
He noted that the perishable export cargo programme would utilise open field cultivation for the fresh produce, as farmers would be able to transport their products to collection centres in the states, while refrigerated trucks would deliver the products to the primary airport hubs.
“We believe that it would be a good start to have perishable cargo terminals at the designated airports. One of the reasons agriculture has taken a back seat in Nigeria is due to poor preservation of agricultural produce. The other is transportation,” he noted.
Experts are agreed that the need for the perishable cargo terminals is great because while other African countries are boosting their economies by latching onto exporting farm produce, the reverse is the case for Nigeria. According to a 2012 DHL presentation on revenue from exporting perishable commodities by African countries, while Kenya earned $737.62bn and Ghana earned $48.95bn from perishable exports in 2010, Nigeria had no record of any earning. The countries earning a fortune from perishable commodities export all sorts from fish to flowers, vegetables and fruits, all of which are in abundant supply in Nigeria.
Speaking on the potentialities of the perishable cargo terminals recently, Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, said the projected revenue from the programme would outstrip that from oil in 10 years.
According to her, the project would empower farmers and position them to be better remunerated for their farming activities, adding that it also has the capacity to cut down poverty in the country by 60 per cent because the bulk of those affected by poverty are farmers who get peanuts from their farming activities.
Ms Oduah, who explained that the terminals had been selected in line with their regional agricultural comparative advantage and private sector expressions of interest, added that “They will enhance the farm-to-market value chain, consequently improving the food security network, rural transformation by creating rural employment opportunities in storage, warehousing and air/road transportation logistics.
Expatiating on the capacity of the programme to effectively address the problem of poverty, she said, “The encouragement we are getting from international organisations is immense. The reason for this is because the available potential of that programme is huge. If you look at Kenyan, Ethiopian and South Africa economies such export contribute to their foreign exchange accruals. If you take Kenya alone and do multiplier effect of the country, which is about the size of, let’s say, Enugu State and let’s say you have Kenya’s economy spread over 13 states of Nigeria, government would have holistically bottomed up the growth of our economy. This means that domestic economy of the country at the rural level would have had independent access to international market.
“It means that our aunties, our cousins, our relations living in rural communities will have access to international market. We would have developed some rural economies that would be independent of allocations from the Federal Government and independent from oil resources. It would be one of the greatest platforms for government to stop rural, urban migration. It will grow employment opportunity; it will have all the value chain properly and completely developed. It will encourage the growth of new middle class.
“Government has set up inter-ministerial committee led by aviation because we are key players in the programme, in the sense that we are providing the infrastructure, the platform; so we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources, because water has to be available; we are working with the Ministry of Finance.
“The Ministry of Agriculture will provide the seedling for the cooperatives. We are also working with the states. The states will have to make it work. We are working with the local government chairmen because they will also have to make it work.”
In a presentation on the benefits of perishable cargo terminals, Obiefule Iroabueke, Special Assistant on Financial Strategy to Aviation Minister, said they would create employment opportunities, especially for women and youths because the cargo terminals provide an enabling environment for the transport of agricultural produce to necessary markets (exportation).
He added that most people would have a source of income; this in turn would bring development to rural areas which would ultimately curb rural-urban migration.
According to him, rural farmers would have access to high end markets because the aviation sector would provide the requisite facilities that serve as aggregation points and export hubs for their produce. This would encourage market-driven agri-business and the formation of modern agricultural value chains, while creating an avenue for the flow of revenue into rural areas.
He also believes that due to the nature of perishable cargo exports, access roads would have to be constructed in order to facilitate the transportation of agricultural produce from the farm to the airport.
Iroabueke, who says that packaging and freighting farm produce to any part of the world could be completed in 48 hours, added that with the initiative rural farmers would have access to high end markets because the aviation sector would provide the requisite facilities that serve as aggregation points and export hubs for their produce.
Read More: http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/features2/item/32013-perishable-cargo-terminals-as-poverty-eradication-strategy.html
The Federal Government will soon boost its revenue generation while scaling down poverty among farmers and rural dwellers through the instrumentality of perishable cargo terminals meant to facilitate the exportation of farm produce.
Nigerian farmers are a hardworking lot, toiling all year round, yet many of them are a narrative in penury and deprivation. They have little to show for their labour because most of their farm produce, being perishable, go to waste consequent upon inadequate storage facilities. According to a presentation by Lufthansa Consulting, up to 35 per cent of total production is lost after harvest. Apart from those that are wasted, farmers have to quickly dispose of their farm produce shortly after harvest and are thus deprived of the full benefit of their sweat. It is for this reason that, despite many government interventions in the sector, the country does not get adequate returns from its investment in agriculture.
Yet, it is an undeniable fact that the sector holds the key to poverty eradication and youth unemployment if properly harnessed because of its capacity to absorb many people.
It is as a result of correcting this that the Federal Government has embarked on the perishable cargo terminals to facilitate the exportation of perishable items to other countries thereby boosting the revenue generation capacity of the nation’s farmers.
Already, some of the nation’s airports have been designated as perishable cargo terminals because of their proximity to the areas where various agricultural products are in abundance. According to Yakubu Dati, General Manager (Corporate Affairs), Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the terminals would be built up to international standards and work has reached advanced stage on each of them with the expectation that they would be completed by the end of the second quarter of the current year. The terminals are located in Abuja, Akure, Calabar, Ilorin, Jalingo, Jos, Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Minna, Owerri, Port Harcourt and Uyo airports. While others are owned by the Federal Government, the Uyo Airport is owned by the Akwa Ibom State Government.Throwing further light on the project, Dati said that the preponderance and varieties of fresh farm produce in Nigeria and the growing economic importance of the sector, which stands at $1.53 billion (about N245 billion) has necessitated the development of the perishable cargo terminals.
He added, “The cargo terminals will enhance the farm-to-market value chain, consequently improving the food security network, rural transformation by creating rural employment opportunities in storage, warehousing and air/road transportation logistics.”
He noted that the perishable export cargo programme would utilise open field cultivation for the fresh produce, as farmers would be able to transport their products to collection centres in the states, while refrigerated trucks would deliver the products to the primary airport hubs.
“We believe that it would be a good start to have perishable cargo terminals at the designated airports. One of the reasons agriculture has taken a back seat in Nigeria is due to poor preservation of agricultural produce. The other is transportation,” he noted.
Speaking on the potentialities of the perishable cargo terminals recently, Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, said the projected revenue from the programme would outstrip that from oil in 10 years.
According to her, the project would empower farmers and position them to be better remunerated for their farming activities, adding that it also has the capacity to cut down poverty in the country by 60 per cent because the bulk of those affected by poverty are farmers who get peanuts from their farming activities.
Ms Oduah, who explained that the terminals had been selected in line with their regional agricultural comparative advantage and private sector expressions of interest, added that “They will enhance the farm-to-market value chain, consequently improving the food security network, rural transformation by creating rural employment opportunities in storage, warehousing and air/road transportation logistics.
“It means that our aunties, our cousins, our relations living in rural communities will have access to international market. We would have developed some rural economies that would be independent of allocations from the Federal Government and independent from oil resources. It would be one of the greatest platforms for government to stop rural, urban migration. It will grow employment opportunity; it will have all the value chain properly and completely developed. It will encourage the growth of new middle class.
“Government has set up inter-ministerial committee led by aviation because we are key players in the programme, in the sense that we are providing the infrastructure, the platform; so we are working with the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Water Resources, because water has to be available; we are working with the Ministry of Finance.
“The Ministry of Agriculture will provide the seedling for the cooperatives. We are also working with the states. The states will have to make it work. We are working with the local government chairmen because they will also have to make it work.”
In a presentation on the benefits of perishable cargo terminals, Obiefule Iroabueke, Special Assistant on Financial Strategy to Aviation Minister, said they would create employment opportunities, especially for women and youths because the cargo terminals provide an enabling environment for the transport of agricultural produce to necessary markets (exportation).
He added that most people would have a source of income; this in turn would bring development to rural areas which would ultimately curb rural-urban migration.
According to him, rural farmers would have access to high end markets because the aviation sector would provide the requisite facilities that serve as aggregation points and export hubs for their produce. This would encourage market-driven agri-business and the formation of modern agricultural value chains, while creating an avenue for the flow of revenue into rural areas.
He also believes that due to the nature of perishable cargo exports, access roads would have to be constructed in order to facilitate the transportation of agricultural produce from the farm to the airport.
Iroabueke, who says that packaging and freighting farm produce to any part of the world could be completed in 48 hours, added that with the initiative rural farmers would have access to high end markets because the aviation sector would provide the requisite facilities that serve as aggregation points and export hubs for their produce.
Read More: http://www.tribune.com.ng/news2013/index.php/en/features2/item/32013-perishable-cargo-terminals-as-poverty-eradication-strategy.html
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