Nigeria loses $362.5bm annually to non export of beans
As the markets and demand of organic agricultural products continue to increase, Nigeria experts in the sector have called for the development of regulation for the agroecology practices in Nigeria.
Speaking on Monday during a stakeholders meeting, ActionAid Nigeria, Food and Agriculture Programme Manager, Azubike Nwokoye, disclosed that the country loses about $362.5m yearly in foreign exchange to the ban on exportation of beans.
According to Azubike, agroecology is capable of minimizing future widespread disruptions of the nation’s food supplies by pandemics and climate change by enhancing linkages between small-scale food production and local consumption.
He therefore called for a National Agroecology Strategy to be domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for coordination and scale up of Agroecology Programmes in Nigeria.
He said Organic Agriculture is one of the fastest developing sectors of agriculture globally n Organic Agriculture is also one of the easily misconstrued aspects of agriculture; hence Nigeria should take advantage to earn more foreign exchange.
He lamented the fact that despite many opportunities, development of organic agriculture in Nigeria is still very low, explaining that though agroecology is a recent concept in agriculture, poor understanding has stalked its development in Nigeria compared to other Africa countries.
“As part of what should be done to solve the problem of highly hazardous pesticides, he said there should be National Framework for Indigenous Plants, Seeds, Seedlings and Livestock for Agrobiodiversity Preservation and Promotion
“The growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) should be re-introduced, focused on organic inputs, and the budget should be increased to address the inputs gaps experienced by smallholder farmers, especially women and young people and to provide access to early maturing seeds, seedlings, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, and poultry, thus supporting agroecological practices, indigenous seeds, and agrobiodiversity preservation for increased farm yields
“The National Agricultural Development Fund should have a major component on supporting and scaling up agroecology across communities in Nigeria
“Government should strengthen Extension Services with mobility, incentives and resources for field visits and employ more extension agents especially women and youths,” he said.
On the benefits of Agroecology, Azubike said it improved health and nutrition, little damage to environment, less cost for society, greater biodiversity, reduced nutrient losses and reduced erosion,
He added that it also encourages better water management, low use of non – renewable resources, safer working conditions, less risk of contamination and can build on traditional knowledge, recognises farmers’ knowledge and provides access to organic markets.
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