Date Published: 01/26/10

Akpabio: Fighting poverty through agriculture By Ufuot Udokang

Poverty eradication has become the overriding concern of development perspective in Nigeria, today. However, the method adopted by different governments, rather than solve the problem, have rather raised more questions and criticisms. Hence, a recent approached announced by the Akwa Ibom State government as its latest focus in poverty alleviation in 2010 deserves attention!

Akwa Ibom state is blessed with a wide array of mineral resources such as kaolin, natural gas, lateritic clay, petroleum ,crude oil, and a host of construction minerals, although, for now most of these resources are not being exploited. Concentration has been on petroleum and to some extent natural gas exploitation.

Farming is the most economic activities of the people of Akwa Ibom state - still mainly at its traditionally peasant subsistent level. Major crops cultivated in Akwa Ibom state are cassava, yam, maize, cocoa yam, plantain, banana and melon amongst others. It is evident that cassava has been the highest crop yield per hectare of all the major food crops. The two major tree crops cultivated are oil palm and rubber.

Generally, the total food productions have increased with the numerous Agricultural Development Programme of the state. More farmers are changing cropping patterns by engaging in double, mixed and intercropping practices.

Given the level of poverty and hunger in the land, Governor Godswill Akpabio’s demonstration of commitment and support for agriculture as enunciated in his recent allocation in the 2010 budget proposal, gives some hope

For Akpabio, agric sector deserves a high premium as it remains the highest employer of labour and the only hope to sustainable tool to assuage poverty. Put differently, only agriculture can guarantee mass employment, food security and appreciable standard of living. Hence, the governor says one of the policy thrust and objective of the budget christened “budget of consolidation” is to pursue Public Private Partnership Investment Strategy to enhance the revolutionary efforts in the Agricultural sector and create jobs for the people of the state. To boost agricultural production, N4.835 billion has been proposed for the agric sector.

Usually, in a country like ours, the problem is not always the amount allocated but the sincerity in implementation. Should Akpabio achieve 100 per cent implementation in the agric budget this year, Akwa Ibom would have again set standard for Nigeria. Already, there are indications of a sustainable tradition.

In 2009, the state embarked on various progammes, one of which was the Integrated Farmers Scheme (IFS) in which 620 youths drawn from the 31 Local government areas of the state were trained for a period of two months in both crops and live stock productions.

Akpabio’s reason for adopting such strategy to implement the scheme is: “To reduce dependency on government for employment, create and sustain new jobs and reduce frustration amongst the young people.” He announced the release of N402.7 million for the empowerment to the participants of the scheme. But in 2010, “ Government intends to involve about 930 youths in the Integrated Farmers Scheme (IFS) and the sum of N400 million is budgeted for this programme. This would give the scheme a wider spread as well as reduce unemployment among the youths”.

The beauty of the IFS is that the youths were not only trained and allowed to go seeking for funds to start their businesses, they were given soft loans. In this year’s budget the state government had reviewed upward the soft loan package from N300,000.00 to N 500,000.00 per participant. The IFS, it has been argued, is Akpabio’s strategy to redirect the attention of the youths towards agriculture.

Further, according to the Commissioner for Agriculture, Professor Etok Ekanem, in 2009, Akwa Ibom State Food Reserve Programme took off with a facility acquired at Abak Industrial layout for the storage of processed agricultural products. The aim is to buy excess food from farmers, process and store them for future use.

Last year, a Vietnamese company called Trans4mation Architect was invited to the State to engage in large scale rice production in three LGAs - Ibiono Ibom, Oruk Anam and Uruan. The project, Akpabio said, is estimated to generate about 400 jobs for Akwa Ibom people. Already 210 people have been employed to begin operation under that scheme

Today, farmers in Akwa Ibom enjoy the support of the state government through the procurement and supply of fertilizers to them at highly subsidized rate. Last year, 12,000 metric tones or fertilizers were received from the federal government and the state government went a step further to buy 1,500 metric tones for distribution to farmers. They were sold at N 1,800per bag as against N 4,500, which the government buys, according to Daniel Eka, a farmer in Itu.

Another agricultural programme put in place in the state is the Accelerated Life stock and Fish Production programme (ALSFIP).This year, the state government would spend N11.8 billion naira under that programme. The government is also partnering with an Israeli company call AGRIDEF Israel on the project to be executed in phases. Over 100,000 people are to be provided with economic opportunities to engage in large scale livestock production and aquaculture in the structured fish farm estates.

The governor is expected to be in Israel soon, to sign an MOU with the company to enable them embark on the programme that would intervene in life stock and fishery sub-sector in Akwa Ibom State.

Besides this, Ekanem said government is building poultry hatcheries in each of the Senatorial Districts of the state and also constructing structured fish farm estates, each in the federal constituency of the state under the ALSFIP scheme. “In the next six months the AGRIDEF Israel should be able to contribute five hundred million dollars in partnership with the state government in the project”.

Other foreign experts from Malaysia have been invited to intervene in the oil palm industry considering that oil palm is a major industry in the state.

Akpabio has also revitalised the agric sector with his Community Plantation Development Scheme (CPDS), thus intervening in tree crops production with 4,671 hectares of oil palm, 444 hectares of rubber and 408 hectares of cocoa planted in the state for the empowerment of farmers. Furthermore, the state is participating in the Federal Government’s Agricultural Extension Service support Programme, in which 275 Akwa Ibom youths have been selected for training with the promises of financial assistance to start agro enterprises. There is also a seed multiplication of progamme through which 6472 bundles of improved cassava cuttings under direct seed production and out grower scheme have been produced and distributed to farmers.The Agricultural Development Project (ADP) provides technical assistance and extension services to farmers.

The Akwa Ibom State Land Consolidation and Management Scheme is another area of hope. The objective is to encourage communities that have large parcels of land to donate such with a minimum of 100 hectares per L.G.A to enable government deal with the problem of land fragmentation which is a major problem of Agriculture in Akwa Ibom State. This is addition to the National Programme on Food Security (NPFS), which is seriously being pursued with 145 hectares of rain-fed farming, made up of maize, cassava and poultry production, piggery and aquaculture located at Ukana Uwa, Ikot Osudu and Ikot Essien.

In addition,68400 seed yams,150,000 cocoyam, corn and 650 bundles of sweet potato vines have been produced and distributed to farmers. The Root and Rubber Expansion Programme has received a boost. Also 12.2 hectares of cassava have been cultivated and 24 replications of on-farm adaptive research trails have been established, all geared towards increased food production. Indeed, Akwa Ibom holds the hope for poverty alleviation in Nigeria.