EVALUATING THE PROSPECTS OF THE ANCHOR BORROWERS’ PROGRAMME FOR SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN NIGERIA

The quest to tackle the problems bedevilling the agricultural sector and help Nigeria get out of the current recession occasioned by over dependence on oil revenue, necessitated the launch of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) in 2015. It involves the provision of farm inputs in kind and cash (for farm labour) to smallholder farmers (SHF) to boost production of the targeted commodities. At harvest, the SHF supply his/her produce to the Agro-processor (referred to as the Anchor) who pays the cash equivalent to the farmer’s account. The ABP concept is like the contract farmer concept which has been found to be effective in other countries like India. The success of the pilot project which was carried out in Kebbi State for rice has been very remarkable. About 78,000 rural farmers in Kebbi State benefitted from the programme, which used integrated rice millers as buyers to ensure that there was a ready market for the produce. Yields as high as 7.5 to 8.0 tonnes per hectare were obtained by farmers compared with less than 2.0 tonnes per hectare previously obtained and smallholder farmers were made Naira millionaires in Kebbi State in 201

AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN FINANCING AND SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN NIGERIA: THE PRE-REQUISITES

value chain is a connected string of companies, groups and other players working together to satisfy market demands for a particular product or group of products. In recent times, Financial Institutions are more interested in financing various actors along the value chain, with emphasis on cash flow rather than any form of collateral. Value chain approach to agribusiness financing considers the market first and assesses the level of development of the value chain. However, in Nigeria as in most other Sub- Saharan African countries where agriculture is still characterized by small scale producers and disjointed agricultural value chains, a lot still needs to be done to be able to achieve success with the concept of value chain financing in the bid to transform the agricultural sector and accelerate economic development. One of the pre-requisites for making the concept of agricultural value chain financing work efficiently in Nigeria where over 90 percent of agricultural output in the country is produced by small-holders with less than 2 hectares under cropping is connecting farmers to market

AGRICULTURAL VALUE CHAIN FINANCING AND SMALL SCALE FARMERS IN NIGERIA: THE PRE-REQUISITES

A value chain is a connected string of companies, groups and other players working together to satisfy market demands for a particular product or group of products. In recent times, Financial Institutions are more interested in financing various actors along the value chain, with emphasis on cash flow rather than any form of collateral. Value chain approach to agribusiness financing considers the market first and assesses the level of development of the value chain. However, in Nigeria as in most other Sub-Saharan African countries where agriculture is still characterized by small scale producers and disjointed agricultural value chains, a lot still needs to be done to be able to achieve success with the concept of value chain financing in the bid to transform the agricultural sector and accelerate economic development. One of the pre-requisites for making the concept of agricultural value chain financing work efficiently in Nigeria where over 90 percent of agricultural output in the country is produced by small-holders with less than 2 hectares under cropping is connecting farmers to markets

Effect of Government and Private Sector Financing on the Agricultural Sector in Nigeria

The process of economic transformation and development calls for the participation of all interest groups in an economy hence this study set out to examine the effect of public and private sector finances on the development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria. The study employed an econometric procedure with the Ordinary Least Square regression technique. R-squared of 0.9921, obtained implied that 99.2 per cent of the variation in the agricultural sector real gross domestic product was explained by the six independent variables in the model. Loan granted to farmers under the agricultural credit guarantee scheme, commercial banks’ credit to the agricultural sector and Federal Government recurrent expenditure allocated to the sector impacted it positively, while the Federal Government capital expenditure allocated to the sector did not. It is recommended that all the policies put in place by the Monetary and Fiscal Authorities to encourage flow of funds to the agricultural sector be sustained and that the Federal Government should overhaul its capital budgetary processes and provisions so as to make a positive impact on the development of the sector, particularly since crude oil price has been on the decline in the last four years impacting Nigeria’s economy negatively

Awareness and Perception of Climate Change among Farmers in Nigeria: Implications for Food Security

Nigeria is characterized by high level of hunger, malnutrition and poverty, making food security a serious concern in the country. This is being worsened by threats of climate change which adversely affect agriculture; the predominantly livelihood activity in the country. The study examined the implications for food security of farmers’ awareness and perception of climate change in Nigeria using evidence from farmers in Ebonyi State. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select 360 respondents for the study, while data were collected using structured questionnaire. Analysis of data involved the use of frequencies, percentages, means and rating scale, while the results were presented using charts, tables and graphs. The mean extent of knowledge of the farmers of climate change phenomenon is 2.74. About 16.1% of the respondents indicated knowledge to a great extent, 36.4% to a reasonable extent, 26.4% to a little extent, and 21.1% to no extent. Climate change is largely understood by 93.6% of the farmers as fluctuations in average weather conditions. The farmers are being impacted by climate change through increased weather uncertainties (3.71), reduced cropping season (3.60), decreased soil fertility and farm yield (3.48), early cessation of rains (3.33), delayed onset of rains (3.20) and increased temperature (2.89). Their sources of information on climate change are radio (66%), friends and relatives (56.2%), family (33.4%), personal observations (40%), social media (23%), extension agents (21.6%), internet (19%), cooperatives (12.1%) and religious bodies (10%). The study recommends the strengthening of agricultural extension system to engage in increased and continuous sensitization and education of farmers on climate change through radio, social media, internet, cooperative societies and religious organizations

Foreign Direct Investment: Catalyst for Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria

This is a conceptual review (content analysis) of the effect of foreign direct investment as a catalyst for sustainable economic development in Nigeria. The major objective is a comparative analysis of 87 developing countries with the capacity to attract FDI and proffer possible solutions that will catapult Nigeria as a globally acceptable haven for foreign investment. The secondary data were sourced from Investing Across Borders (IAB) 2010 report where 87 developing countries across the globe were assessed using the IAB indicators. The major conclusion drawn from the survey is that Nigeria as a country is yet to maximize its potentials (given available resources and market size) at attracting foreign investment. It also concludes that the process of foreign business establishment/ownership in Nigeria need to be improved upon to encourage high patronage of foreigners in economic activities. This study therefore recommends that Government should make policies that will encourage equity ownership of investments in Nigeria by foreigners. The authorities should put in place machineries that will ensure a transparent and simple business registration and ownership process

STRUCTURE AND CONSTRAINTS OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTERPRISES (MSMEs) IN NIGERIA

In both developed and developing economies, there are evidences of the immense contributions of MSMEs to economic growth and development. Small enterprises are known to adapt with greater ease under difficult and changing circumstances because they are typically low in capital intensity and allow product lines and inputs to be changed at relatively low cost. With the collapse of the world oil market and the ensuing economic downturn in Nigeria, refocusing attention on the MSMEs will help reduce unemployment, create wealth and alleviate poverty. Hence, this paper set out to profile the structure of MSMEs in Nigeria, examine their firm characteristics, financing and operations and constraints with a view to proffering suggestions on how to use MSMEs as a strategy for economic development in Nigeria in the face of the current economic downturn. Results of the survey conducted indicated that MSMEs dominate Nigeria’s economic landscape as 53.5 per cent of the respondents were in the micro-enterprise category, 29.6 per cent in the smallscale category, 14.1 per cent in the medium-enterprise category and only 2.8 per cent in the large scale category. Capacity utilization rate was highest for MSMEs in the agriculture/agro-processing sector at 70.2 per-cent compared with 55.4 per cent for those in the manufacturing sector. Inadequate fund/working capital was the most mentioned problem by the MSMEs. It was therefore, recommended that credit programmes that will take cognisance of the peculiarities of MSMEs in Nigeria be intensified so as to increase their access to funds in view of their dominance and potential contribution to the growth of the econom

Environmental Sensitivity Index Mapping and Assessment of Gully Erosion Sites in Anambra State –Nigeria.

This research focuses on the environmental sensitivity index mapping and assessment of gully erosion sites in Anambra State. It was motivated by the increasing destruction of lives and properties in Anambra State through gully erosion menace and the need to identify the geographical locations and magnitude of these sites in addition to factors responsible with a view to proffer solutions. It pursues map production as a way to visually display the locations of these gully sites. Gully sites in Anambra States were identified through literature and field investigations. Geographic positioning system (GPS map 78) equipment was employed to obtain the coordinates of the sites. Digital camera was used to take photographs of identified sites. Factors responsible for the gully formations were obtained through literature and field investigations. The coordinates of the gully sites were plotted on the geo-referenced map of Anambra State to indicate the geographic locations of the sites. The gully sites were categorized into four using: (i) depth of the gully site, (ii) length of the gully, and (iii) level of destruction of lives and properties so far, as criteria. Results obtained showed that there are 166 gully sites in Anambra State, categorized into (i) Most severely, (ii) severely, (iii) moderately, and (iv) slightly gully sites. It identified both natural and anthropogenic factors such as nature of the landscape, soil, rocks and surface water; demographic factors, bad control measures and poor appreciation of erosion problems among others as being responsible for gully erosion menace in Anambra State. The research recommends tree planting campaigns, control of soil and sheet erosion early enough, development control measures and environmental education among others as solutions to gully erosion problems in the State. Keywords: Gully erosion, Erosion, Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Index mapping, Anambra State map

Comparative Analysis of the Soil Geotechnical Characteristics of the Failed and Unfailed Sections of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway, Southeastern Nigeria.

This work compared the soil geotechnical characteristics of the failed sections of the road and that of the un-failed sections of the road to establish whether they are significantly different or related. To achieve this, soil samples from both failed and un-failed sections of the road were analyzed. The data so generated, were tested using Correlation Coefficient for relationship and Students T-test for difference. It was found that there exist insignificant relationship between the failed and the un-failed sections of the road, there is significant difference between the two variables and there is wide discrepancies between the geotechnical characteristics of the failed sections and the standard of soil geotechnical characteristics set by the Federal Ministry of Works for highway sub-grades.  It was therefore concluded that the road failure was due to poor geotechnical characteristics of the soil. The work recommended that the variation in the geotechnical characteristics of the soils along the roadway should be accommodated during reconstruction. Sequel to this, knowledge of soil geotechnical characteristics and underlying geology of an area becomes indispensable before any construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation project commences.