Olawale Rasheed reviews the concept of cassava diplomacy, a new coinage by the Federal Government which is described as a euphemism for the giant strides of the president in the agricultural sector.Nigeria at 52 may be offeringsomething refreshing to Africa.Opponents of the president on twitter called his economic policies cassavanomics, a taunt that is becoming a gift to Sub-Saharan Africa. Until recent encounter with some administration officials, little insights were available as to how the president takes the various labellings and what good or bad outcome the nation is getting from the cassavanomics concept.Recent revelations show that the president is enjoying the labelling, believing that positive outcome rather than presidential propaganda will vindicate him. The Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina who is at the centre of the cassava politics, recently took time off to disclose some goings on within the establishment which may appear to lie behind the president's unexplained optimism about the state of the economy. This was at the unveiling to a select group of stakeholders, of the more than 15 new agriculture-based businesses designed to attract young Nigerians and tackle the menace of national joblessness.The news is that Jonathan's cassavanomics is attracting global attention. The minister narrated two incidents which he said encouraged the president and the entire presidential agricultural council to forge ahead with the agricultural transformation initiative. The first was when the Malawian president came to Nigeria recently on a state visit. According to the minister, the president instructed that the visiting Head of State should be served cassava bread during the State Banquet held in her honour. After the dinner, the visiting president was informed that she had just eaten cassava bread. Madame President was said to have denied such a possibility, affirming that no country in Africa could achieve that feat. His host then briefed her fully and, there and then, commenced the cassava diplomacy. While going back, madame president was said to have requested that cassava bread be loaded unto her plane for a sample and thew education of her nation.Few weeks ago when President Jonathan was visiting some Southern Africa nations on state visits, the Nigerian leader also packed cassava bread for sample to the Heads of State that he visited. In Malawi, the Malawian leader was said to have narrated that the Nigerian revolution in the bread sector was unrivalled on the African continent as it was capable of redirecting the continent's agricultural focus and reduce external dependency. Madame President was said to have premised her postulations on the fact that most Sub-Saharan African nations are net importers of wheat and key producers of cassava. With wheat prices on the rise, cassava as a possible substitute in the making of bread, a main staple food on the continent, is seen as an ingenious innovation.The second incident, according to the minister, has to do with the former Prime Minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair. The ex-British leader, now a consultant to the Federal Government, after a taste of cassava launch at the Presidential Villa, met the Minister of Agriculture and confessed that he had just eaten the best bread in recent times. Asked what bread it was, Blair said it was cassava bread. Of course, the president of African Union and Beniniose leader was an early convert into the cassava family.Many had asked how cassavanomics will change the face of the nation's economy. Here it was discovered that the concept is just a euphemism for a whole range of reformations sweeping through the agricultural sector. At a recent workshop designed to produce a blueprint for job creation in the agricultural sector, the minister raised the bar, as more business opportunities are to be unveiled in the agricultural value chain. The technical consultative forum packaged by top university experts led by Professor Alfred Adegoke and others opens a new vista as youth experts in various sectors brainstorm for two days on job creation and the raising of new generation of nagropeneurs.The breakout sessions divided participants into sectoral formations such as educational support for future agricultural scientists; agribusiness education; smallholder farmers education and youth support networks; youths in input production; improving access to land; improved access to credit via dedicated private sector lending; youth plantation r-ehabilitation teams; facilitating supplier-buyer elationships; and branding and integrated marketing communication. Each groups came up related component of the overall action plan.The presidential initiative however shocked many who were unfamiliar with the president's activities in that sector. Certain facts stood out that day. First, youths coming into agriculture are not farmers but agricultural entrepreneurs or nagropeneurs.Two, funding challenge is a thing of the past, as the new policy integrated financing and land acquisition.Three, aside direct farming, the plan has opened up more than 15 other businesses in the sector.Four, the nagropreneurs who may be in millions are to engage millions in a new vision of agricultural industrialisation. And lastly, the sustainability of the entire package is premised on the integration of the private sector as the main driver, with government providing enabling legal and policy frameworks.The agenda appears very ambitious. Yet, those driving it from the president to the minister of agriculture are stubbornly optimistic that the package is feasible. Dr Adesina fired back on the issue of sustainability and success. Said he:'The first sign of sustainability is that you have a president who is giving over a thousand per cent support to the difficult changes in the sector. He eats local rice, takes cassava bread. There is a solid presidential support.'Two, we have changed fertilizer policy without government spending a kobo. The mass corruption in the sector has gone forever. Three, Nigerian farmers are now earning dollars from cassava pellets.Four state governments, for the first time, have demonstrated genuine desire for partnership.Importantly, we have massive support from international stakeholders in the agricultural sector,'' the minister said.Coincidentally, the minster's assertion was backed by revelations that cocoa output from Nigeria, the world's fourth-biggest producer, may rise by as much as 20 per cent in the season that starts on October 1, as new farms begin production, an industry group said. Cocoa trees planted four to five years ago in Western, Eastern and Mid- Western regions of Nigeria will begin to bear fruit in the 2012-13 season and raise the country's output to at least 300,000 metric tons from 250,000 tons last year, Robo Adhuze, spokesman for the Cocoa Association of Nigeria, had disclosed to a foreign new agency.A cross section of citizens who attended the programme came out of the hall wondering if all that was discussed throughout the sessions were truly real. From top leaders in the civil society to academic leaders, the question was whether Nigeria is truly getting it right in the agricultural sector. Ndidi Nwuneli of LEAP Africa, among other top flight participants, could not hide their admiration of the likely positive effect of the plan on the economic landscape of the country.
Click here to read full news..
