I 24 DAILY TRUST Monday, May 16, 201 1

Business/ Agric -

Post election violence: Farmers count losses

The conflict that followed the presidential election took an economic dimension when farmers and their farms were attacked. Thousands of cattle and sheep were wasted, and experts say agriculture was the biggest victim. By Jibrin Abubakar

T HEAprilgeneraielec­tions resulted in gen­eral losses for farm­ers. Conceivably, the biggest losers are the

innocent poultry and livestock farmers; as well as marketers and transporters offarm produce.

According to report made available to Daily Tm st by Admiral Environmental Care, the agricultural sector lost about N554million worth of produce in the four-d ay post election conflict in the Northern part of Nigeria.

This is coming as the Fulanis in Kaduna State under the Mob­gal Fulbe Development Associa­tion raised alarm that 11 5 oftheir kinsmen in the southern part of the state were still missing in the crisis that followed the presiden­tialpoll . . ' According to the report by the group, 264 ful anis were ki lled, 256,042 were displaced, 5,918 houses were destroyed in 18 vil­lages, 2,185 cattle and 152 sheep were killed. It says 1,345 cattle are still missing in the southern part ofKaduna.

In the same vein, Hajia Rabi AbdulSalam, owner of the Fasarid ramid farms told th is paper that the perpetrators of the crisis have no conscience and are godless.

In art interview with Daily Trust, she says 2,000 chickens (layers) were killed at her Fasarid Ramid farms located at Maraban Ridoin Kaduna state.

She says two-bedroom bun­galow, an oil mill building and a power generating plant in the farm were burnt down. One of her workers was also shot, though he survived it. The attackers seemed to have planned it ahead, she feared.

Executive Director of the Admiral Environmel)tal Care Mr. Shedrack Madlion told Daily Trust that the value of destruction on the agricultural sector is put conservatively at N554million, even as farmers still count losses

SummarY

while many other farm losses may not have been captured by the survey due to logistic problem.

In an interview, he says: "It was a terrible thing that happened to the agricultural sector in four days. A total ofN554million was

lost in the four days of mayhem in the Northern part of Nigeria. The navigational points of farm produce are the South-west and the South-east. In the North, the product must be harvested and prepared to leave the farm gates. That movement of farmers, the transporters and the middlemen was restricted in four days. '

"The hatchers of day old chicks could not deliver to those who have booked in advance. Fisher­men could not go to the pond to feed the fish. What it takes you to

N5 54mi1"",iio ..... n __

gain in eight months was lost in two four days. Livestock farme rs who their livestock delivered had no access to the market to buy vaccinat ion for their cows. Don't forget that 68.8% of Nigerian farm ers are subsistence farmers.

What happened was a complete disaster to humanity, to nature and to agriculture:'

Asked about the authenticity of the financial quantification of

A tomato truck skidded off the ro~d.

the losses in the agricultural sec­tor, he says: "The research and sta­tistics department of the Admiral Environmental Care went round Saminaka where the maize is

PIX: AFOLABI SOTUNDE

coming out from; they went to

Gombe where 67% of Nigeria's vegetable comes from. We

Continued Oil page 25

DAILY TRUST Monday,May16,2011

-Business/ Agric

Postelection violence:

armers count losses Continued from page 24

went to Alkaleri in Bauchi State where the water melon comes from. We were in Kunf in Kano State where all year round farming is done.

"We were in Kebbi State for the onions. The price of onions went up to N67, 000. Our brothers and sisters in lbadan and Lagos were using cabbage. It was N20, 000 a bag but within these four days, it shot up to N67, 000 and more than that. Above all the tomato trucks that were leaving the North on the first day of the violence were burnt down at Goni Gora in Kadu na State. The biggest mayhem took place in Kafanchan. The region is popular for its good honey and ginger. The conflict affected the production of these products.

"Don't forget that the Fulanis were beginning (0 move the cattle from the south to the north, and were cut up in the middle. More than 27,000 cattle belonging to different ardos and wakilin dab­bob is were killed between Kar­garko, Kwoi, Jaba and Kafanchan. Farmers were also shot, either directly, accidental discharge or stray bullets.

Unquanti fiable lives were also lost. We have also looked at cost of vehicles

that were burnt down. You must be aware that 29 % of maize that is consumed in Nigeria comes from Birnin Gwari and Saminaka. The 981 cattle that leave for Lagos from Gashua could not find their way there. The 481 goats that are slaughtered for consumption were not there in the south. Subsistence farmers were locked up in their houses. The baskets that leave Ebonyi State to come to Kura in

1\ c~r '~rryin9 bags offQodslufh puri ng the violence in K~du"a . .

Kana State could not come. "Twenty six trucks of agriCul­

tural produce were burnt 00 their way to Kaduna. This estimation is an average or minimum esti{113-tion beca.use we do not have the required logistic to go round and get enough data. It is not my duty, but probably the duty of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) as well as t~ew panel set up by the governm~nt. The

point made here is that as the . federal government looks at the human loss and matenalloss. they should first compensate the farm­ers, because jf the farmers cannot retu rn to farm, then there is no future for Nigeria:'

He calls on tne investigative panel not to only focus on human losses, but should also look into environmental losses, which would include the agricultural sector. He also calls for the inclu-

sian offarmers as members of the panel.

Meanwhile he chided the kid glove with which the government handles agriculture, sa}~ng the sector is in ruins unless govern­ment wades into action.

H· e says: "As I

talk to you, the prices of food stuff have gone up by about

17%. There is a need for the gov­ernment to work with the private sector like us to find a way out of this in orderto bridge the losses and product deficit that may lead to further rise in prices. There is a need ip this respect. to bring in regional integrated vegetation forum.

"There is a total slow-down indeed. But we want tu believe that the incoming government will bring in good managers of agriculture. And stop paying lip services to it. Farming is not attractive in Nigeria. As I speak to you there is 26% declining in the population of the aging farm­ers in agriculture. It is not aUrac­tiveatall.

"There are no certifications of when we need to pull out our old herbicides from the shelves. Fer­tilizers are not delivered to farm ­ers as at when due. Today, ferti­lizers have not been delivered in Kaduna and the raining season is here already. Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder if the Northern youth are not channeled toward agricultural purposes.

''Any nation that does not put

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12% of its budget into agricu l­ture is bound to lose its sover­eignty. 67% of our food is being imported. The CBN just told Nigerians that the country spent $IOOmillion in 2010 in theimpor­tation of rice whereas we have 14 regions in Nigeria that can grow enough rice. Don't forget that 27 per cent of the rice imported into Nigeria is expired rice and we eat them.

"The problem is because of the Single problem of stoning in OUf rice, the Nigerian house wife today is used to foreign rice that they don't need to wash twice. The quality of lice we eat in Nigeria is not commensurate with the qual­ity of rice eaten in countries such as Cambodia, MalaYSia and Alge­ria. We must go back to the pro­motion of one community, one product.

"Our preSident is a zoologist and so he understands science and he knows that agriculture is science and that no nation sur­vives on rain fed agriculture. I am calling on Mr. President to start having face-to-face with farmers. This is what brought Malaysia to where it is today.

"The king of Thailand is the preSident of rice farmers associa­tion of that country. 1 do not see anything wrong with President Jonathan becoming the chair­man of farmers association of this country ..

"Therefore farmers should be compensated because when ·you lose these fa rmers, young farm­ers are not going to come."