Agriculture
Organic Produce must be first certified – Don
A lecturer with the Federal College of Agriculture, Moor Plantation, IbadanDr Olufemi AyanfeOluwa, has stated that no agriculture produce should be termed organic except it is certified by the appropriate bodies.
AyanfeOluwa who said this during his online presentation on Organic Agriculture Standard and Certification, organised by Journalists Go Organic Movement, added, `if it is not certified, it may not be organic’.
He said that it is not sufficient to personally claim that one’s production is organic, but that there should be a link to benchmark reference regarding practices of Organic Agriculture.
“Standards could also be said to be a set of rules and regulations guiding any production, while Certification means an audit process to evaluate compliance to an established standard.
” Therefore, organic agriculture business is an organised system based on integrity and quality assurance.
” Organic standards’ are sets of definitions, requirements, recommendations and restrictions regarding the practices and materials that can be used within certified organic production and processing systems.
” These documented standards define the requirements that a producer/processor must meet before the certifying organisation will certify the enterprise ‘organic.”
AyanfeOluwa noted that Organic Agriculture Standard and Certification are important tools for Organic Agriculture business.
” We also have a standard in Nigeria “Organic Agriculture Standard in Nigeria” and anybody claiming to be practising organic agriculture without following any known standard is rather joking’’.
He enumerated the types of certification programmes available to farmers who may be interested in having their produce certified.
“We have individual or self-claimed called First Party Certification; Self claimed means that, the farm has not gone through audit process (certification) and it is only the farmer that could claim what he/she is doing is organic.
Thus, only close persons who could trust such a person would buy into his produce/products.
“Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS) which is Second party: are quality assurance initiatives using their own written standards, often based on the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) Basic Standards.
” PGS are specific to individual communities, geographic areas, politics and their markets and the methods of verification that are used vary. Credibility is ensured through the participation of all stakeholders involved in production and consumption of organic products.“The word participatory means that both the producers and consumers are involved in the certification process.
“PGS which also shares a common goal with third party certification in providing a credible guarantee for consumers seeking organic produce locally, and is much cheaper and accessible.
” Thus, it makes it easier for organic farmers with small holdings which characterise agriculture in Africa to market their produce locally as organic, having access to certification through PGS.
“It should be noted that PGS certified products could only be sold within your country/region, but cannot be exported as organic, and this is one of the limitations of PGS’’.
He said Third Party Certification, (TPC) is in contrast to first party (self) certification and second party certification that are carried out by a body closely related to the supply chain.
“TPC is viewed as more reliable and credible than first and second-party certifications, because the credibility of the Third Party certifier itself is backed up by accreditation.
” Accreditation is either provided by private or public sector often by, or with the consent of, public authorities and requirements for accreditation are laid down in ISO 65 which is endorsed by the European Union as EN 45011.
” To export produce/products to any country, you must produce and be certified based on the standards of that country.
According to him, if you are targeting the US market, you must produce and be certified based on National Organic Programme (NOP).
” Such certification could only be handled by an independent accredited body which is a third party between the producer and the consumers in the targeted country.
” Third party certification could be very expensive and complex, and therefore makes it unaffordable for a small scale farmer.
” You require a large volume of production to be able to offset the cost of certification. Third party certification could be as costly as 5,000 pounds or more,” he said.
Agriculture
IWMI: Promoting affordable irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers
Mariam Sanni
Smallholder farmers are challenged with erratic rainfall leading to drought spells, crop water stress and eventually reduced growth and yield penalties
Water insecurity is the major risk to smallholder farmers and a major driver for low investments in agricultural innovations
Even when water resources are sustainably available, smallholder farmers are unable to invest in irrigation equipment due to high upfront costs.
Smallholder farmers have limited access to loans and credit facilities even though irrigation usually is a profitable investment.
Promoting affordable irrigation for smallholders involves increasing access to low-cost technologies like drip and sprinkler kits and solar pumps, and supporting them with financial tools like subsidies and credit.
Also the Farmer-Led Irrigation Development (FLID) has helped farmers to independently invest in, manage and maintain irrigation equipment, adapting technologies to local needs without relying on large-scale projects, reduces farmers’ reliance on erratic rainfall and leads to increased farm investments (good seed, fertilizers, etc.)
Farmers move from 1 rain-fed crop, to multiple harvests per year, boosting yields, income, and food security
Nigeria and other countries have high potential for solar-based irrigation, irrespective of the type of water resources.
As part of efforts to boost local capacity to produce and maintain simple, low-cost irrigation, International Water Management Institute, IWMI through multi- stakeholder dialogues, policy support is partnering with stakeholders created an enabling environment for inclusive and sustainable irrigation development .
The Researcher , Agricultural Water Solution, IWMI Dr Adebayo Oke during his presentation at the International Conference on Climate Change and Just Energy Transition 2025, highlighted that the institute has foster SMEs’ inclusive scaling of bundled irrigation solutions through inclusive business model development and strategic partnerships
The Conference which was theme: Sustainable Clinate Resilience and Just Energy Transition in Africa: A Collaborative Pathway through Policy, Capacity Building, Research and Inclusion was held in Abuja.
He added that its has deployed an impact accelerator program to develop new bundled solutions and SME collaborations that address multiple value chains
According him, IWMI has attracted sustainable finance investments in SMEs to fast-track the adoption of bundled water solutions by smallholder farmers.
Speaking on experience in Nigeria: scaling solar irrigation solutions –Solar scaling pathway studies (Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi) has stratifying the smallholder farmers using the Discrete Choice Experiment.
He mentioned bundling of irrigation technology and financial services to determine scaling pathway/different financing models.
Dr Oke added they also developed a credit facility to enable the scaling of SPI.
Furthermore, he stated IWMI-West & Central Africa Priorities for 2024-2030 as building resilient agric food system against climate change , leveraging water for resilience in fragile and conflict affected settings, enabling circular water and food economy innovations, supporting water infrastructure and allocation decisions among others .
The Country Director , Ghana and Regional Representatives for West and Central Africa, Professor Kehinde Ogunjobi in an interview with newsmen at the event highlighted the importance of evidence-based data for farmers, aquaculture, and environmental ministries.
He said that there is need to raise awareness and emphasized the importance of government support for research and developmental projects on climate change and its impact on agriculture, livelihood, and other sectors.
Professor Ogunjobi has implored government to build capacity of people working in the field of climate change and capacitate farmers to turn evidence-based data into reality.
He encouraged the government to do more to support research and address the impact of climate change, which is more evident in the West African region compared to developed countries.
He urged stakeholders to collaborate with the government and institutions like IWMI Ghana to improve the impact of climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts and improve the livelihood of people in the region.
He noted the political shift in the US, with the previous administration no longer supporting climate change initiatives, emphasizing the need for Africa to look inward.
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