Food security: AFAN seeks all-year-round farming

Published

5 years ago

January 6, 2021

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has called for the adoption of policies that would support all-year-round farming to mitigate hunger and malnutrition in the country.

AFAN’s National President, Mr Kabri Ibrahim, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Tuesday.

Ibrahim said that all-year-round farming would enable the country feed its growing population.

He said that the country would overcome issues relating to food scarcity, insufficiency and insecurity by embracing all-year-round farming.

The president who observed that the present seasonal farming was old fashioned stressed the need for sustained food production to feed the nation.

Ibrahim said that the country needed to move away from the traditional rain-fed practice to all-year-farming, adding that it would aid food security.

“Nigeria can mitigate issues related to food scarcity by practising agriculture all year round and not the dependence on rainfall that dominates the practice now.

“When you do all-year-round agriculture, you don’t have any gaps and this is what happens in some of the countries that have food security.

“If you look at some countries in Europe and the United States, as well as Brazil, they do agriculture all year round except those times when the climate will not allow.

“What they do is to produce food that will thrive in the climatic conditions prevailing at that time.

“In the middle of winter for instance, in France, you might not be able to grow corn but you can grow other things that thrive, you simply concentrate on them.

“In our environment, it is even more doable because we do not have a situation that prevents us from practising agriculture all year round,” he said.

Ibrahim said that farmers can concentrate on crops that thrives more during the harmattan and vis-a-vis the rainy season.

He called for the adoption of long-term strategies, new method and policies among the stakeholders in the private and public sector to achieve the goal.

Ibrahim listed some of the challenges mitigating all-year-round farming to include policy inconsistency, funding, poor irrigation system and lack of political will.

He also said that poor water management system posed a great threat to farming all year round.

He urged the Federal Government to improve irrigation systems, encourage mechanised farming as well as create access roads in order to increase food production and security in the country.

“We do farming when the rains come and the only thing that prevents you is the torrential rain.

“During the cold or the harmattan we experience in the North, it will still not prevent anybody from doing the dry season farming.

“The tomatoes that we use now are planted during the harmattan. There are crops that even thrive during harmattan or during the cold season, like wheat.

“Farmers can produce a lot of wheat during the cold.”

NAN

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Sakata Seeds Strengthens West Africa Team with Dr. Hadiza Yaro’s Appointment

Published

1 month ago

September 1, 2025

The Gleamer

Joel Ajayi

The former Nigeria Country Manager of East-West Seed, Dr. Hadiza Yaro, has joined Sakata Seeds Nigeria–West Africa Office as Sales Manager for Nigeria and Anglo-West Africa.

In her new role, she will oversee the company’s operations across English-speaking countries in the region, including Togo and the Benin Republic.

Her responsibilities will include servicing existing clients, building new partnerships, and expanding Sakata’s footprint across the continent.

Dr. Yaro holds a PhD in Agronomy and has pursued further studies in Marketing and Food Security across Africa, Europe, and Asia. Announcing her appointment, Vicente Celada, Sakata’s West Africa Director, said: “I am absolutely certain Hadiza will be a great addition to Sakata’s projects in West Africa.”

Over the past decade, Dr. Yaro has established herself as a thought leader, practitioner, and policy advocate in agribusiness.

At East-West Seed, she played a pivotal role in growing the company’s presence in Nigeria while championing smallholder farmers, particularly in Northern Nigeria. She has presented research on the critical role of smallholder farmers in achieving national food security and self-sufficiency.

She also spearheaded several agribusiness fairs and expos that showcased the impact of seed quality on crop yields events that attracted significant media attention. In addition, she worked with governors and state agricultural ministries on strategies to empower smallholder farmers and increase local agricultural output.

A native of Zuru, Kebbi State, Dr. Yaro is widely recognized as an agronomist and agribusiness expert. She is expected to bring the same expertise and innovation to her new role at Sakata Seeds.

Sakata Seed is a global company engaged in the breeding, production, and sale of high-quality vegetable and flower seeds, along with gardening materials and agricultural products. With a strong focus on research and development, Sakata offers a diverse range of horticultural varieties and maintains an extensive international network of offices and research stations.

The company also undertakes related ventures, including landscaping and greenhouse construction, serving both wholesale and retail markets.

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