Agriculture

Africa Not Among 10 World Largest Area Of Organic Land

Published

4 years ago

June 29, 2021

The Country Coordinator of Ecological Organic Agriculture (EOA) Initiative in Nigeria Dr. Olugbenga AdeOluwa, has hinted that no country in Africa is among the ten world largest area of organic land.

Dr. AdeOluwa said this during his online presentation on the Principles of Organic Agriculture practices organized by Journalists Go Organic Movement.

Journalists Go Organic is a Pan African initiative that brings journalists together with organic agriculture and environment experts on how to have a healthy nation and a healthy environment.

He said that low level of technical know-how among stakeholders and policy makers have been part of the major limitations to the development of the organic agriculture sector in Africa.

“Global organic sector was valued at 130 billion US dollars as at 2019, with 72.3 million hectares managed by over 3.1 million producers and yet Africa is still found wanting”.

AdeOluwa, an Associate Professor in the Department of Soil Resources Management, University of Ibadan said organic agriculture contributes a lot to the health of the world.

“The Principles of Health, Ecology, Fairness, and Care are the roots from which organic agriculture grows and develops.

“Ensuring healthy living of both the living and non-living components of the ecosystem is a MUST in organic agriculture.

“This is what you don’t get from conventional agriculture, where ‘you rob Peter to pay Paul’ like the indiscriminate use of harmful agrochemicals without concern for its negative impact on the health of those in the value chain’’.

According to him, `organic agriculture is a holistic production management system which enhances agro-ecosystem health, utilizing both traditional and scientific knowledge.

“It contributes to agro-ecosystem balance or sustenance; protecting native entities, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity.

It emphasizes the use of management practices in preference to the use of off-farm inputs, taking into account the fact that regional conditions require locally adapted systems.

“This is accomplished by using, where possible, agronomic, biological, and mechanical methods, as opposed to using synthetic materials, to fulfill any specific function within the system’’.

He added that organic production method thus plays a dual societal role: on one hand it provides for a specific market responding to a consumer demand for organic products, and on the other hand delivers public goods contributing to the protection of the environment and animal welfare, as well as to rural development.

He, however, said that journalists need a proper understanding of organic agriculture principles in order to properly address issues in the sector.

“Truly, journalists have great roles to play in taking Nigeria to a higher level and in exploring the several opportunities for mankind within the organic agriculture system.

“A major question is how far can journalists go in proper advocacy for organic agriculture when they don’t have good understanding of the sector?

“So, it is vital that journalists, as the society’s watch dogs and indeed all stakeholders, should be trained and retrained in organic agriculture practices for the health of the world and its inhabitats.

This is one of the reasons for increasing development of organic agriculture all over the world; increasing consumer awareness of the benefits of organic agriculture.

Health considerations, especially, is increasing the demand for organic produce and products.

on her own, the Founder, ‘Journalists Go Organic’ a Pan African Initiative a Journalist per excellent Mrs Ebere Agozie, with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said the project was born out of the desire to help curb strange sicknesses ravaging the world today.

This project is to build the capacity of journalists across the African continent not only in the promotion of, and sustenance of, organic agriculture, but in getting them to become organic farmers.

The unique innovation is to work with journalists who are the watch dogs of the society to take the words and benefits of organic agriculture to every nook and cranny of the country.

Since we are what we eat, we can no longer leave the business of our health and that of our environment to farmers alone.

Nigeria must be number one in the drive for organic agriculture in Africa and among the best ten in the world; therefore, we must sit up and work as a team”.

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Agriculture

Group calls for improved agriculture innovations to boost food security

Published

1 month ago

April 30, 2025

The Gleamer

Mariam Sanni

A Non Governmental Organization, NGO in the agricultural sector, Self Help Africa, SHA has called for improved agricultural innovations to enhance food security and support farmers.

The Country Director, Joy Aderele made this call during in a media chat at the National Mid-term review for the abatement of short-lived climate pollutants in Nigerian Agricultural sector project held in Abuja .

According to her, a recent learning visit revealed that many innovative solutions exist in institutes but are not reaching farmers.

She added that there is a need for policies that would enable researchers in the agricultural sector to disseminate their innovations more effectively.

She emphasized the need for a protocol that allows researchers to share their work without fear of it being taken over is emphasized.

“So we just returned from a learning visit last week, where we had gone to some institutes, great institutes across the country, and I was surprised and amazed to see that we have a lot of innovation sitting in this institute, professors that have done a lot of things that will even make us not to have any issue a young guy in Nigeria. But this learning or innovation is not trickling down. People don’t know about it. The average farmer in my village does not know about the innovation.

“ So I would say that one thing that the ministry should do is to bring up this protocol that enable researchers in the agri space to disseminate their their data, their innovation freely so that farmers and our food security can improve,” she stated.

Aderele highlighted the major achievement of reducing bush burning among farmers, which improves soil and environmental health.

She explained that the promotion of climate-smart agriculture has led to higher crop yields, benefiting farmers and the community.

According to her, Post-harvest losses have been reduced, with rice residue now used to make briquettes, providing an additional income source for farmers.

The country Director said awareness of climate change has increased among farmers, leading to a shift away from traditional, harmful practices like bush burning.

Aderele revealed that the current pilot project in Benue state is aimed to be replicated across all 36 states and the FCT in Nigeria.

She noted that the organization has worked with over 500,000 small farmers globally, with a focus on making farming attractive to young people.

She added that the organization plans to share the lessons learned from the pilot project to improve farming practices nationwide.

The Director, department of agriculture land and climate change management device, Federal Ministry off Agriculture, Muhammed Bello emphasized the importance of sustainable land management for food security and the government’s goal of ensuring healthy soil for farmers.

He surged that the project on abatement of short-lived climate change pollutants is highlighted as a key initiative to clean up and fertilize the land.

He explained that the collaboration is aimed to replicate the project’s achievements and expand its reach across Nigeria, ensuring that more farmers benefit from healthy soil.

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