Press
statement from the Minister of Agriculture, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, on the
controversial N60bn for mobile phones to be distributed to rural
farmers across the country.
My
attention has been drawn to the issue of 60 Billion Naira to be spent
on phones for farmers, reported in some media sites and papers. The
information is absolutely incorrect.
My
Permanent Secretary was totally misquoted out of context. There is no
60 Billion Naira for phones anywhere. As a responsible Minister, who
takes public accountability and probity very seriously, there is
absolutely no way in the world that I will even contemplate or approve
such an expenditure. All our focus as Government is on creating jobs in
Nigeria, not exporting jobs elsewhere.
Let me clarify and explain our policy.
Reaching farmers through phones: The
policy the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is
promoting is to get mobile phones to farmers, as part of its
agricultural transformation agenda, to connect farmers to information,
expand their access to markets, improve their access to savings and
loans, and help them adapt to climate change dynamics that affect them
and their livelihoods. We are also rapidly modernizing agriculture, and
have moved away from agriculture as a development program to agriculture
as a business, so we must modernize and use new tools to reach our
farmers.
The Power of information: Agriculture
today is more knowledge-intensive and we will modernize the sector, and
get younger (graduate) entrepreneurs into the sector, and we will arm
them with modern information systems. Whether small, medium or large
farmers they all need information and communication systems. Connecting
to supermarkets and international markets require that farmers know and
meet stringent consumer-driven grades and standards. In today’s supply
chains, the flow of information from buyers to farmers must be instant,
to meet rapidly changing demands. Unless farmers have information at
their finger tips, they will lose out on market opportunities. Our goal
is to empower every farmer. No farmer will be left behind. We will reach
them in their local languages and use mobile phones to trigger an
information revolution which will drive an agricultural revolution.
Why cell phones? Nigeria
has 110 million cellphones, the largest in Africa. But there is a huge
divide: the bulk of the phones are in urban areas. The rural areas are
heavily excluded. For agriculture, which employs 70% of the population,
that means the farmers are excluded and marginalized. In today’s world,
the most powerful tool is a mobile phone. As Minister of Agriculture, I
want the entire rural space of Nigeria, and farmers, to be included, not
excluded, from advantages of mobile phone revolution.
Below are some of them:
Access to inputs: First,
the mobile phones will be used to scale up the access of farmers to
improved seeds and fertilizers to millions of farmers, directly. The
federal government succeeded in 2012 in getting seeds and fertilizers to
farmers, via the Growth Enhancement Support (GES), which used mobile
phones to reach farmers with subsidized inputs. The system ended 40
years of corruption on fertilizers and cut off rent seekers and
middlemen who – for decades – have entrenched massive corruption of the
fertilizer sector. Government succeeded. The GES system reached over 1.2
million farmers in 120 days in 2012.
We succeeded because we used mobile phones to reach farmers directly and cut off the middle men and those who have cheated farmers for decades. We empowered the poor farmers, with many getting subsidized seeds and fertilizers from government for the first time ever. We brought transparency into what was perhaps the most corrupt system in Nigeria. We ended fertilizer corruption of four decades, in 90 days, because of mobile phone tools we deployed.
We succeeded because we used mobile phones to reach farmers directly and cut off the middle men and those who have cheated farmers for decades. We empowered the poor farmers, with many getting subsidized seeds and fertilizers from government for the first time ever. We brought transparency into what was perhaps the most corrupt system in Nigeria. We ended fertilizer corruption of four decades, in 90 days, because of mobile phone tools we deployed.
Revolutionary tool: This
is a revolution. Nigeria is the first country in Africa to develop such
a system. The system has garnered international acclaim. Other African
countries now want to learn from Nigeria. Major donors, including Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation, DFID of the UK Government, USAID, World
Bank, IFAD and the Africa Development Bank, want to scale up the GES
system to other countries.
How we will operate: From
2013, government intends to distribute 10 million phones, so we can
reach more millions of farmers with the GES scheme for subsidized
inputs. We expect to reach at least 5 million farmers in 2013 with GES
for access to subsidized inputs. So, farmers who get mobile phones will
be registered and we will use their biometric information to reach them
with electronic vouchers for seeds and fertilizers. Second, mobile
phones will allow farmers to have financial inclusion, as financial
institutions such as commercial banks and microfinance banks will be
able to reach them with affordable savings and loans products. The
phones will make the financial inclusion of the CBN in rural areas
possible. Third, the phones will make market price information available
to farmers nationwide. Farmers lose a lot in marketing their produce.
Middle men make all the profits. Farmers end up selling their products
at very poor prices. This is because farmers do not have access to
market price information. There is asymmetry of market price
information. For many farmers their only sources of market price
information are the middlemen. Mobile phones will allow us to get market
price information to farmers, improve market access and empower
farmers. This will allow farmers to have countervailing power in the
market place. Fourth, we will use mobile phones to provide extension
information to farmers, as part of our total overhaul of the extension
system in the country. With a “Farmer Help Line” it will be possible to
connect extension workers, colleges of agriculture, faculties of
agriculture, and other experts to provide free extension services to
farmers by interactive voice mail. This will include when to plant, what
to plant, agronomic practices etc. At the dial of a number, the wealth
of knowlege of experts will be connected to the farmers, anywhere they
are in Nigeria – free of charge. Such a “Farmer Help Line” system is
already in use in Kenya by poor farmers, with support from the
Rockefeller Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Fifth,
the phones will allow the dissemination of real time weather
information to farmers. It will be possible to alert farmers on drought
or floods and reduce vulnerabilities to shocks. In case of the floods we
witnessed last year, simple alerts over mobile phones would have saved
many lives and helped farmers to know what to do. Finally, the expanded
number of phones in rural areas will support the expansion of rural
telephony. Presently, the rural areas are not being served well by
mobile operators, and are marginalized. With the expansion of mobile
phones to millions of farmers, mobile phone operators will expand the
number of base stations they have in rural areas. This will reduce the
digital and communications exclusion of rural areas, where agriculture
is the main source of income and jobs. The cost of calls in rural areas
will also decline.
How will this be financed? The
distribution of the phones will be supported through an MoU signed
between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Communications Technology
and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, with the Ministry
of Women Affairs. Out of the 10 million phones, 5 million will go to
women. The Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF), which supports
expansion of mobile operators into rural areas, through a tax, will
support this initiative, in partnership with Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development. We intend to work with existing mobile operators in
Nigeria through a public-private partnership.
Dr. Akinwumi Adesina
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