Doubts Persist Over Tertiary Institutions’ Ability To Utilise FG’s Agric Fund

ABUJA – Skepticism, doubt and unbelief have trailed a recent Federal Government’s decision to provide N2bn in financing to each of 40 tertiary institutions to establish commercial farms, as part of efforts to boost food production, create employment, and reduce dependence on government funding by universities and other higher institutions.

Stakeholders who spoke to Sunday Independent expressed doubts over the ability of these tertiary institutions to manage the funds effectively and judiciously for the purpose it was meant for.

Mr. Nze Benjamin, a food security specialist, expressed skepticism regarding past interventions and execution records of government-funded agricultural schemes in Nigeria.

Benjamin pointed out that tertiary institutions in Nigeria do not have track record of managing agricultural financing effectively to boost food production in the country. He queried whether the funds would reach actual farming operations or suffer from bureaucratic mismanagement.

Mrs. Godwin Okezie, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, noted that while injecting capital into university-led agriculture is a novel push, he added that higher education institutions have historically struggled to balance commercial farming operations with their primary academic mandates.

Okezie maintained that tertiary institutions over the years have failed woefully to contribute significantly to food security systems in the country. He advised the Federal Government to channel the resources to research and development as well as support smallholder farmers to produce more food for the country.

Recall that the Federal Government recently announced plans to provide up to “N2bn in financing to each of 40 tertiary institutions” to establish commercial farms, as part of efforts to boost food production in the country.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a meeting with heads of the selected institutions and the management of the Bank of Agriculture to discuss the implementation of the Renewed Hope Tertiary Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Programme.

According to a statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Communications to the minister, Ikharo Attah, “The programme is designed to mobilise more than 500,000 hectares of underutilised land across tertiary institutions for commercial agricultural production, research and enterprise development.”

Alausa said participating universities, polytechnics and colleges of education would be expected to provide approximately 1,000 hectares each, although institutions with smaller landholdings could also qualify based on the viability of their business proposals.

Under the arrangement, each participating institution would establish a limited liability company to partner with the Bank of Agriculture, “which would provide between N1bn and N2bn in financing for agricultural production and related inputs.

“The minister explained that the initiative was aimed at addressing the longstanding underutilisation of agricultural land in tertiary institutions by providing access to financing, machinery, technical expertise and institutional support.”

He said the Federal Government had also made provisions for the initiative through previous interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, which approved N1bn for some institutions and N2bn for others. Additionally, Alausa disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education had provided N20bn in its capital budget to support 20 tertiary institutions under the agricultural development initiative.

On mechanisation, he said participating institutions would have access to 10 tractors each at significantly reduced costs through the government’s agricultural mechanisation initiative.

The support package would also include modern seedlings, farm implements, irrigation equipment, water pumps, fertilisers and technical expertise to improve productivity.

To guarantee markets for the expected harvests, the minister said arrangements would be made with produce aggregators to purchase crops, while measures would be introduced to minimise post-harvest losses.

He added that the programme would extend beyond primary agricultural production to processing and other agro-allied businesses, creating a sustainable value chain around participating institutions.

Alausa said students, unemployed graduates, alumni, academic and non-academic staff, as well as members of host communities, would be encouraged to participate in the commercial farming activities under the supervision of lecturers and agricultural experts.

He noted that the initiative would provide students with practical agricultural experience, promote entrepreneurship and enable participants to benefit from the economic returns generated by the farms.

The minister projected that the programme could attract investments running into trillions of naira in the coming years, while repositioning tertiary institutions as centres of agricultural innovation, commercial production and enterprise development.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof Adamu Ahmed, has welcomed the initiative, describing it as an opportunity to harness the institution’s agricultural research and production capacity.

He cited the university’s Institute of Agricultural Research, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services and Faculty of Agriculture as existing structures that could support the programme.

Ahmed said the partnership would provide the financing and technical assistance required to translate research into commercial production, strengthen agricultural capacity and create opportunities for students.

Similarly, the Rector of Federal Polytechnic Oko, Dr Chioma Awuzie, commended President Bola Tinubu and the education minister, saying the programme would enable the institution to maximise its available land through mechanised farming.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Agriculture, Ayo Sotinrin, said the bank would provide financing and market linkages to help participating institutions commercialise agricultural research and improve productivity.

He added that the initiative would enable tertiary institutions to contribute to food supply beyond their immediate communities while generating revenue from agricultural investments.

Chibuzor Emejor is a correspondent with Independent Newspapers.

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