TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE VALUE CHAIN APPROACH TO AGRICULTURAL TRANSFORMATION IN NIGERIA: THE IMPERATIVE OF ENDOGENOUS AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Value addition is a vital component of the overall strategy for addressing global market competition, postharvest
losses and food security. The strategy of value addition on agricultural produce provides ample
opportunity for wealth creation, revenue generation, employment generation and effective post harvest
management to reduce losses. Value chains reside at the core of high-impact and sustainable initiatives
focused on improving productivity, competitiveness, entrepreneurship, and Small and Medium
Enterprises (SMEs). Agricultural value chain links the steps a product takes from the farmer to the
consumer and includes input suppliers, production, processing, marketing and finance. Agricultural
development in Nigeria has been pursued under various development plans launched and executed by
succeeding governments, yet the sector is currently dominated by peasant farmers using little or no
technologies. A national agriculture transformation agenda tagged Agricultural Transformation Action
Plan (ATAP) is currently being implemented in the country. The initiative is aimed at an overall
development of the agricultural sector with focus on value chain development as a strategy towards
agriculture revival. The transformation agenda is aimed at making agriculture work for Nigerians,
especially rural farmers such that it becomes not just a development programme but also an income
generating commercial activity. However, the transformation agenda cannot be achieved without
agricultural mechanization.
This paper identifies different agricultural development programmes in Nigeria to include Farm
Settlement Centre/Scheme, River Basin Development Authority, Agricultural Development Programmes
(ADPs), Tractor and Equipment Hiring Scheme, National Accelerated Food Production Programme,
Operation Feed the Nation, etc. The current situation in Nigeria is that the operators of the various
components of value chain operate without machines, making their operations to be uncompetitive,
leading to weak links in the chain. Tractors, ploughs, planters, fertilizer spreaders, trucks, fork lift,
conveyors, threshers, digesters, packaging machines, etc, are some of the agricultural machinery
identified as requirements for agricultural transformation and agricultural value chain development in
Nigeria. The paper, therefore, recommends the development of a robust machinery building programme
in the country for the achievement of agricultural transformation. Strategies to achieve sustainable value
chain approach to agricultural transformation through agricultural machinery development were identified
to include increased patronage of local fabricators of agricultural machinery, establishment of a
sustainable Loan Scheme for stakeholders in the value chain, upgrading of laboratories and workshops in
agricultural research institutions, establishment of appropriate standards for machinery, encouragement of
the development of processing and marketing clusters and the establishment of machinery hire and
leasing services.