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Effect Of The National Programme On Food Security On Food Production
[A CASE STUDY OF ANAMBRA STATE]
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The report equally identified the following future-related observation about food.
1. The absolute level of food production worldwide is rising.
2. Despite this, food price has been rising for the last two years.
3. Although absolute food production is rising, world population growth is outstripping the increase.
4. Measured in terms of days of consumption world grain stock have fallen to half the levels of the mid-1980s and lower than at any time since the 1970s.
5. In the short run food prices may well fall or be volatile, but the underlying supply shortfall must be confronted sooner or later.
6. System change will eventually be necessary to ‘square the circle’ by halting the decline in per capita food provision.
The report concludes that if these pressures are left unaddressed they threaten to lead to a significant deterioration in the balance between global demand for food and capacity of world agriculture to supply.
2.5 Programmes on Food Security; Aims, Achievements and Failures
Several attempts have been made which were targeted at revolutionalising agriculture and increasing food production in Nigeria. Unfortunately most of them failed to achieve their objectives.
Since after independence, various governments have launched one agricultural programme or the other all aimed at addressing food security. The major idea behind these programmes had been to encourage the youths, men and women to take to agriculture while peasant farmers were enjoined to adopt improved technologies in order to improve food production and ensure food security. The first notable of such programmes was the Operation Feed the Nation (OFN). It was initiated by Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo who was the then Head of State. He worked in order to steer Nigeria away from excessive dependence on oil. He introduced this programme in order to improve agricultural production and the general performance of the agricultural sector. Under the OFN, the government tried to increase the number of farmers and raise people’s awareness of the key role of agriculture in the country’s economy. Everybody was encouraged to farm. It had the specific focus of increasing food production on the premise that availability of cheap food would ensure a higher nutrition level and invariably lead to national growth and development. Its specific objectives as highlighted in Ijere (1992) are to:
1. mobilize all classes of people in Nigeria to embrace agricultural projection.
2. eliminate the traditional disdain for agriculture by the educated.
3. enhance food production on a large scale.
4. create jobs and additional income.
5. utilize all available land recourses in the country.
For effectiveness, the OFN embarked on massive distribution of fertiliser, agro-chemicals, feed-premixes and other farming inputs at subsidised rates.
Huge sums of money were spent by the government to see to the success of this programme. Considerable efforts were made by the government in getting graduates to go to rural areas and teach peasant farmers techniques of farming.
The scheme recorded huge successes in some states. On the whole the scheme succeeded in jolting Nigerians to realise that there was food shortage and the need to tackle it.
The OFN lasted from1976 – 1979. It came to an end as soon as the government that introduced it left office. The OFN did not achieve its target before it was terminated by President Shehu Shagari when he assumed office on October 1, 1979. He introduced the Green Revolution and National Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme. The Green Revolution assumes that with the application of research, food and fibre could be produced in abundance for all and sundry. It aimed at curtailing importation of food while boosting local crop and fibre production through the introduction of high-yield varieties of grains, use of pesticides and improved management techniques. The specific objectives as highlighted by Ijere (1992) were to:
1. mobilize all available resources towards the production of our staple foodstuffs, thus saving the expense and embarrassment of having to import food into a country which is essentially agricultural.
2. utilize the abundant resources – land, water and manpower of this country – towards the efficient production of crops and livestock which are required by the citizens of this country for healthy growth and development.
3. ensure self-sufficiency in the production of basic foodstuffs and raw materials in order to reflect the true sovereignty of the nation, and;
4. guarantee to all farmers and growers reasonable shares of the nation’s wealth in exchange for their labour and capital investment.
The government aimed to achieve the above aims through the development of virile cooperatives, intensification of cooperative education, increased food production, marketing and distribution and local participation. To further encourage farmers, government, in its Economic Stabilisation Act 1982, restricted imports of farm products and inputs. The effect of this restriction was that there was an induced marginal growth in the agricultural sector. Many factors hampered the progress of the green revolution. Chilokwu (2006) pointed out that it was seriously affected by unnecessary political rivalry between states controlled by the political parties other than the one at the centre that introduced it. As for the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS), Abimboye (2009) noted that it ended up in fiasco. It was also noted that the politicians of the second republic cornered the bank loans for their non-existence farms. By the time the scheme was suspended in 1983, two billion naira, worth over N200 billion today had been expended. At a stage, the nation had to set up a presidential committee for the importation of rice so as to avert hunger and starvation.
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]ABSTRACTThis study was conducted basically to determine the effect of the National Programme on Food Security (NPFS) on output/food product. Its specific objectives include identifying how the NPFS has helped in increasing output and the problems associated with the NPFS. The main instrument for the collection of primary data is the questionnaire. Data were collected from 72 farmers selected through a combination of cluster and random sampling techniques, from a population of about 7290 farmers ... Continue reading---
APPENDIX A - [ Total Page(s): 3 ]APPENDIX IQUESTIONNAIRE Dept of Cooperative Economics and Management Nnamdi Azikiwe University ... Continue reading---
APPENDIX B - [ Total Page(s): 1 ] ... Continue reading---
LIST OF TABLES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]LIST OF TABLESTable 4.1 Socio-economic characteristics of the farmers Table 4.2 Effect of NPFS on productivity/ outputTable 4.3 Extent of benefit from NPFSTable 4.4 Factors that led to increased output/how farmers have benefitted from NPFSTable 4.5 Support services that NPFS has enhanced farmers’ access to Table 4.6 Level of effectiveness of coop farmingTable 4.7 Problems of cooperative farmingTable 4.8 Adequacy of the NPFS loan/ assistance ... Continue reading---
TABLE OF CONTENTS - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]TABLE OF CONTENTTitle Page Declaration Certification Approval Dedication Acknowledgement Abstract Table of Content List of Tables Chapter One – Introduction 1.1 Background of the Study 1.2 Statement of the Problem 1.3 Objectives of the Study 1.4 Research Questions 1.5 Statement of Research Hypotheses 1.6 Significance of the Study 1.7 Scope of the ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER ONE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]The National Programme on Food Security (NPFS) is one of government’s attempts at addressing the issue of food security. Over the years agricultural programmes had centred on the top-down approach which tends to keep the target beneficiaries by the side during the programmes’ planning process.Consequently, such agricultural programmes could not achieve the set objectives and therefore not sustainable. Group formation is thereby encouraged under the NPFS. For this reason cooperative ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER THREE - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]CHAPTER THREE RESAERCH METHODOLOGY3.1 IntroductionThis chapter is devoted to explaining the method employed by the researcher in carrying out this research work.3.2 Area of the StudyThe study was conducted in Anambra state. Anambra state is in the South East Geo-political zone of Nigeria. Its capital city is Awka. The state has 21 local government areas grouped under 3 senatorial districts, with a population of about 4,182,032, according to the 2006 census figure. The major tribe is ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FOUR - [ Total Page(s): 10 ]Table 4.7 shows the problems associated with cooperative farming. From the table, lack of cooperative spirit ranked first. Other major problems from the responses are; they are not used to it, lack of members commitment, how to measure each member’s contribution and apportion reward.Table 4.8 shows responses on how adequate the NPFS assistance is. 54.17% respondents said linkage to suppliers of improved input is very adequate, 15.28% that it is adequate while 30.56% are of the view that i ... Continue reading---
CHAPTER FIVE - [ Total Page(s): 2 ]CHAPTER FIVESUMMARY OF FINDINGS, RECOMMENDATION AND CONCLUSION5.1 IntroductionThis chapter is an attempt by the researcher to summarize the findings made in the course of this research work; draw conclusion and also make recommendations based on the findings.5.2 Summary of FindingsAfter a thorough investigation and analysis of data generated from this research work in addition to personal interview, enquiry, discussions and observations made by the researcher, the following findings ... Continue reading---
REFRENCES - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]BIBLIOGRAPHYAbimboye, D. (2009); A revolution Abandoned. Retrieved October 4, 2009 from http://www.newswatch.ngrAmin, N. (1991); “Peasant Differentiation and Food Security in Zimbabwe.†Working Paper No.2, The Project on African Agriculture. New York: Social Science Research CouncilAjakaiye, M.B. (1987); “Financing Agricultural Programme in Nigeria: The role of the Nigerian Agricultural and Cooperative Bank Limitedâ€. In Okore, Aja and Ijere, M.O (Eds); Readings in Agricul ... Continue reading---
