- As Lagos, FCT, Delta owe domestic creditors N683.16bn
The United Nations (UN) on Tuesday launched a nine million-dollar food security project in Kaduna State to improve the livelihood of farmers in the state.
Briefing newsmen in Abuja on Tuesday, Mr Edward Kallon, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator, said that the project known as “Food Africa’’ was to ensure improved nutrition and food sufficiency in the country.
Kallon said the project was an innovative approach aimed at revamping the food sector to create new jobs for young people, increase farmers’ revenue, improve productivity, enhance nutrition and reduce food loss through the adoption of more sustainable production practices.
He said that the project would be implemented in partnership with various UN agencies, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals Fund ( UN SDG-F ) and the Food and Agriculture Organisation ( FAO ).
He said that the other facilitators of the project included the Sahara Group, the International Labour Organisation ( ILO ), the Roca Brothers and the Kaduna State government, among others.
According to him, Nigeria is currently facing food insufficiency due to factors such as reliance on rain-fed agriculture, increase in food prices and climate change.
Kallon said that the private sector was the engine room for actualising the SDGs, adding that collaborations between the government, private sector and UN agencies would facilitate efforts to achieve the targets of the project.
“A growing population comes with a growing demand for food. To feed this expanded population nutritiously and sustainably, much more efforts and innovation are needed to make substantial improvements to the food system,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Ms Paloma Duran, the Director of UN-SDGF, said that the project would target, train and involve no fewer than 4,000 farmers in Kaduna State.
Duran noted that the project commenced with the training of 50 farmers, including young women and men in agriculture, using a train-the-trainer approach.
“Some of the priorities of this project are food security and nutrition as well as inclusive economic growth; and it will last for three years,’’ she said.
Mr Suffyan Koroma, the FAO Country Representative, said that the project would target food preservation techniques, especially in the tomato value chain.
He said that the project would help to promote sustainability and replicable integrated solutions to agro-food value chain development, youth employment and poverty alleviation issues.
Dr Abdukadir Kassim, the Permanent Secretary, Kaduna State Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, commended the UN agencies for choosing the Kaduna as the pilot state for the project.
He said that the training of the 50 farmers was apt, adding that the state government was interested in improving the livelihood of its citizens to ensure increased food production.
He said that the state government’s agricultural schemes had impacted significantly on about 70 per cent of its farming population because of the fact that there was no better security than food security.
Kassim said that the state government would support agencies and partners whose target was to promote the agricultural potential of the state.
“The training of the farmers in Kaduna has confirmed the fact that the UN is supporting agricultural programmes in the country.
“Any programme aimed at improving the livelihood of the people will be welcomed by the government,’’ he added.
Mr Tonye Cole, the Executive Director of the Sahara Group, said that the project would be replicated in other states of the country and across Africa to achieve food security.
Food Africa project focuses on identifying and testing a replicable model in Kaduna State, with a view to scaling up the programme in other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
In the meantime, Lagos and Delta states and the Federal Capital Territory Administration are the most exposed to domestic creditors, statistics obtained from the Debt Management Office have shown.
The statistics contained in the 2016 Annual Report of the DMO showed that the combined domestic debts of the two states and the FCTA stood at N683.16bn as of the end of September 2016.
The DMO had helped the states to build their capacity in managing and reporting their debt commitments to various bodies, including banks and foreign institutions. They are also required to report their debts to the DMO on a quarterly basis.
Analysis of the debt data shows that nine states of the federation owe domestic creditors a total of N1.5tn. This represents 53.15 per cent of the country’s total subnational domestic debt of N2.82tn as of September 2016.
The states are Lagos, Delta, Osun, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Oyo, as well as the FCT.
On an individual basis, Lagos State owed N265.77bn to domestic creditors as of September 2016. This represents 9.41 per cent of the combined domestic debt of the states and the FCT.
Lagos was followed by Delta State, with a domestic debt of N237.79bn, representing 8.42 per cent of the subnational domestic debt.
In the third position was the FCTA, with a domestic debt status of N179.55bn, representing 6.36 per cent of the country’s subnational domestic debt.
Osun followed with a domestic debt status of N149.09bn, representing 5.28 per cent; while Akwa Ibom State had a domestic debt of N147.58bn, representing 5.23 per cent of the country’s subnational domestic debt.
Rivers State had a total of N142.42bn in domestic debts. This represents 5.05 per cent of the total subnational domestic debt. Bayelsa, on the other hand, had a domestic debt status of N130.81bn, representing 4.63 per cent of the nation’s subnational domestic debt.
Cross River had a domestic debt of N127.38bn, representing 4.51 per cent of the subnational domestic debt; while Oyo had N119.97bn, representing 4.25 per cent.
Thus, among the six states that make up the South-South geopolitical zone, only Edo, with a domestic debt of N45.03bn, was not among the states with more than N100bn. Our correspondent, however, reported that Edo was among the states with the heaviest burden in foreign debt exposure.
Anambra State had the least exposure to domestic creditors. As of September 2016, its domestic debt stood at N4.04bn, representing 0.14 per cent of the country’s subnational domestic debt.
Other states with low exposure to local creditors include Yobe, with N13.72bn; Jigawa, N19.01bn; Katsina, N22.11bn; Sokoto, N22.85bn; Borno, N25.7bn; and Ebonyi, N27.98bn.
Domestic debts in the country attract high interest charges. The Federal Government recently sought an alternative domestic debt route by raising N100bn from the Islamic sukuk bond for road infrastructure development. The bond does not attract interest charges, but bond holders are entitled to a share of the profit.
Nation with additional report from Punch