By 2019, the Global Hunger Index shows Nigeria ranking 93 out of 117 countries, with an unemployment rate of 23 percent. The situation is worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused huge shock to Nigeria’s economy and has led to rising joblessness and food insecurity in the country.

Nigeria’s agriculture sector has strong potential to provide adequate food for an increasing population, by supplying raw materials to a growing industrial sector, constituting the major source of employment in the country and being a major source of foreign exchange earnings.

However, the sector has not been able to live up to expectations due to a myriad of challenges such as inadequate budgetary allocation, low productivity, poorly developed value chain, farmers and herders crisis, general insecurity, climate-related disasters, and bad governance.

In 2014, Nigeria and other African countries came together to discuss many of the problems facing Africa’s food systems. In doing so, they agreed to a set of policy commitments to accelerate inclusive agricultural transformation on the continent, called the Malabo Declaration. Six years on, Nigeria is still not on track to achieving the Malabo goals. To address the gaps, ActionAid Nigeria (AAN), ONE Campaign, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) and the Department of Agriculture & Water Resources of the ECOWAS Commission  organised a 2-day Stakeholders Consultative Meeting on the 2021 Agriculture Budget at Dover Hotel, Lagos State, 23rd – 24th September, 2020. 

The objectives of the meeting were: to leverage understanding on Nigeria Agriculture Promotion Policy (APP) and its connection to the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) targets; to strengthen citizens’ participation towards making 2021 agriculture budget responsive towards food security and wealth creation; and to support effective biennial reporting by Nigeria to the African Union Heads of States in line with the Malabo Declaration and Commitments of 2014.

Nigerian farmers will by next year start commercial farming of artemisia plant in the country.

The plant, which has been reported to be potent for malarial treatment, was said to have been used to produce the Madagascar’s COVID-19 herb.

The Director-General of the Raw Material Research Development Council (RMRDC), Professor Hussaini D. Ibrahim, who announced this in Abuja, said the Council had almost concluded arrangements with the plant’s parent countries in Asia for the kick start.

‘’All things being equal, the process is on.

“We believe that by the next planting season, our farmers should commence commercial production of the plant,’’ the DG said.

Professor Ibrahim said already an Artemisia annua producers, processors and marketers association had been formed under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, adding that the plan is to ensure that trials are conducted under small scale farmers’ condition to ensure its success, proliferation and sustainability.

What you should know about the plant

Artemisia annua is a medicinal plant whose use has long been reported in China where it is locally known as qinghao.

Although, Artemisia annua is originally from Asia, it grows in many other parts of the world with sunny and warm conditions.

It was reported to have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for more than 2,000 years for treating a number of diseases, including malaria, as well as to relieve pain and combat fever.

According to the RMRDC, the Council had conducted trial cultivation of the plant in Enugu, Katsina, Taraba, Gombe, Kano, Plateau, Karu in Abuja and Ogun State and was very successful.

The commercial cultivation of the plant has been embraced in some East African countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Madagascar.

Our Agric Editor reports that trial runs were also done in Nigeria from 2005 to 2011 and the result was good but the overall objectives were not achieved.

According to the RMRDC, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed guidelines on good agricultural  but and collection practices (GACP) for Artemisia annua, which if adequately followed, will ensure success of the initiative.

Why FG is introducing the plant to farmers

The increasing global attention paid to Artemisia annua and the World Health Organization’s support for global development of the plant has made it of global importance, experts in the agro sector said.