Previous Next

Expert seeks census of Nigeria’s agric land investment purposes

The conduct of a credible census of agricultural lands nationwide is critical to attracting foreign investment, the Deputy Managing Director - OCP Africa Project Incubation (West Africa), Caleb Usoh has said.

The implementation of the census is in line with the resolution of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), which recommends that all countries carry out an Agricultural Census once every 10 years.

The last Agricultural Census was in 1993/94, resulting in many data gaps and inconsistent data that will be balanced.

Usoh explained that information produced from the census will provide the demographics of agricultural holdings, land area, irrigation system, workers, agro-tourism and financing facilities.

Usoh noted however that carrying out a national agric land census would depend on the resources the Federal and States government have.

He noted: “it also depends on what challenges you are going to fix in the short and long term.”

He noted that at the stage of the nation’s development an agric census was critical. His words: “a very accurate survey of agricultural lands is very important. It is very unfortunate that we are behind in many things. If somebody comes to ask for such data we wouldn’t have it. It is important. But this kind of project should be carried out by the state governments. Constitutionally agricultural and other lands are held by the states. The states have a mandate for agriculture as well as the Federal government. They should be able to carry out mapping of agricultural lands within their domains in order to provide data on it. The data will be used to encourage investments in agriculture. When you have a mapping of the land, it provides investors with true information on ownership and how to access it. It shows title to the land which can be monetised. The owner can use the title to access agricultural credit. It is not just about mapping but the potential for the owners or investors.”

According to him, the mapping will increase the availability of agric  land and its responsiveness to evolving firm demands, strengthen industry growth and  opportunities.

Agricultural census covers households and business organisations involved in agricultural activities.  It includes food crops and commodities, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture, logging and forestry.

Analysts believe census of agriculture will provide the most comprehensive statistical survey on the country’s agricultural production, covering information on the structure, dynamics and production level of the activity.