NACCIA HUMBLE BEGININGS

The inaugural meeting of National Co-operative for Commercial and Industrial Agriculture (NACCIA) was held on 27 June 2015 in an auditorium in the Guest House of University of Lagos. Over 200 persons were present.

The founder Chief Felix Okonti, was inspired by performances of the Israeli Kibbutz system and outputs; a situation where a Kibbutz turns over 28 Billion US Dollars annually, and has its products in 122 countries. On return from Israel, he further attended the 2015 World Agribusiness Forum Conference and Workshop in Kinsasha (Congo DR) where it was evident that Nigeria required more platforms for its agriculture to play on the global stage.

Nigerian farmers appear not have what it takes to start with the minimal threshold for commercial success. There is very low investable capital compared with their American and European counterparts in starting out agriculture ventures. This alone signals “commercial death of the Nigerian farmer or commercial agro venture from the beginning.

Note for instance that Rabo Bank of Netherlands is owned by farming cooperatives in a meeting with the founder, stressed the inability of Nigeria to tap into its over 400 Million Euros worth of financing set aside for Africa for lack of relevant documentations, poor structure, lack of financials and other records coupled with very poor or non-existent corporate governance.

OBJECTIVES OF NACCIA

The major objectives of NACCIA include:

• Provide a platform for Nigerian farmers to meet a global minimum threshold for commercial success at the start of their agriculture ventures in terms of finance, expertise, off-taking and adding value for maximal benefits for all the agric value-chain.
• Provide the synergy and impetus to move Nigeria commercial farming to industrial levels improving value addition to the production from farms output to process plants to marketing it as finished industrial goods, thereby removing all the impediments that have put down the Nigeria farmer as a primary Raw materials producer.
• Galvanize the Organisation of the entire agricultural population from rural poor farmers who nestle around a federating farmer, that acts as their model, and which in turn federates with the Central Farming Company owned by collective of all federating farm units.
• Remove problems of impossible collateral Barrier that has impeded Agriculture development.
• Mobilize local finance and foreign funding capital to be accessed by the federating farming Units (Cooperative).

THE NACCIA MODEL

The NACCIA Model consists of having the Central Farming Unit (CFU) now registered as NACCIA-CENTRAL FARMING COMPANY LIMITED and Federating Farm Units (FFUs)/ Cooperatives. These will cross guarantee themselves whereby FFUs own 0,5-1% shares in the CFU and the CFU owns 40% shares in each FFU. Furthermore, the FFUs will be organized into 6 clusters. These clusters are Animal Husbandry Cluster, Crops Growing Cluster, Plantations Cluster, Market Gardening Cluster, Fisheries Cluster and Poultry Cluster. The Animal Husbandry category will include Piggery, Cattle, Sheep, Ram, Goats etc. the Crops category will include Cassava, Yams, Maize, Sorghum, Millet etc. the plantations category will include Sugarcane, Oil Palm, Rubber, Cocoa etc. The Fisheries Category will include Aquaculture, Catfish, Tilapia, Shrimps, Crayfish etc. The Poultry category will include Chicken like Broilers, Layers and Cockerel, Quails etc.

The FFUs are to have between 1000 – 100000 out-growers which it supply with modern cluster ideas, seeds, agric inputs and off-takers of the produces at the market value. This provides the out-growers with immediate advise, finance and encouragement to farm more as it guarantees market for all their produces.