Emefiele Flags Off Dry Season Farming, Says CBN Policy Will Guarantee Stable Food Prices

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Thursday flagged-off the 2020/2021 dry season rice farming in Niger State under its Anchor Borrowers Programme.

The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17,2015 in Kebbi State has proven to be a game-changer in the financing of Smallholder farmers in Nigeria as it has revolutionized agricultural financing and has remained the fulcrum of our agricultural transformation initiatives.

Beyond being a tool for economic empowerment, job creation, and wealth redistribution, it has also galvanized financial inclusion in our rural communities.

Since the launch of the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, rice has remained the focal crop under the Programme. This is in realization of the crucial role of rice as a major staple in the diet of average Nigerians.

Speaking at the flag off of the dry season farming, the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele said the programme symbolizes the apex bank’s commitment to attain self-sufficiency in rice production by the year 2020.

With a population of over 200 million people, the Governor said that importation of any major food item will continually drain the country’s external reserves, export its jobs to countries where those food items are produced and distort the Nigeria’s commodity value chains.

When these happen, Emefiele who was represented at the event by the CBN Deputy Governor in charge of Corporate Services, Edward Adamu said the country would not be able to guarantee the supply of raw materials for its agro-allied companies.

He said the CBN is leading the agricultural revolution because the government’s economic and financial policies will amount to nothing if the nation cannot address the volatility of food prices.

Beyond rice, he said the Commodity Association Window has been expanded to cover more commodities like maize, cassava, sorghum, soy bean, and ginger among others adding that all these efforts will contribute to the national aggregates and galvanize the CBN drive to economic diversification.

He said, “The partnership with Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria under the Commodity Association Window of the ABP was a flag-ship programme to explore the potentials inherent in Agricultural Commodity Associations and position them strategically as drivers of enhanced agricultural productivity in Nigeria.

“Linking the Associations to the innovative financing model under the ABP delivered quality inputs and mechanization services to farmers at a competitive price and the right time.

“From a modest pilot of 75,000 farmers in 26 states, the RIFAN-CBN ABP has now been fully established in all States of the Federation and the FCT.

“The target hectarage for 2019 was 500,000 and we hope to achieve one million by 2020 dry season.

“Food is a necessity of life and we must sustain our efforts to galvanize agricultural production to meet the requirements of our growing population.

“We cannot continue to dwell on the neglect of past years, the next best time to correct those mistakes is now and every stakeholder must contribute to the effort to guarantee the realization of the national goals of food security and economic diversification.

“Our future is bright as a country, but we must continue to take those little steps that will take us to the desired destination.”

In the area of loan recovery, the CBN Boss said this is the hallmark of any credit process and the combination of this input distribution flag-off with loan recovery drive further demonstrates that this is a sustainable credit programme.

Despite the devastation caused by numerous floods in the 2018 wet season, he said that farmers have been submitting produce and cash as part of their loan repayment, adding that there is need for the Association to intensify efforts in this regard in the spirit of the partnership and sustainability of the programme.

He said the CBN has continued to enhance its risk mitigation strategies to guarantee the intended outcomes of the ABP.

Top programme was attended by top dignitaries such as the Governor of Niger State, Alh. Abubakar Sani Bello; Governor of Kebbi State and Chairman Food Security Committee Abubakar Bagudu; the Etsu Nupe and Chairman of Traditional Rulers of Niger State Alh Yahaya Abubakar and the National President of RIFAN Alh Muhammad Goronyo.

Goronyo said the plan of rice farmers is to achieve five million metric tones under dry season.

He said, “If our consumption capacity is about eight million metric tones, it means we have enough to consume locally and export the excess we produce.

“That is what why the CBN partnered RIFAN to come up with the strategic dry season farming and we can achieve it.

“In the North, we have longer dry season period of between seven to eight months, so we can comfortably cultivate rice twice in one dry season.”