FG To Boost Food Production With Subsidised Fertilizer To Farmers

The Federal Government, in an effort to boost local food production and cushion the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, has announced plans to administer fertilizer subsidy to smallholder farmers across  the country.

Speaking at the consultative Meeting of the National Stakeholder on Restructuring of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative, the Minister of Finance, budget and National planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, said that the introduction of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative was to address the issue of fertiliser importation into the country, thereby reviving Nigeria’s local fertilizer blending industry.

The Minister explained that the meeting seeks to strengthen the restrictions placed on the importation of raw materials, monitor activities and provision of cost basis for the Federal Government to effectively calculate and pay subsidies for vulnerable smallholder farmers.  

She said, “The objective of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative was to stop the importation of specifically NPK fertilizers and pave the way for its local production, thereby reviving Nigeria’s local fertilizer blending industry.

“While the initiative, a Public-Private Partnership that has the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority representing the public achieved great progress; it’s time to shift gears for market-oriented sustainability.”

According to her, all fertilizer blending plants participating in the PFI will  have to provide bank guarantees to cover the required raw materials appropriate to their demand-driven production.

This, he noted, would help to reduce risk to NSIA, recover their production cost and profits through the sale of their products in the market.

“Our purpose therefore is to use today’s session to brainstorm together and align on a data driven, commercially sound, and financially prudent and farmer friendly framework for targeted subsidization of fertilizers,” she added.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono in his remark, noted that the primary concern of the government is how to get the majority of the smallholder farmers out of extreme poverty.

He said this would be achieved through targeted support in order to increase their level of productivity, household incomes and by extension guarantee food security for the nation.

He said that the establishment of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative shows the continued commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to promoting the local production of fertilizers in the country in order to ensure self-sufficiency and easy access to products by the farmers.

This, according to him, would assist them in their production, adding that the PFI is being restructured with a view to repositioning it for long term sustainability and greater impact.  

ENDS