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Under sweltering conditions in Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state capital, President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, launched the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme . The Central Bank of Nigeria initiative was a fallout of the nation’s over-reliance on crude oil earnings, which is susceptible to a downturn in the oil market. Over the years, this has undermined the ability of the apex bank to attain macroeconomic stability due to recurring pressures on the local currency in periods of low oil prices.
Under the ABP, farm inputs are provided in cash and kind to smallholder farmers , thus guaranteeing input supply to agro-processors. During harvest, the farmer supplies produce to the agro-processors who then pay the cash equivalent to the farmer.The launch of ABP was largely greeted with criticism from economists and financial experts who felt that the apex bank should focus more on its monetary policies rather than intervene in crop cultivation.
Ibrahim also said the sale of produce has become a challenge as government and anchor companies saddled with the responsibility of buying no longer purchase in large quantities from farmers, leaving them with the option of selling their farm produce directly to wholesale sellers in the market or other interested parties.He also commended the Green Agriculture West Africa Ltd , an agro-processing company, for coming to their aid.
Azika Jega lamented that the operators of the programme often come to give them forms without providing the loans. Some kilometres from Azika’s farm was Yusuf Gambo who was found levelling the soil in preparation for transplanting his rice. “I have made a lot of success, and millions out of rice farming,” the civil servant said gleefully.For the dry season, Gambo has already cultivated 50 hectares, strictly for seeds, while the remaining 100 hectares would be used to produce grains.
“We had manual processing of rice before and now we are automating the entire rice processing. First to 30 tonnes per day, then to 120 tonnes per day, that is 1,200 tonnes in 10 days; 3,600 tones in a month. The CBN is helping us to move from 10,000 bags in a month to about 72,000 bags,” he said.Retson, however, lamented the demand for “unreasonable” collateral by banks and urged the CBN to target the real farmers in the rural areas, and not political farmers.
Akosu said the inability of farmers to gain access to their farms had worsened the loan repayment in the state, adding that some farmers view the loan as “political money”. Speaking with TheCable, Osita Nwanisobi, CBN’s director of corporate communications, said reconciliation of various accounts is ongoing and issues regarding repayment will be resolved once it is concluded.Gbolahan Ologuro, an equity analyst at Cordros Capital, noted that considering that fiscal actions towards stimulating the agriculture sector have been slow, this has compelled the apex bank to intervene.