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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, has said the Federal Government’s plans to reform the moribund Bank of Agriculture (BOA), National Agriculture Development Fund and Nigeria Agriculture Insurance Corporation, to deal with farmers’ access to credit facility.
Kyari, who stated this on Tuesday during a television programme, pointed out that in order to mitigate the problem of access to finance, government is subsidising farm inputs to farmers while the process of reforming the three institutions is underway.
According to him, farmers had been impacted by flood in the past farming season.
He said to mitigate their losses, some of them opted not to farm during this 2023 wet season which contributed to food inflation.
Market intelligence, according to the minister, indicated that farmers sold their produce at give-away prices, which he explained why the Federal Government opted to subsidise inputs for farmers in 2023 dry season farming by taking advantage of African Development Bank facility.
Kyari advocated local cultivation of wheat since it is in high demand for confectionaries and other daily needs, boost food security and improve the economic fortunes of farmers pointing out that its importation will deplete the country’s foreign exchange.
The Minister revealed that government would provide free wheat seeds to farmers while fertiliser is subsidised at 50 per cent to enable farmers have access.
He stated that, with the declaration of state of emergency on food security by President Bola Tinubu, the focus of the Ministry moves to increasing yield using available land for both dry and wet season farming. He further revealed that the Ministry was deploying technology to harvest flood water for dry season farming.
