The Federal Government (FG), has banned foreign nationals from the direct purchase of produce from indigenous farmers.
According to the Minister of Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, who made the disclosure of this development, the new regulation, will ensure that Nigerian farmers are not shortchanged.
The government, therefore, mandates all foreign nationals to go through licensed local buying agents to do business with the farmers.
The minister said he okayed appropriate mechanisms to ensure competitive prices for commodities of indigenous farmers in a bid to protect them from exploitation.
Also, to ensure that they have the appropriate incentives to guarantee their continued participation in their trade, adding that he presented two memos on behalf of his ministry; one of which was for the promotion of agribusiness in Nigeria through the right farm gate pricing and ban on foreign nationals and their representatives from purchasing agricultural commodities at the farm gates.
“We finally got approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for only licensed local buying agents who must be registered by the relevant national commodity associations, they are the ones who now will be able to buy goods directly from the farmers and sell to the foreigners.
“This way, the farmers will no longer be cheated by these foreigners who just throw money at them and can buy their goods,” Adebayo stated.
Meanwhile, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), had criticised the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), saying it is faulty because it does not benefit the majority of its members.
According to the National President of AFAN, Kabir Ibrahim, even though the programme was well-intentioned, there is a need for a full review of it in order to make it more effective and sustainable.
His words: “If the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme is reaching out to, maybe, two million farmers, what does that mean out of 14.5 million? We told them that, of these two million you are talking about, how did you reach them? Are they real farmers? Go and do your homework.
“Be sure they are real farmers through the farmers’ association. If you showcase a pyramid for everybody to see, the rice must be in your own house at a cheaper rate.
“What it means is that the Anchor Borrowers Programme, even though lofty and laudable, has got so many gaps that should be closed. You must be able to produce and harness such that the common man in Nigeria feels the impact of what you are doing.
“So, the CBN is hereby being called upon to reappraise the Anchor Borrowers scheme and make it more sustainable. Maybe put it around the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.”
