Glut hits onion farmers in Sokoto

Farmers in onion-producing areas of Wurno, Goronyo and Gada are having hard times as poor market hit the produce.

A visit to the Kara onion depot in the Sokoto capital revealed thousands of sacks of onions filled to capacity just as huge quantity of the commodity is spread all over the place waiting to be bagged.

However, the usual hustle and bustle at the Kara onion market was absent as at the time of the visit.

Onion buyers who used to flood the market around this time every year are not forthcoming and few that did to come do not buy more than two to three sacks.

Every year, around this time, onion gets quite expensive in Sokoto due to high demand from people in the southern part of the country who purchase the commodity in large quantities which they transport to their respective places for sale during the Christmas.

This year, however the commodity is all over the market but without so many buyers.

Alhaji Bawa Mai Albasa, 75, the immediate past chairman of Sokoto State Onion Farmers/Sellers Association attributed the prevailing situation to the economic downturn.

But he was optimistic that despite the seeming glut, a large percentage of the commodity would be sold before  Christmas.

An onion merchant, 50-year-old Alhaji Muazu Mai Albasa, who has been in the business for decades, ascribed the abundance of the commodity in the market to the profound investment made by farmers in onion farming this year. He, however, lamented the decrease in patronage.

“Our people have invested heavily in onion this year as you can see, we have more than enough for Christmas customers,” he stated.

Malam Aliyu, a farmer said they responded to government’s call and invested very well in onion farming as such they recorded a bumper harvest.

Onion prices at the depot ranged from N10,000 to N15,000 per sack depending on the  quality of produce.
Previously, a sack of onion went for between N30,000 and N50,000 when it was in high demand.

Another farmer, Alhaji Yaro, 45, said he got 32 sacks of the commodity which he sold at N19,000 per sack when he transported it to Lagos

Farmers in onion-producing areas of Wurno, Goronyo and Gada are having hard times as poor market hit the produce.

A visit to the Kara onion depot in the Sokoto capital revealed thousands of sacks of onions filled to capacity just as huge quantity of the commodity is spread all over the place waiting to be bagged.

However, the usual hustle and bustle at the Kara onion market was absent as at the time of the visit.

Onion buyers who used to flood the market around this time every year are not forthcoming and few that did to come do not buy more than two to three sacks.

Every year, around this time, onion gets quite expensive in Sokoto due to high demand from people in the southern part of the country who purchase the commodity in large quantities which they transport to their respective places for sale during the Christmas.

This year, however the commodity is all over the market but without so many buyers.

Alhaji Bawa Mai Albasa, 75, the immediate past chairman of Sokoto State Onion Farmers/Sellers Association attributed the prevailing situation to the economic downturn.

But he was optimistic that despite the seeming glut, a large percentage of the commodity would be sold before Christmas.

An onion merchant, 50-year-old Alhaji Muazu Mai Albasa, who has been in the business for decades, ascribed the abundance of the commodity in the market to the profound investment made by farmers in onion farming this year. He, however, lamented the decrease in patronage.

“Our people have invested heavily in onion this year as you can see, we have more than enough for Christmas customers,” he stated.

Malam Aliyu, a farmer said they responded to government’s call and invested very well in onion farming as such they recorded a bumper harvest.

Onion prices at the depot ranged from N10,000 to N15,000 per sack depending on the quality of produce.

Previously, a sack of onion went for between N30,000 and N50,000 when it was in high demand.

Another farmer, Alhaji Yaro, 45, said he got 32 sacks of the commodity which he sold at N19,000 per sack when he transported it to Lagos

CBN to unveil N30bn Agric/SME fund in January

The Central Bank of Nigeria has said it will, together with the Deposit Money Banks, set up a new fund to boost agriculture and the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in the country, targeting at least N30bn for the first year.

The Governor, CBN, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this on Saturday at a press briefing after the eighth Bankers’ Committee annual retreat in Lagos.

He said the Agriculture/SME Fund would be unveiled on January 1, 2017, but the money would not be available until around March or April after the DMBs’ audited accounts would have been presented to the public.

Emefiele, who is also the Chairman of the Bankers’ Committee, said the committee would continue to promote an efficient and stable economy to deliver price stability, financial system stability, financial inclusion and economic growth.

According to him, the committee has defined goals for 2017 to include supporting government’s efforts to develop adequate infrastructure to engender viable and productive SMEs, and increasing access and cost of funding, particularly to the agriculture and manufacturing SMEs.

He said, “We will identify opportunities to provide funding and necessary support for agriculture and manufacturing SMEs, including structures and systems to improve the ease of regulatory compliance.

“The central bank will, together with the banking sector, establish an agriculture/SME fund from contributions of a portion of profit after taxes of Deposit Money Banks as a deliberate strategy to support the funding and access to finance by the SMEs and primary agriculture.”

The governor said the modality for the fund, which will operate as an equity fund, would be worked out by the Bankers’ Committee and communicated in due course.

He said the committee would continue to focus on capacity building and expansion as well as deepening awareness of available information infrastructure.

The communiqué issued at the end of the retreat, “Efforts will include providing industry-focused SME financial skills curriculum to develop financial and business capacity; promoting the need for capacity building; promoting the use of payment systems; providing shared structures for basic financial records; and providing the use of new and existing financial infrastructures for access to credit.

“Over the next few days, the Bankers’ Committee will finalise the strategy, governance framework action plan and assign responsibilities for implementation of the committee’s programme for 2017 that will achieve the desired results and outcomes.”

CBN Moves to Protect Beneficiaries of Intervention Fund

Barely a week after the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Audu Ogbeh, spoke on the fears of an impending famine in the country, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele’s warning to financial institutions participating in the CBN-guaranteed intervention funds to desist from granting loans with interests above nine per cent has further put development in the agricultural value chain under focus.

Emefiele gave the warning in Abeokuta, Ogun State, during an interaction between the Presidential Task Force on Agricultural Commodities and Production and young farmers at the Owowo Model Farm Estate. He also assured the young farmers of the bank’s funding support through their respective PFIs, and asked them t*o report any bank that charg*es them above 9 per cent interest on loans guaranteed by the CBN. He also urged operators in the sector to report any erring PFI to the apex bank for possible sanction.

The warning, coming shortly after the alarm by Ogbeh, that famine was imminent in the country if certain steps were not taken urgently, may have flagged some questions around the country’s agricultural value chain. Keen observers would wonder -why a country with massive potential in the sector could not guarantee food security for its citizenry or, in the least, guarantee lower food inflation.

This appears to gain more traction considering that various interventionist funds have been put in place to galvanise potential in the sector towards ensuring food security in the country and diversification of the country’s revenue base away from the oil and gas, and services sectors.

While the warning from Emefiele underscores low compliance rating among the PFIs, some observers opined that it is also a signal that the CBN is determined to improve on monitoring and enforcement of guidelines attached to intervention funds for critical sectors.

Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS)

According to information sourced on the website of the CBN, one of the -*intervention funds dedicated to the sector is the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme. The site stated that, “As part of its developmental role, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources (FMA&WR) established the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) in 2009 to provide finance for the country’s agricultural value chain (production, processing, storage and marketing). Increased production arising from the intervention would moderate inflationary pressures and assist the bank to achieve its goal of price stability in the country.”

The site also listed the primary objectives of the scheme to include, “Fast-track the development of the agricultural sector of the Nigerian economy by providing credit facilities to large-scale commercial farmers at a single digit interest rate; enhance national food security by increasing food supply and effecting lower agricultural produce and products prices, thereby promoting low food inflation; reduce the cost of credit in agricultural production to enable farmers exploit the untapped potentials of the sector; and increase output, generate employment, diversify Nigeria’s revenue base, raise the level of foreign exchange earnings,” among others.

The scheme, which is a sub component of the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Commercial Agriculture Development Programme (CADP), is financed through a N200billion Bond raised by the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Reactions to the New Directive

Speaking with THISDAY, Chairman, Nigeria Agribusiness Group, Sanni Dangote, welcomed the directive but noted that there was need for segmentation of the agribusiness. He added that, while the nine per cent interest rate favour operators in the agribusiness sector, it does not favour the primary segment of the agricultural value chain.

Dangote argued for a lower interest rate for operator involved in activities that require long gestation period including tree and pineapple plantation, land development among others. He stated that, “it is fine for agribusiness because it is a short term window and brings quicker returns; some activities require longer period of gestation even with the moratorium in place.”

He said: “It is a good development and we welcome it. However, there is need for the CBN to do a proper segmentation of the agribusiness sector because nine per cent is still too high for the primary segment of the sector. For those in the primary segment, at best it should be six per cent.”

Besides, he argued that the call on sector operators to report erring PFIs would not work. According to him, the call would have been more effective if it came with a guarantee that the whistle blower will enjoy some guarantee against blanket blacklisting from PFIs.

“Under the present circumstances, nobody will report any erring bank for fear of being blacklisted by the bank. I would have preferred if the call came with assurance that the CBN will guarantee an operator a loan at another bank if he is refused a loan at the bank he reported as offering double-digit interest rate,” Alhaji Dangote said.

In his own submission, a former acting Managing Director, Unity Bank Plc, Dr. Muhammad Rislanudeen, recalled that, “Intervention funds were introduced as part of efforts towards strengthening the economy and financial institutions themselves after the stress test conducted in 2009. They were meant to bridge a funding gap especially for small and medium enterprises as well as agriculture financing.

“CBN initiated the power and aviation, small and medium enterprises as well as commercial agriculture credit facilities sometimes around 2009 with specific aim of providing more funding to real sector, income enhancing and employment creating sectors that have long-term benefit of supporting growth at single digit interest rate. It is even more relevant now with economy in recession and most of those critical sectors contracting due in large part to high cost of doing business inclusive of high interest rate charged by banks.

Rislanudeen noted that, “In the guidelines for those intervention funds, it is clear that banks will charge single digit interest rate of 7 per cent for SME, power and aviation loans and 9 per cent for agriculture loan inclusive of all charges. The central bank is therefore right to insist on single digit interest rate in compliance with extant guidelines.”

His view was shared by economist and ex-banker, Dr. Chijioke Ekechukwu, as he justified the need for the apex bank to closely monitor such funds which are aimed at reflating certain sectors of concern to the economy. According to him, “Part of the core functions of the CBN is, occasional interventions to stimulate the economy, grow and regulate same. Depending on what sector of the economy that needs intervention. It could be aviation, power, textile or general real sector as experienced recently. Intervention funds therefore are aimed at reflating certain sectors of concern to the economy considered necessary to grow the economy. Intervention Funds are meant to provide cheap loans to the players in these sectors.

“When a loan is considered cheap in this context, interest rate should be between 5 per cent to 9 per cent (single digit) per annum. CBN has recently deployed intervention funds in Youth Entrepreneurship Development Programme, Anchor Borrowers Programme; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme and Development Funds.”

He added that, “These loans are availed through Participating Financial Institutions(PFIs) like BOI and some selected commercial banks. CBN has mandated these PFIs to ensure that these loans are given at single digit interest rates. This is to be able to achieve the ultimate purpose of such interventions. The higher the interest rate, the higher the risk of default in repayment by the debtors or beneficiaries and the higher the prices of their output.”

“Some other times, CBN cushions the loan burden of commercial banks by moving them out of their books as loans to the books of PFIs to save the lives of these ailing banks or to encourage them to extend more loans to certain sectors.

These are how relevant these funds are to the economy. They are indeed used to control some macro-economic indices” he explained.

Russia Urges Nigeria To Improve Processing, Packaging For Agric Produce

The Government of Russia has urged the federal government and relevant stakeholders in the agricultural sector to help improve the processing and packaging of fruits such as banana, papaya, pineapple and mango to meet up with the expectation of the Russia market.

Russia however pledged to strengthen its relations with Nigeria through the purchase of agricultural product.

In 2015 Russia agricultural total export was $16.2 billion, expecting $16.9 billion in 2016.

Speaking to news men in Abuja, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Nigeria, Mr Nikolay Udovichenko said that Nigeria’s major export to Russia for now is coco beans, describing Nigeria as a
tropical zone that has an abundant supply of fruits and vegetables.

Amb. Udovichenko noted that Russia now generate more revenue from selling agricultural produce, plant and machinery in the international market not fire arms.

“The Russian government is delighted and ready to export Nigerian agricultural products, especially, mangoes, pineapples, banana, pawpaw and cocoa beans. “We are ready to bring finished products and machines to promote the Agriculture sector in the country,” the envoy said. 

He said, ‘’In the international market, agricultural produce exports now bring in more revenue to Russia than arms exports.

We would probably have scarcely imagined such a thing possible. In 2015 our export came to $14.5 billion in 2015, and our agricultural produce exports came to $16.2 billion.’’

He said though the trade volume between Nigeria and Russia is $500,000, adding that both countries are making efforts to deepen bilateral ties.

He also noted that Russia do not want confrontation with any country, saying that Russia do not have need for it likewise the global community.

Quoting the presidential address by the president of Russia Vladimir Putin, the envoy said that Russia do not seek and never has sought enemies. ’’But we not allow our interest to be infringed upon or ignored.

He said Russia is also ready to work with the new US administration to put bilateral relations back on track and to develop them on an equal and mutually beneficial basis.

He also noted that the strategic partnership between Russia and China have become one of the key factors in ensuring global and regional stability.

The envoy also said that Russia will support Nigeria’s bid for a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council if its candidate is a consensus of the African Union (AU).

The Security Council is one of the six principal organs of the UN and it is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security.

It has 15 members comprising five permanent and 10 non-permanent members. No Africa country has a permanent representative. The five permanent members are Russia, UK, France, China and the United States.

“If there is a consensus candidate of the AU and from Nigeria, we will be very pleased to support it,” said Udovichenko.

Kaduna farmer wins Candel’s N1m clean farm prize

Ayuba  Bradeh, a small holder farmer in Kaduna has emerged the lucky winner of the N1 million star prize at the grand finale of the Candel Company Limited’s Cleanfarm project and raffle draw held in Lagos.

Candel had earlier this year, launched the ‘Candel Cleanfarm project’ designed to rid farms of herbicide bottles and remnants of agrochemicals, which pose significant health hazard to the ecosystem.

The project encourages farmers to return empty bottles of used Candel products and get financial reward at the same time.

Ayuba emerged the star winner from a national media draw conducted at the headquarters of Candel Company Limited under the supervision of the Ministry of Environment led by (Mrs) Agbenla Oluwatoyin, the federal controller, Lagos.

Speaking at the draw, the Managing Director of Candel Company Limited, Emmanuel  Kattie, explained that the company embarked on the promotion to keep the environment clean and safe and enhancing the welfare of farmers across the country.

“We wanted something that will not only create excitement and fun for farmers but also enhance farmer’s productivity, efficiency and output,” he added.

FG acquires 110 rice mills for farmers

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, has  said the federal government is strengthening the production of quality rice in the country with the procurement of small and medium scale mills.

 Chief Ogbeh stated that 110 various capacities of rice mills recently procured for farmers could mill 10 to 100 metric tonnes per day, adding that they would be distributed to clusters of farmers to boost rice production and milling capacity in the country.

The minister, who stated this at a press briefing in Abuja, said the federal government was also strengthening the capacity of farmers to achieve the goal of green alternative.

The minister reaffirmed the country’s commitment to exporting rice by 2017 stressing that the mills would enable smallholder farmers to process quality rice in the country.

Ogbeh also stated that the 30,000 slots allocated to the ministry under the N-power scheme of the federal government would be trained through the Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPs) as agricultural extension workers.

He said those allotted would serve in their respective local government areas where they were expected to build the capacity of farmers for the next two years.