The Vice President of RIFAN, Mrs. Nnenna Ejim, has revealed that Over 4.67 million farmers that engage in maize, rice, or wheat farming have benefited from the Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which was launched in November 2015 to facilitate economic linkages between SmallHolder Farmers (SHF) and Anchors, calling on the federal government to restart the program.
The Vice President made the disclosure recently while discussing the factors contributing to the recent surge in rice prices in Nigeria.
According to her, a total of N1.12 trillion has been disbursed to 563 anchors, with N670.4 billion repaid and N450.90 billion outstanding.
She however urged the federal government to reinstate the Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP) and tackle insecurity nationwide as measures to address the persistent rise in rice prices.
Speaking further, Nnenna attributed the current high prices of rice to several factors including the prevalence of rice blast disease, insecurity, farmer-herder conflicts, and the inflation of input costs.
In her words: “Government policy on anchor borrower was not implemented last year because of election and other factors like COVID-19 impact has created a huge gap in rice cultivation hence the hike.
“The Russian-Ukraine war is affecting us seriously because they are the greatest provider of fertiliser and other input which we are the moment we have difficulties getting such input.
“The way forward in ensuring a drastic reduction in the price of rice is that the government should prioritise the security of its populace both in the farms and around communities.
She also pleaded that farmers should be given inputs at subsidized rate and also enlighten farmers on climate-smart agriculture so as not to risk their lives or production trying to cultivate areas with lots of floods.