In view of escalating prices of bread, occasioned by the continued devaluation of the naira Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Tuesday, disclosed its readiness to finance the production of wheat in Nigeria.
CBN Director, Development Finance Mr Yusuf Yila, who disclosed this during the 2020 dry season stakeholders’ forum in Abuja also said CBN will now share whatever losses farmers incurred on the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) within a farming season with them on an equal basis.
He then called on farmers who are willing to go into wheat farming to get viable fields and the CBN will finance it.
“We are also doing pilot for wheat and the CBN will fund it,” he said adding that the CBN is willing to support the Nigerian farmers to do the six million metric tones of wheat Nigeria imports annually.
He threatened that will sanction banks that delay the disbursement of funds to farmers under it Anchor Borrower’s Program (ABP).
The stakeholders included anchor/processors, commodity associations and participating financial institutions (PFIs).
The forum was aimed to get all stakeholders bare their mind as to what challenges they face in driving dry season farming and to also expose the CBN 2020 dry season programme.
Yila said the apex bank had been receiving complaints on late disbursement despite having released the funds in a timely to the participating banks, thereby threatening the success of the Anchor Borrower’s Programme.
Similarly, he said the CBN will be more involved in the selection of input suppliers, to ensure that only reliable ones are engaged.
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According to him, suppliers will be put on stand-by to replace those that were found wanting.
He described the 2020 dry season as the biggest yet since the commencement of the Anchor Borrowers’ Program in 2015 and sought the co-operation of all stakeholders to make it a success, to save the country from a food crisis.
He said for this year’s dry season farming, the season will be focusing on rice maize and tomatoes.
He said the CBN wants to improve yields of these crops as the failure of dry season farming could spell catastrophe on food security. Already the prices of these commodities have spiked in the markets.
CBN wheat production