Prices of essential food commodities are skyrocketing as Nigerians have been warned of looming scarcity of Agric produce. President Buhari’s administration is at loggerheads with fertilizer and other farm inputs suppliers over its refusal to pay subsidy claims and backlog of unpaid debts. The administration’s decision to remove the subsidy on fertilizer in May has forced farmers to withdraw from their farms as they can no longer afford the costs of inputs required.
Already, major agriculture food produce which also serve as food staples for Nigerians, such as rice, beans, and garri had witnessed more than 50 per cent increase in price in the past few months with rice increasing from N7500 in 2015 to N18000 in May for 50kg bag. Yam increased from N400 a tuber to about N1500 while a measure of garri now sells for N450 against the former price of N250.
According to reports, the Growth Enhancement Scheme initiated by Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, former Agric Minister under the Goodluck Jonathan administration has accumulated payments running into billions, due to the fertilizer and seed companies as at the time the Buhari administration took over in May 2015.
The Suppliers under the aegis of Farm Inputs Suppliers Association of Nigeria approached the new administration in May 2015 with an appeal to the government to pay its own portion of the subsidy. According to them, the amount outstanding to date, being the subsidy portion of Federal and State Governments for which payment was yet to be paid to fertilizer suppliers was about N52bn.
Following the controversy and the huge debt surrounding the scheme, the Federal Government, exactly a year later, in May 2016, announced that it was withdrawing subsidy on fertilizer.
The scheme suffered additional setback when the 36 states of the federation decided to pull out of it, according to a recent statement from the agriculture ministry which indicated that states had pulled out of the scheme, making it clear that they had no money to contribute due to their low revenue levels.
The President of the Fertilizer Suppliers Association of Nigeria, Ahmed Rabiu-Kwa has said that this development is bound to deal a blow to crop production thereby worsening the food scarcity situation and escalating cost of essential food stuff in the country.
The Growth Enhancement Scheme for food production initiated by the former administration was touted as an achievement for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, under the leadership of former minister, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who is now the President of African Development Bank.
The scheme, launched in 2012 as part of the Agriculture Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, was aimed at achieving food security, youth and women empowerment, increasing income for farmers as well as curtailing the activities of middlemen in the sale and distribution of fertilizers and seedlings in the country.
Adesina in June received an award for leadership and innovation on the continent from the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) for his “bold policy reforms in the fertilizer sector and pursued innovative agricultural investment programs to expand opportunities for the private sector”.
No comments: