By Omolola Pedro
The Lagos State Chapter of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has implored the Federal Government to compensate farmers for the losses and damages incurred as a result of the challenges faced, following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s naira redesign policy. The Chairman of the Chapter and Southwest Region, Dr. Femi Oke bemoaned the impact of the policy on agriculture and food production, in general. He said compensation like grants, fertilizers, inputs and agricultural tools from the Federal Government is necessary to encourage farmers return to farming, as that would help them meet their 2023 food production target, as planned.
According to Dr. Femi Oke, the implementation of the policy affected many of their members and disrupted agricultural activities. He said that the cashless policy of the Federal Government and the redesign of the Naira notes in February severely affected farmers. “From what we have seen and heard so far, the loss that has been recorded over this period is significant and high, especially for our members in the cattle, poultry, swine, and processor industries. If we want to quantify these losses, they amount to billions of naira that we lost during this period. Poultry farmers were the most affected, it was like the COVID-19 (Coronavirus disease) period we lived through in 2020. We pray that COVID-19 will not happen again because it was a great loss. We also discovered that many farmers could not pay their workers and this became a huge problem”, he added.
“Majority of farms are located in rural areas where there are few or no commercial banks, so they had to travel long distances and spend more money to buy naira from POS (Point-of-Sale) operators to pay the farm workers”, he said. Oke mentioned that as a result of the shortage of cash, it was a big problem to keep up with farming activities, nothing that a large number of farm workers depend on daily payment due to inaccessibility of bank accounts. “Many farmers were also unable to transport their agricultural produce, such as peppers, vegetables, and other perishable items, to the market due to lack of cash and customer care. The situation led to the loss of agricultural products right in front of the farmers’ eyes. It was a sad scene. There is nothing more excruciating, frustrating, and painful than watching your farm produce and hard work go down the drain with no resolution”, Oke stated.
