Government urged to involve farmers in formulation of agricultural policies

Government urged to involve farmers in formulation of agricultural policies

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Oyo State, South-West Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to involve farmers in the formulation and implementation of agricultural policies.

The Chairman of the association, Mr Emmanuel Elegbede, told reporters in Ibadan that the decision would go a long way in enhancing the success of such policies and boost agricultural production in the country.

Elegbede said AFAN was the only appropriate association to advise government on agricultural policies that affected the average and rural farmers. 

Assisting peasant farmers

He declared that out of the 200 billion Naira loan released last year by the Federal Government for commercial farming, about 40 billion Naira was for the use of peasant farmers.

“Surprisingly, the loan for peasant farmers can only be accessed for them by the state government and not directly by the farmers.'' Elegbede said.

Elegbede suggested that agricultural loans should always pass through farmers associations in the states, which were in a position to identify the genuine farmers who should benefit from such facilities.

“Experience has shown that such loans disbursed through the state governments end up in the hands of political farmers and not real peasant farmers who need them.” he said.

Micro-finance bank

Elegbede urged the Federal Government to bar micro-finance banks from disbursing agricultural loans to farmers.

He noted with regret that the banks were always insisting that farmers should pay back the loans on monthly basis and at a very high interest rate of 4.6 per cent, resulting in an annual interest rate of 40 per cent.

He also explained that although the banks were close to the rural populace, they were not really helping with their loan policies.

He appealed to government to stop passing agricultural loans through the banks, noting that their mode of operation was not helping the rural farmers.

Elegbede stressed that the way out of the problem was for the banks to review their credit guidelines to favour rural farmers. 

Presidential initiative on livestock farming

Elegbede called for a presidential initiative on livestock farming similar to the ones on cassava and rice, explaining that the Federal Government had gone a long way in focusing on arable or crop farming to the detriment of other sub-sectors.

He suggested that the Federal Government should ensure that not all the resources that are available for the agriculture sector are spent only on crop production.

“Government should be more alive to helping livestock farmers. We have quite experienced ones who can do very well, if given the opportunity and necessary support.'' He said.

He urged government at all levels to emulate India, which, he said supported poultry farmers with loans that were made to run for five years with a two-year moratorium on repayment.

NAN/Chiamaka/Ekata