Nigeria: Boosting local maize production to end importation

Published 30 Dec,2020 via The Nation - Maize production in Nigeria has suffered major setback following the lockdown as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and flood which ravaged many farms across the country. JULIANA AGBO writes on the activities of maize farmers and the Central Bank of Nigeria in order to improve local production and end importation.

In the last four years, maize farmers have been clamouring for a total ban on maize import, which they say was forcing them out of business.

Aside this, the farmers said there were producing enough maize for Nigerians so as to satisfy local demand.

On July 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as part of effort to increase local production, stimulate a rapid economic recovery, safeguard rural livelihoods and increase job, directed authorized dealers to discontinue the processing of Form M for the importation of maize.

Form M is a mandatory document used by the Ministry of Finance and the CBN to monitor goods that are imported into the country as well as enable collection of import duties where applicable.

But following the lockdown as a result of COVID-19 pandemic and flood which ravaged many farms across the country, the CBN however granted approval to four companies to import 142,000 metric tons of maize into the country to make up for the shortfalls in maize supply and satisfy local demand.

In another swift move to produce more maize and avoid future importation, the CBN and the Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) have embarked on all year round production of maize.

The farmers while flagging off the 2020/2021 dry season farming and 2020 wet season loan aggregation in Funtua, Katsina State, said with the support of CBN they would cultivate about 400,000 hectares during the drying season farming which commenced this December.

CBN’s Target

Deputy Director Development Finance Department of the CBN Elenwor Ihua said the plan is to involve more maize farmers, provide inputs for them through the Anchor Borrowers Program (ABP) and support farmers to cultivate 750,000 hectares of land, adding that MAAN was also captured.

Ihua said the apex bank financed over 200,000 farmers including members of MAAN during the just concluded wet season farming.

“This wet season that just passed which they are doing the harvest now, we financed over 200,000 farmers across 200,000 hectares, MAAN took a chunk of that number and we feel strongly that was a major initiative that has never been done in that number before.”

While noting that the bank has been financing smallholder farmers under the auspices of MAAN to ensure that they are able to improve their yields, he said the CBN was working assiduously with the leadership of MAAN in an attempt to ensure that an end is put on maize importation.

Speaking on satisfying local demand, he said: “The backdrop of the current food situation in the country, the increase in prices of food, we need to ensure that we will increase food production in the country.

“What we’re going to be doing for the dry season is to push for 750,000 hectares of land for this dry season, and that’s what the focus is and the team is working towards that to ensure that we are able to finance 750,000 hectares of land, and like you know, MAAN will also be taking a huge chunk of that,” he said.

Rationale behind dry season farming

MAAN President Dr Bello Abubakar said due to flood that ravaged many farms during the 2020 wet season farming, MAAN with the support of CBN would cultivate about 400,000 hectares during the drying season farming which commenced this December.

Abubakar said over 120,000 maize farmers participated in the wet season ABP where they cultivated about 150,000 hectares.

While explaining that there was no dry season farming in Nigeria under the program, Abubakar said the aim is to bridge the gap and meet up with local demand.

According to him, “There was a flood and a drought, so because of that we are going into dry season farming and we are going to cultivate about 400,000 hectares and the CBN is going to finance about 750,000 hectares with some other commodity Associations and other prime anchors, so definitely this year to 2020/2021 season will be a very good year for maize production in Nigeria.

He said the project is targeting about 22 states for the dry season farming.

“We have about 15 offtakers for this wet season that we have concluded, we have signed MoU with them, some of them are maize processors and maize millers and then for the next season, some of them are still coming up,” he added.

Loan recovery model

On the 2020 wet season loan aggregation and recovery by MAAN and CBN, Abubakar said MAAN has also commenced the repayment by members with over 33,000 100kg bags of maize.

“We are at aggregation level which farmers are now bringing their produce as part of their loan recovery.

“We have produced enough and then if you look at the level of the maize production in Nigeria, many farmers cultivated maize, so there is enough maize now in Nigeria that was produced this year,” Dr Abubakar said.

On the response by farmers on loan repayment, Ihua said the farmers have responded well in repaying the loan, adding that

He said: “It’s been fantastic, it has never happened before, they’ve never had this kind of pyramid before just because of the model that we introduced, it is the Anchor Borrowers model that the Central Bank is using where we fund rather than give cash, but provide the input then we’ll take the maize in exchange and it’s been working well.”

While explaining that the CBN does not give cash to farmers in form of loan, he said: “Farmers are provided with inputs to help them cultivate, then after harvest, they are expected to pay back to the bank using their produce.

“Part of what we have done and part of our unique nature, the financing model, is to ensure that we don’t give cash, so what we do is we provide the input and the understanding is that when the farmers harvest, they release a portion of their harvest.

“So, for us we have designed it in such a way that recovery becomes seamless, so it’s not about asking the person for money, just give us the maize, then we take the maize, we will give it to the people who require the maize and at the end of the day payment is made.

“So we’ve developed a model that we have tried, it’s working and it makes repayment much more easy. So the kind of partnership we have in MAAN now, is so seamless that at the end of the day what we expect is just increase in production because we know once there is increase in production, repayment will be made. So that’s really what we have done and it’s really a game changer for us”, he noted.

Ending maize import

On maize import into the country, Dr Abubakar said there is no need for any importation of maize, as the farmers can produce and satisfy local demand.

Dr. Abubakar said the farmers are working tirelessly not just to satisfy local demand but to give processors the best quality.

He, however, called on maize millers such as the feed mills and other maize processors to collaborate with maize farmers to improve local production.

He said: “We have all the varieties of maize seed that they need in this country, we are now we are using aflasafe which controls the aflatoxin contamination which they are complaining about and that problem is already solved.

“There is no need for any importation of maize because whatever they may need, their demand, they will get it here with our local production.”

Ihua said the CBN was working towards ending maize importation into the country alongside MAAN.

“So we working assiduously with MAAN, the president and the executives and the members across the country are working with us to ensure that we support smallholder farmers, and ensure that we are able to feed this nation.

“Part of our target is also to ensure that we discourage importation of maize, and that’s why we are ensuring that we increase the production so that there will be availability of Maize in the country”, he noted.

Furthermore, he explained: “The reality is that we must face some facts, Nigeria has the land mass and the capacity and the workforce to be able to produce enough maize that can feed this country.

“However in the recent past what has been happening is that because we used to cultivate maize in one season, there is a season where you are going to have harvest and there’s another season when there will not be any harvest and there will be scarcity of maize.

“There was the willingness at that time to allow maize to come in to address whatever shortfall, however with this initiative that we’re doing with the likes of MAAN and other organizations, what we intend to do is to ensure that we have at least two cycles of production.

“So we’ve already started preparing for the dry season by end of December/January we’re going to be doing the dry season heavy, if we’re going to be doing 750,000 hectares that is going to be a huge boost to the market.

“You are not going to have a situation where there are going to be price variations and at the end of the day it will discourage the situation where we will require importation, so import will no longer be necessary because there will always be availability of maize.

“For us it’s a given, that our approach and our model ultimately will ensure that there would not be need to import maize into the country. So there is no any need for any importation of maize in this country.”

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