The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has appealed to the federal government to compensate farmers for losses recorded during the implementation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) naira redesign and cash crunch.
In separate interviews reviewing the impact of the policy, they said the compensation became necessary to encourage farmers to return to the farms.
The farmers said the compensation could be in grants, inputs, fertiliser and farm implements.
Femi Oke, AFAN’s chairman of Lagos and the South-West zone, said many of their members were affected during the implementation of the policy, thereby disrupting farming activities.
“From what we have seen and heard so far, the loss recorded during the period is huge and on the high side, especially for our members that are into livestock, poultry and piggery and processors.
“The poultry farmers were the most affected; it was just like the period of COVID-19 which we experienced in 2020. We pray never to have a repeat of COVID-19 again because it was a great loss,” he said.
Mr Oke, however, urged farmers not to relent or be discouraged by recent happenings in the economy but to go back to the farms and support government policies to boost food production and self-sufficiency.
Also speaking, Adewunmi Malik-Adeola, noted that there was poor information about the policy in the rural areas, where majority of the farmers reside.
She lamented that information on the policy’s modalities, take-off, and implementation was unavailable.
Ms Malik-Adeola added that concerned stakeholders must be educated on government policies to prevent investment loss which could lead to sickness or even death.
Abimbola Francis-Fagoyinbo, secretary, AFAN in Lagos, described the impact of policy on her business as devastating.
Ms Francis-Fagoyinbo, a cassava processor and packaging farmer, said much of her produce was destroyed due to poor sales.
She urged the government to come up with programmes that would ameliorate the damage.
Ms Francis-Fagoyinbo said that the price of garri had increased due to the naira redesign policy.
“Right now, the price of garri is going up and not coming down because they have made great losses in the past.
Latifat Ajani, a fishery and crop farmer, said the policy and its implementation should be properly studied before reintroducing it.
“The naira redesign policy affected my business a lot; it was a very serious issue for my family and me.
“I was able to survive through the help of my children; there was no sale, my money was trapped with customers and in the banks,” she said.
News Agency of Nigeria
