The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that it has saved the nation over N1trillion in foreign exchange annually through its Anchor Borrower programme on agriculture. Deputy Director of CBN on Anchor Borrower Programme, Hajiya Amina Umar said that the initiative came as a lifeline for a country that was already depleted its foreign reserves through importation of commodities that could be produced locally. Umar made the disclosure on Thursday in Abuja during the flag-off of the programme at Kuje Area Council in Abuja. She reaffirmed the commitment of CBN to supporting agriculture development in the country. The apex bank deputy governor said that the bank has utmost faith in the programme because it has complemented its other agricultural initiatives which had raised the status of the small-holder farmers to big time commercial merchants. According to her, the programme has also complemented other agricultural programmes of the federal government with attendant increase in agricultural productivity and increased income from farming. Umar maintained that CBN had to take the interventionist to cut down Nigeria’s import bill which was “exceptionally high.” The CBN noted that Nigeria’s economy was crippled by the excess food importation, which included commodities that could be conveniently produced locally. She observed that the top four import commodities which include rice, wheat, fish and sugar consumed over N1trillion in foreign exchange annually. Umar further noted that relying heavily on food importation triggered domestic inflation, depletes foreign reserves, displaces local production and creates unemployment. “Indeed, import dependency especially on commodities for which our country has comparative advantage to produce is not acceptable and sustainable either economically or politically,” she added. She further noted that the implementation of the anchor borrower scheme has continued to create economic linkages between farmers and processors. “So far this programme has linked over 190,841 small-holder farmers with reputable millers for off-take of every grain and livestock produced. This was undertaken in 28 states and to date, about 225, 600 hectares of farmland has been cultivated” she added. Earlier speaking, the FCT Minister, Malam Mohammad Bello said that the programme would be used by his administration to harness the vast agricultural potentials of farmers in the nation’s capital. Bello assured that his administration will ensure that small holder farmers’ participation in the initiative would be provided with farm inputs to boost production of selected agriculture commodities. He said, “For us in the FCT, the Anchor Borrowers Programme is a major way of harnessing the vast agricultural potentials of the territory. It is also a sure way of strengthening the production of crops where we have comparative advantages over others. Some of these crops include; rice, soya beans, sorghum and others.”
