It is very happy news for farmers who are into wheat production as the Lagos Commodities and Futures Exchange (LCFE) in collaboration with Heritage Bank plans to provide aids to more than 100,000 farmers, who deal in wheat production.
The Managing Director of LCFE, Akin Akeredolu-Ale made this known while talking about commodity ecosystem operators in Lagos. He made it clear that the said partnership geared towards providing support to a good number of farmers for the improvement of wheat production, is part of the CBN’s current intervention towards alleviating the challenges of wheat production via accredited Anchor Borrowers.
Akin Akeredolu-Ale also added that the programme is actually in line with the primary function of the exchange. That being having a structured platform for fungible tradable instruments which are subsequently de-risked by means of commodities products in mineral resources, agriculture, amongst others where issuers are at liberty to write contracts.
He further added that the exchange through the partnership with Heritage bank will by a very good extent improve the wheat value chains. This will be achieved by bringing together farmers, their commodities, as well as data for the general development and improvement of the wheat value chain.
According to the former Executive Director of the Lake Chad Institute of Research, Oluwasina Olabanji, a lot of money is spent yearly just for the importation of wheat and this is because of the fact that there are not enough commercial quantities. Also, poor quality of primary input has a role to play in this as well.
The light at the end of the tunnel however, is the CBN’s intervention. He pointed out that this intervention will indeed tackle the problems that wheat production is facing and in the same breath improve investment opportunities in agriculture. It will also boost foreign exchange earnings and of course be a means through which job opportunities are made available for unemployed youths.
Heritage Bank’s Divisional Head, Agribusiness, Natural Resources and Project Management, Olugbenga Awe spoke on how happy he was that the establishment is partnering with the LCFE, CBN as well as other stakeholders to enhance wheat production and by so doing bring about many great benefits.
In case you are wondering what the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme is, it is an intervention by the CBN with the aim of developing economic connections between smallholder farmers (SHFs) and notable companies (anchors) that are into the production and processing of key agricultural commodities.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, made it known that the bank has mapped out 41.2 billion naira intervention in wheat production in Nigeria for commodity associations and anchor companies. He has also stated that the apex bank has distributed the sum of 1.08 trillion naira under the Anchor Borrowers Scheme.
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