Naira redesign policy frustrated farmers, says agric minister

Abubakar Kyari, minister of agriculture and food security, says the controversial naira redesign policy frustrated farmers.

Kyari spoke on Monday when he appeared before the national assembly joint committee on agriculture to defend his ministry’s 2024 budget.

The minister said farmers sold their produce at giveaway prices because consumers did not have access to cash.

In October 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) led by Godwin Emefiele, immediate-past governor of the apex bank, introduced a policy to redesign N200, N500, and N1,000 banknotes.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari unveiled the redesigned naira notes in November 2022 — earlier than scheduled.

The move triggered a nationwide cash crunch before and during the general election, leading some states to sue the federal government.

The minister said apart from impoverishing farmers, the policy threatened the country’s food security.

“The cash crunch caused by the naira redesign made most of the farmers sell their farm produce at give away prices for survival since buyers could not access cash to buy the produce off them,” he said.

“The policy which coincided with harvest season, rendered the farmers empty financially.”

Kyari said food security is one out of the eight-point agenda of President Bola Tinubu’s administration and his ministry has repositioned itself to actualise that goal.

“We are reviewing the mechanisms and processes for delivering fertilizers and agro pesticides input to farmers under a transparent and accountable regime,” he said.

The minister said for the 2024 fiscal year, N124.1 billion was budgeted, of which N10.6 billion is for personnel cost, N1.34 billion for overhead and N112.497 billion for capital expenditure.