In its bid to moderate and control the prices of maize in the Nigerian market, the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) has approved the release of 50,000 metric metric tonnes of maize to 12 major producers, from the strategic maize reserve under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
The release of the maize to the companies, which is the third of such, is also intended to check the activities of middlemen who are hoarding the product and causing artificial scarcity.
A statement by the CBN listed recipients of the grains to include Premier Flour Mills, Crown-Olam, Grand Cereals, Animal Care, Amobyn and Hybrid Feeds. Others are Obasanjo Farms, Zartech, Wacot, Sayeed Farms, Pandagri Novum and Premium Farms.
CBN Acting Director of Corporate Communications, Mr Osita Nwanisobi who confirmed the development was optimistic that the release would crash the price of maize, reduce pressure on the market, and make the product directly available to feed producers.
He said the CBN intervention would help to reduce the price of poultry feeds in the country.
Nwanisobi said the CBN would continue to facilitate the funding of maize farmers and processors through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme Commodity Association, Private/Prime Anchors, State Governments, Maize Aggregation Scheme, and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme.
Also speaking on the development, the National President of the Maize Association of Nigeria, Dr. Bello Abubakar urged middlemen to desist from taking advantage of the supply gap to hike the price of the grains.
He also assured that farmers in Nigeria would maintain reasonable pricing of the products.
It would be recalled that the CBN, had while responding to the activities of middlemen in January 2021, released 300,000 metric tonnes of maize, which forced the substantial reduction in the price of maize per metric tonne.
Similarly, the Bank, in a renewed move to address the rising cost of food prices in the Nigerian market, collaborated with the Rice farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) to distribute 27,000 metric tonnes of rice paddies directly to millers nationwide on Thursday, June 24, 2021.
The direct allocation from RIFAN warehouses across 16 States of the federation followed the earlier sale of paddy aggregated as loan repayment under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme to millers from the rice pyramids that were unveiled in Niger, Kebbi, Gombe and Ekiti States.
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