AFAN urges FG to settle outstanding GES supply claims


 The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) has urged the Federal Government to settle outstanding agro-dealers’ claims for input supply to farmers under the Growth Enhancement Support (GES) Scheme.
Mr Tunde Arosanyin, the Technical Adviser of AFAN, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
Arosanyin said speedy settlement of the claims was crucial to enable the dealers to resume supply to farmers for enhanced productivity in agriculture, food production and foreign exchange earnings.
NAN reports that the suppliers, under the aegis of Agro Dealers Association of Nigeria, are claiming to be owed N73 billion for supply in the 2014/2015 farming season.
But the Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, told newsmen in Abuja recently that government received a bill of N10 billion for the supply of seeds to farmers.
Describing the bill as high, the minister said that the suppliers’ claims would be verified before they would be paid by the ministry.
The AFAN technical adviser urged the government to speed up the verification process and commence payment without further delay as the wet farming season sets in.
He noted that the GES scheme, which was introduced by the previous administration, greatly enhanced the country’s agricultural output between 2012 and 2014.
Arosanyin said ``GES is a programme of the Federal Government through which registered farmers have access to farm inputs like seeds, agro chemicals and fertiliser at subsidised rates via e-wallet.
``I can tell you confidently that the scheme was successful in the first two years; a lot of farmers, including me, benefited and this greatly enhanced the country’s productivity in agriculture.
``But the scheme has been facing some challenges since 2014, including the issue of unpaid suppliers’ claims.
``Farmers were not supplied for the 2015 wet and dry farming seasons,’’ he said.
He explained that as a result farmers had to fall back on the previous season’s harvests and the open market to purchase grains for 2015.
He also said that most of the grains were of low quality resulting in low productivity; he, therefore, urged government to resolve the debt issue.
Arosanyin expressed worry over the exclusion of the GES scheme from the 2016 budget proposal.
He noted that the development would not augur well for the Federal Government economic diversification agenda through agriculture.
``All hope is not lost; let’s wait for the government’s plan, through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, since we are still at the land preparation stage,” he said. 

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