How naira redesign policy grounded farmers – Agric minister

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, on Monday said the naira re-design policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made farmers bankrupt.

The policy saw the redesigning of N200, N500, and N1000 bank notes toward the end of 2022, with the apex bank setting February 2023 as the deadline to phase out the old notes.

It almost grounded the economy due to an acute shortage of cash across the country.

But the Supreme Court in February ruled against phasing out the old notes. It held that both the old and new notes remained legal tender.

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Speaking when he appeared before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Agriculture to defend his ministry’s budget, Kyari said several factors like insecurity and the naira redesign policy impoverished farmers and severely threatened food security.

“The cash crunch caused by the naira redesign made most of the farmers sell their farm produce at a giveaway price for survival since buyers couldn’t access cash to buy the produce from them.

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

Meanwhile, lawmakers have raised the alarm on the urgent need for the federal government to address the high rate of hunger largely caused by insecurity.

Hon Dahiru Ismaila Haruna from Toro Federal Constituency in Bauchi State, in a remark at the session, said people were dying because of hunger while the majority of those surviving fed once a day.

“Making it worrisome is the fact that even people from neighbouring countries like Chad, Niger, Benin Republic, and Central Africa, are trooping in to mop up the little food, signaling total famine in the area if not urgently addressed by stockpiling the silos,” he said.