Agriculture Minister Blames Naira Redesign Policy For Farmer Bankruptcy

The naira redesign policy of former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele had led to farmer bankruptcy in the country, said Agriculture Minister Abubakar Kyari.

Emefiele introduced a currency redesign policy and launched three redesigned notes for N200, N500 and N1,000 on Nov. 23, 2022.

At a joint committee meeting on the 2024 budgetary proposals, chaired by Sen. Saliu Mustapha, the minister said the agriculture sector, especially farmers, were facing food security issues due to various reasons, including the naira redesign policy.

"The cash crunch caused by the naira re-design made most of the farmers sell their farm produce at giveaway prices for survival since buyers couldn't access cash to buy the produce from them," Kyari said, Daily Post reported. "The policy, which coincided with the harvest season, ended up rendering the farmers empty financially."

Dahiru Ismaila Haruna, who represents the Toro federal constituency in Bauchi, and Ademorin Kuye, from the Shomolu federal constituency in Lagos, also urged the federal government to address high rate of hunger in the country before it gets too late.

"Honorable minister, being from the North-East, the picture I am about to paint shouldn't be strange to you at all. The pathetic picture of people dying of hunger daily while the majority of those surviving feed once a day calls for concern," Haruna said.

The lawmaker noted the available food in the country is being mopped up by people from neighboring countries and suggested stockpiling the silos.

But, Kuye was skeptical about the idea, saying most of the silos built by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan did not achieve the intended result.

The minister assured the lawmakers that all the issues raised would be addressed in the 2024 fiscal year.

Kyari said food security is number one on the eight-point agenda of president Bola Tinubu's administration. He told the committee that a total of N362.940 billion was allocated for the agricultural sector for the fiscal 2024, out of which N124.1 billion was earmarked for the ministry.

Last month, the National Economic Council announced that it will allocate $1.52 billion in donor funds to 36 special agro-industrial processing zones across Nigeria to create more than 18 million jobs, including 100,000 farmers.

The Central Bank of Nigeria announced last month that the old banknotes will remain valid indefinitely as several merchants refused to accept old notes in the market.

The demonetization mopped up over 70% of cash in the country and led to an estimated loss of N20 trillion. Nigeria is not the only country to implement demonetization as countries like India, Venezuela, Zimbabwe and North Korea have done it in the past.