AIMS: Inputs scheme announcement premature, say stakeholders

·    *Farmers fault GESS’ replacement.

Agricultural Input Mechanization Scheme

The announcement of the Federal Government Agricultural Inputs Mechanization Scheme (AIMS)made earlier by the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has been described by the stakeholders as premature and just a mere show off when actually nothing has been put in place to justify its publicity, just as many farmers have expressed their disapproval on the replacement of Growth Enhancement Scheme (GES) of inputs-distribution-through-electronic-wallet scheme with a new one.

Food Farm News reliably gathered that the AIMS which had been officially slated to take off some months ago has been reliably confirmed as still at preparatory level that did not justify any announcement as there was no preparation yet towards achieving the core targets of the programme as necessary arrangements including the involvement of the agro dealers and seed companies are yet to be put in place.

AIMS, according to our finding is meant to bridge the gap created by the GES, especially in the area of injecting availability of simple mechanization tools to farmers towards tractor hiring for land clearing at all the local government councils of the federation.

But some stakeholders have expressed their displeasure at the discontinuation of GESS as the programme introduced by Jonathan Administration may have been technically replaced with AIMS.

A source who spoke with Foodfarmnews on condition of anonymity disclosed that the scheme was initiated to reach-out to farmers in the 774 local governments across the country and thatit was aimed at closing the policy gap between the Federal and local governments in best agronomics, farming and land clearing practices with availability of simple machineries and other inputs support at the grassroots.

Said an insider “The big question is what happens to the agro dealers and seed companies that were used during the last GESS and who are yet to be paid and briefed about the new programme?Also,we are yet to discuss whether AIMS is going to be Public Private Partnership (PPP), subsidy or aself-sponsoredprogramme. A committee has been established without any plan/report tabled towards charting a way forward, and the minister just announced the programme without anything to expedite action for its takeoff”

The Vice President, Root and Tubers, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Chief Daniel Okafor expressed regret about government policy formulation without involvement of farmers saying “There is always a policy somersault. This government will bring this one and when another person comes, he will bring another one irrespective of whether it is good or not. If we continue waiting for the government, we might not farm. We cannot continue waiting for policies but if they want to make any policy, let them carry farmers along. The most important thing is to know why the scheme was changed and what they are trying to achieve. We will rather prefer the government to amend what the previous government did instead of bringing a new one”.

National Coordinator, Zero Hunger Farmers Association of Nigeria, Dr. TundeArosanyin, described the electronic wallet system of the GES scheme as fantastic, but noted that it recorded some gaps in the area of farmers’ capturing.

He recalled that under that system, old women farmers from Kwara, Kaduna, Imo and Oyo States got text messages on their phones requesting them to come and collect inputs in some centers without knowing any of the officials.

Arosanyin, who also doubles as the National Technical Adviser of AFAN, called for the proper integration of GES gaps into the implementation of AIMS, wondering,“How will the percentage of the subsidy be captured? How will they identify farmers? Are they going to use the initial platform of the GES?”

National President, Concerned Youths Empowerment Association of Nigeria (CYEAN), Mr. Noble Adaelu, also expressed regret over the sudden replacement of the GES scheme. He noted that the programmes impacted the lives of many farmers across the country saying there was need for a holistic approach to tackle challenges in the agriculture sector.

The Chief Executive Officer, Fresh and Young Brains Development Initiative, Miss NkirukaNnaemego, suggested that AIMS should address some identified challenges of the GES saying that “If AIMS is strengthened without starting a different programme, it will be very good. The GES was actually helping farmers with agricultural inputs and fertilizer. The AIMS will be good if it is implemented”

“The challenge of small scale farmers, especially for youth and women is mechanization. My advice to the government is to continue in the strength of the GES. There were certain things that worked well during the GES scheme “There was a Public Private Partnership (PPP) approach but I didn’t see more involvement of the young people in GES.