Commodity Boards unhealthy for farmers, says FACAN President

The President, Federation of Commodity Associations of Nigeria ( FACAN) has advised against the return of any agricultural commodity boards that will retrogress the growth of farmers and farming in Nigeria.

Dr. Victor Iyama, also the former national president, Cocoa Association of Nigeria in an interview with Food Farm News said that his close to forty years active involvement in the commodities productivity and marketing has revealed that the liberalization policy of 1986 on Agricultural produce had better enriched farmers than the old status quo of boards that have perpetually impoverished producers with uncompetitive and disadvantaged pricing.

FACAN boss pointed that the reinvention of Commodity boards into regulations of agricultural produce would take us back to a period when farmers were cutting down cash crops trees like cocoa, coffee, cashew and the rest, reason being too much of price exploitation in the hands of officials who were in charge of these organizations.

According to Iyama "No genuine farmers will support the re- introduction of agricultural commodity boards based on their sad anticidence  as farmers are made poorer due to pricing exploitation on the part of the board"

He praised the liberalization policy of 1986 which took many farmers especially cocoa/ coffee back to farming and replacement of all the cut down trees, adding that the positive impact was in the growth of cocoa production from 100,000 metric tons per anual to  300,000mt.

The FACAN boss argued that the unstable policies to protect players at the value chains of agricultural productivity had negatively affected liberalization policy, saying otherwise it would have been far better than to bring back any board that had in the past denied farmers of having their rightful profits to prosperity.

He said that "As a living witness to 1986 Babangida's liberalization economic policy, and

 scrapping of agricultural boards like cocoa, the policy brings much relief to farmers as many who couldn't have a roof on their head now build houses and even buy cars of choice from the proceeds they got from their sales which has always been denied by the detrimental regulatory policy of these boards "

Iyama advised the new administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to embark on building sustainable policies around players in the production, processing and marketing of agricultural produce, stressed that financial institutions' ( banks and insurance) policies that would enhance growth of liberalization economy must be instituted sustainably  to enhance empowerment of farmers.

" For example, you cannot compare Nigeria cocoa farmers with his Ghanian counterpart when it comes to profit making due to liberalization policy nature in our country which allows farmers to sell their produce to buyers or customers of their choices with the principles of demand and supply determining prices " he said.

He advised in case the new Government insists on bringing back the boards  that their roles should be limited to inputs distribution and buyers of last resort of what farmers cannot sell, adding that constituted members must be from private stakeholders, ministries and departmental agencies.

He pointed out that the boards must not interfere with who farmers sell their produce, and members must not be on any salary other than the pay from the ministry and other Agencies to seconded workers.

"Remember that the three marketing commodity companies established during former President Olusegun Obasanjo had all moribund immediately after his departure, and shares invested by some few farmers are gone into the winds as no genuine farmers would want his price to be determined by government regulation, but rather by prevailing prices in the market places" he said.