L24
DAILY TRUST
Tuesday, March 15,20 11
Business/ Agric
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'FG not serious about marketing boards' revival' By Tina A. Hassan NE month after raising the hope of farmers when it announced that the famous agriculture commodity marketing boards of the ) 980's would be reintroduced to boost production and_ reduce cases of post
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med. explained that efforts to bring back the boards have been in consideration since the regime of the former minister of the ministry. Abba Ruma; he however said he is not aware of any such move currently. Professor Tunji Arokoyo is an agriculture specialist and a consult-
because in the hands of government. these boards would fail. "Let the government create the room for free market. They should set the guidelines and structures to encourage the sector just like tlley did with the Global System of Mobile (GSM) communication.
enterprise must be allowed to thrive but there should be a good mechanism that should be put in place to encourage investors and secure farmers' confidence that when they produce in large quantities, their product would be readily absorbed by a marketing board. "Government must encourage investors to build the chain of production and distribution between ti,e farmers, investors and industries'so that the industries can have a ready source of raw material and the farmers can shift away from subsistence farming to large scale farm ing. This is sure to boost agriculture and ensure food security in the country," he said. Some farmers are of ti,e view that the Governor of ti,e Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido
Sanusi, who observed the vacuum created in the econamy due to lack ofcommodityboardsin the country and suggested that the boards should be revived, should continue to mount pressure to ensure that the boards are brought back to life. Chairman of Cocoa Processors Association of Nigeria (COPAN), Akin Olusuyi observed that the CBN governor was right to observe the defidency in the agric sector because Nigeria is the only country that is involved in international trading of cash commodities and yet it does not have coordinating body such as the marketing boards and this has impacted negatively on the economy ofthe sector for a long time. He said the decision is a good step in the right direction because it would provide a level playing ground that is well structured and
regulated with laid down policies for everyone interested in agriculture. He recommended that if government is really serious about embarking on such an enterprise, it must not allow the board to be run by politicians who are interested in
serving their political interesls but should be operated by farmers who understand the dynamiCS of the market and how such boards should be operated. "I recommend that if the Federal Government intends that the boards should work, they must get players in the market who understand the dynamiCS of the board, and can run it as an enterprise determined to achieve results. "It should not be given to the political boys as payback or as political appointment because that would surely ruin the boards," h e advised.
~. ..!JY ..,. RELOCATION OF OFFICE COTTON field
harvest los;es and poor access to markets. the Federal Government is yet to make any concrete commitment to live up to its word. The announcement which has continued to generate reactions from stakeholders in the agriculture sector is trailed by skepticism on whether the boards would be able to make a significant impact on ti,e lives of Nigerian farmers. the economy and if it can be effectively managed. Assistant Director of 路Press in the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. Matthew Haruna said tI,ere is currently no update on the issues of the resuscitation of the boards from the Federal Government. Another staff of the press department of the ministr y, lbrahim Moham-
ant for ti,e National Progranune for Food Security who said if marketing boards are reintroduced into the agric sector, many farmers and private bUsinesses would benefit from it but the boards must not be managed by the government because they are sure to fail then . According to him, if government is true to its word and the marketing boards are revived, they would .make a big impact on agriculture in the country because farmers would then be assured of a ready market for their produce and the fear of post harvest losses or investment insecurity would be eradicated. He said: 'We have cash crops in Nigeria and there is need for the marketing boards to co-ordinate the sale of these crops but there is need for the boards to be private-sector driven
the marketing boards should be private-sector driven, tI,en they would succeed but government must back its words with action." Other observers in the industry are of the view that marketing boards would encourage free enterprise as long as the government is not politicizing the issue of agricultural development, then the reintroduction of the board would be beneficial to the economy. A member of the African Roundtable under New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) business group, Dr. Ken Ife said there should be no restriction of membership of the board if it must succeed because any free enterprise must not be restricted. In his opinion, if government intends that the board would be private sector driven, then free
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