Kabir Ibrahim, President of All Farmers Association, has expressed concern that Nigerian farmers can no longer afford fertilizers due to their high cost.
Ibrahim attributed the affordability of fertilizers during former President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure (2017-2020) to the Presidential Farmers Initiative (PFI), which made fertilizers widely available at a cheap rate of ₦5,500.
He noted that after the pandemic, an additional subsidy of ₦500 was introduced, reducing the price to ₦5,000, making it even more accessible to farmers.
However, since 2021, the situation has changed, and farmers can no longer afford fertilizers due to the high cost, which Ibrahim blamed on the decline in the value of the naira and the subsequent increase in import costs.
Ibrahim explained that the country had a pact with Morocco to import fertilizers at a reasonable price, but since then, imports have been sourced from other places at prevailing market rates, leading to higher costs.
He also highlighted the impact of flooding on farmers, which washes away the little fertilizer they can afford, and appealed to the federal government to restore the fertilizer subsidy to make it affordable for farmers.
Ibrahim emphasized that affordable fertilizers are crucial for cheap food production, and farmers should be able to buy fertilizers at cheap rates like in 2017.
He concluded by stressing that the high cost of inputs like fertilizers, insecticides, and labor is affecting farmers’ ability to recoup their investments, leading to increased prices for consumers.
