President Goodluck Jonathan has directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to set aside the sum of N50 billion to support Nigerian farmers.
Jonathan who was represented yesterday at the presidential flag-off of the private-sector driven agricultural equipment hiring enterprise and the commissioning of the new100,000 metric tons silos complex in Sheda by Vice President, Namadi Sambo, expressed gratitude towards the progress of agriculture in Nigeria.
The President stated that agricultural agenda in Nigeria was working well and achieving great stride,” stressing that Nigeria e-wallet system was being replicated in several African countries”.
“As part of our drive to limit the hoes and cutlasses farming and to replaced them with modern agricultural equipment, I directed the CBN to set aside the sum of N50 billion to support farmers the president stated. Jonathan said, the Growth Enhancement Scheme and e-wallet system of the Federal Government will be expanded to provide subsidised electronic mechanisation support budget to farmers.
Earlier at the occasion, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Adesina Akinwumi, commended the President for his strong support for the Ministry, stressing that his  vision was very supportive of the agriculture road map.
Adesina said, one can only imagine if farmers could produce additional 21 million MT of food between 2012 and 2014, without tractors or mechanized equipment adding that they will definitely feed the world if they have a fully mechanized agricultural system.
According to him,together with the network of silos in the country, Nigeria will secure food supply because other African countries still using hoes and cutlasses that do not reflect modern agricultural system, are suffering.
“As we change this, we must also change the model of achieving rapid mechanization in Nigeria. We must aggressively privatise the commercialization of agricultural machineries in Nigeria. I wish to state clearly that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development no longer buys and distributes tractors, as had been the practice for decades.
“He explained that the Ministry now supports the private sector to drive the mechanisation of Nigeria’s agriculture, adding that what was witnessed at the launch was the establishment of what has come to be known as Agricultural Equipment Hiring Enterprises (AEHEs), driven by the private sector. “They will provide access to affordable agricultural mechanisation services for farmers”, he stated.
The minister said, farmers are producing a lot of food and rapidly building up storage capacity, both in silos and warehouses, to store food and reduce food losses. When we started in 2011, only 35 per cent of the silos in the country were completed.
But I am pleased to inform you that today all will be fully completed by December 2014. We now have a total of 1.3 million MT silos capacity, and this particular giant silos with 100,000 MT capacity, is the largest silos in West Africa”.

CBN to set aside N50bn to support farmers –President