Farmers across Nigeria have expressed concerns following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) decision to lift the 8-year long restriction on foreign exchange access for the importation of 43 food and agriculture-related items.
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In separate interviews on Sunday, major agriculture stakeholders said the policy reversal puts billions of dollars of investments in the farming sector at risk and could lead to massive job losses.
They noted that allowing unrestricted FX access for imported items like rice, frozen chicken, palm oil, tomatoes and others that local production capacity has expanded in will undermine growth.
Prince Wale Oyekoya of Bama Farms described the move as a policy somersault that will pressure Nigeria’s reserves through higher food imports rather than exports. He said it will worsen unemployment as jobs shift overseas.
All Farmers Association President, Ibrahim Kabir said the decision could discourage new and existing farmers. He added that it counters progress made under the former Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA) initiative.
For poultry farmers, lifting the ban means imminent collapse of feed mills employing thousands and takeover of farms by AMCON. PAN President, Sunday Ezeobiora noted that allowing chicken and egg imports will destroy billions of dollars in poultry investments.
The CBN has yet to officially confirm the reported lifting of FX restrictions on the 43 items prohibited since 2015. But analysts expect the bank to clarify its rationale amid strong criticism if the policy shift is verified.
Many experts recommend widening local production, processing and competitiveness instead of opening doors to potentially more imported food when domestic agriculture is still growing.
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