Ossom aphael

Abuja – The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has facilitated the release of 50,000 metric tonnes of Maize into the Nigerian market in fulfilment of its pledge to reduce the price of the commodity.

The February release by the bank was done through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to major poultry feed producers and poultry producers in the country.

According to the CBN, the 50,000 metric tonnes of maize released in the second week of February has made an impact as the Maize Market has recorded a reduction in price from N200,000.00 per metric tonnes to about N180,000.00 per metric tonnes. It is still anticipated that the current will further reduce.

Major beneficiaries include Premier Flour Mills, Crown–Olam, Grand Cereals, Animal Care, Amobyn and Hybrid Feeds. Others include Zartech, Wacot, Sayeed Farms, Pandagri Novum and Premium Farms as well as the South West, South-South, North West and North Central chapters of the Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN).

The benefiting companies represent the major players in the poultry value chain in the country.

The release of the 50,000 metric tonnes of Maize forestall the pressure and reduce the activities of intermediaries (middlemen) in the Nigerian Maize market.

Recalled that the Central Bank of Nigeria had in January this year, announced to release 300,000 metric tonnes of Maize into the Nigerian Maize Market to bridge the shortfall in production and augment local production of the commodity.

The current shortfall in the quantity of maize available in the market, that CBN is working on mitigating, is attributed to activities of banditry, drought in some parts of the country last year, activities of hoarders and middlemen as well as insecurity around the major maize producing belt of Niger, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara and part of Kano states.

As part of the Bank’s financing framework, the CBN facilitates the funding of maize farmers and processors through the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) Commodity Association, Private/Prime Anchors, State Governments, Maize Aggregation Scheme (MAS), and the Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS).