AFAN Decries High Cost of Farm Inputs

The Oyo State chapter of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), has decried the outrageous prices of farm inputs, warning that it could worsen the already high food prices.

Speaking with journalists in Ibadan on Wednesday, the AFAN Chairman in the state, Mr John Olateru, said the high cost of inputs could harm farmers’ operations, thereby affecting the prices of their products.

He noted that the prices of farm inputs like fertilisers and chemicals are rising beyond the reach of the smallholder farmers, who represent the largest farming workforce in the country.

“Prices of chemicals are now more than triple of what they used to be; the same for fertilisers, while land preparation has gone from N5,000 to between N12,000 and N15,000 per hectare. “The cost of cultivating farmlands has gone out of control, and this will affect the prices of the items that will be planted,” Olateru said.

The AFAN chairman also expressed his dissatisfaction with what he described as lengthy procedures for farmers to acquire exchange rates, as well as the occasional lack of foreign exchange for buying farm inputs.

“Another problem is that on everything you import, there is 7.5 per cent VAT that you have to pay. There is also the five per cent minimum duty that you must pay on importation of tractors and other things.

“If you add 7.5 per cent with five per cent, that gives you 12.5 per cent duty on what you are importing, while the official Forex is not available. “All these will have a multiplier effect on the prices of farmers’ outputs.

“When people are complaining about high prices of food commodities, they may not know the factors that are driving the costs,” he added.

source Agro Nigeria: