ABP: Kaduna farmers erect 30 maize pyramids
To commemorate their 30 years of existence, maize farmers in Nigeria under the aegis of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) who have benefited from the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are erecting 30 maize pyramids in Kaduna. The CBN created the ABP which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari […]
To commemorate their 30 years of existence, maize farmers in Nigeria under the aegis of Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN) who have benefited from the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are erecting 30 maize pyramids in Kaduna.
The CBN created the ABP which was launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, to create a linkage between anchor companies involved in processing and Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) of key agricultural commodities.
While briefing journalists after a visit to the pyramids in Kaduna yesterday, the Development Finance Officer, CBN Kaduna branch, Aminu Mohammed, said the pyramids were the second as MAAN did maize pyramids in Katsina in 2021.
He said, “They are doing their second national maize pyramids here to commemorate their 30th anniversary. They have been in existence for 30 years. So they plan to do 30 pyramids to show those 30 years.”
Mohammed said, “All the maize in the pyramids come from 15 states in the North, including Kaduna. Maize demand in the country is estimated to increase at an average of 3.2 per cent per annum, largely due to population increase and urbanisation. 60 per cent of Nigeria’s production of maize is consumed by the industrial sector for production of flour, beer, malt drink, cornflakes, dextrose and animal feeds. The annual consumption of maize in Nigeria stood at 12.38 million Metric Tons (MT) in 2021.”
The President of the Maize Pyramids Committee, Alhaji Kabiru Salihu, said through the ABP many small scale farmers in the state and the country at large had been empowered.
Alhaji Kabiru, who is the state Chairman of the MAAN, explained that maize production had increased to 20MT in 2020 against eight million MT that was produced since 2015.