Anchor Borrower: Dangote explains delay in input distribution to tomato farmers

The management of Dangote Tomato Processing Company says  it will ensure that it has meets the deadline agreed upon under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) tomato anchor borrower intervention. It says the company has since commenced distribution of seedlings to accredited tomato farmers. This was revealed by the Managing Director of Dangote tomato processing […]

The management of Dangote Tomato Processing Company says  it will ensure that it has meets the deadline agreed upon under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) tomato anchor borrower intervention. It says the company has since commenced distribution of seedlings to accredited tomato farmers.

This was revealed by the Managing Director of Dangote tomato processing plant, Malam Abdulkareem Kaita while reacting to allegations by a section of tomato farmers claiming that they were discriminated against in the distribution of inputs to prospective tomato farmers captured under the federal government’s Anchor Borrower scheme.

He said the little delay experienced was a result of importation bottlenecks, stressing that most of the imported inputs have already arrived Nigeria and distribution has since commenced.

Similarly, Kano State chairman of Tomato Out Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), Alhaji Sani Danladi Yadakwari, had earlier revealed that, following the recent enrollment of tomato farmers into the federal government’s agricultural intervention under the CBN agricultural intervention of Anchor Borrower, no fewer than 10, 000 Kano State tomato farmers are set to benefit from the scheme.

According to him, out of the figure, Dangote will serve as an off-taker to 6,000 farmers.

He said with the January 15, 2020 deadline, only insignificant number of tomato farmers received their input from the company.

“We have held several meetings with the company, and we have agreement that January 15, 2020 will be the deadline for accessing all inputs by all farmers.

However, we are now past approaching the deadline but only a little number of tomato farmers received their inputs from the company.

“Some have made huge investments and indicators are showing that they won’t get the intervention in good time.

“This is worrisome and that is why we are appealing to the company to hasten the process,” Yadakwari said.