Benue unveils outgrowers agro value chain scheme
The Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC) has unveiled a large-scale outgrowers’ scheme for sorghum, rice and orange farmers, as part of strategy to deepen agro-industrial value chains and boost internally generated revenue in Benue State. Group Managing Director of BIPC, Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, disclosed this yesterday after a strategic meeting with farmer groups, […]
The Benue Investment and Property Company Limited (BIPC) has unveiled a large-scale outgrowers’ scheme for sorghum, rice and orange farmers, as part of strategy to deepen agro-industrial value chains and boost internally generated revenue in Benue State.
Group Managing Director of BIPC, Dr. Raymond Asemakaha, disclosed this yesterday after a strategic meeting with farmer groups, cooperatives and traders in Makurdi.
He noted that the initiative was designed to transition farmers from subsistence production to structured commercial agriculture with guaranteed markets.
He decried the long standing practice of farm gate sales, which he said has limited the state’s economic potential, as external buyers dictate production patterns while taking most of the value outside Benue.
Asemakaha said the company would commence a citrus aggregation programme and orange outgrowers scheme to support the rollout of orange-based products, with capacity to receive up to 100 truckloads of oranges from local farmers.
He disclosed that BIPC would distribute 20 bags of improved sorghum seeds to farmers under a guaranteed offtake arrangement, targeting supply for its brewery and malt processing operations.
He noted that the move would reduce reliance on external sourcing, recalling that the company previously spent about N500 million procuring sorghum from Zaria, and would now retain that value within the state’s economy.
The BIPC boss further disclosed that the push to institutionalise agricultural trade has birthed plans to establish the Benue Commodity Exchange in order to facilitate price discovery, structured trading and linkage with the Nigerian Commodity Exchange.
Chief Risk Officer of BIPC, Andrew Simon, said the engagement with stakeholders was aimed at building transparency and strengthening coordination across the agricultural value chain.
Stakeholders, including Benue State All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) Secretary, Prof. Godwin Timin, and agribusiness players, pledged support for the initiative, assuring that farmers across the state would be mobilised to participate in the scheme.
Also, the Nigerian Commodity Exchange State Focal Person, Clement Oche, assured of the exchange’s readiness to support fair pricing and improved market access for farmers.