Farmers’ major challenge remains access to markets – MD Aisha farms

The Chief Executive Officer of Aisha Farms located in the outskirts of Bwari in the FCT, Yusuf Bomoi, is of the opinion that unless the abolished marketing board is resuscitated, access to ready markets by farmers will remain a mirage in the country. In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust in the farm, Bomoi said […]

The Chief Executive Officer of Aisha Farms located in the outskirts of Bwari in the FCT, Yusuf Bomoi, is of the opinion that unless the abolished marketing board is resuscitated, access to ready markets by farmers will remain a mirage in the country.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust in the farm, Bomoi said many farmers usually committed a lot of resources into farming but sometimes incurred losses during the harvest period as there were no ready markets for them to sell their produce, coupled with the absence of storage facilities.
‘’Right now, in our farm, we have moringa to sell but there is no ready market for it.
What you are seeing in the paper is quite different from what is obtainable in practical terms. We have all these in our farm but no one to connect us to the buyers,’’ he said.
He urged the present government to pay attention to that aspect of the value chain, saying ready market would stimulate interest in agriculture.
‘’Accessing agric loan is also another problem. Getting the loan as well as the interest rate is an obstacle to both small and large scale farmers. The minister of agriculture should look into this critically,’’ he added.
On the recent $15 million pledged by the Chinese government to develop the agric sector, Bomoi, who is a onetime NYSC DG, advised government to involve corps members in the 50 demonstration farms to be established across the country with the aid.
Aisha Farms is an integrated farm with orchard, fishery, and birds and with a plan to include poultry, hatchery and green house.