Business
Group Wants Subsidy On Farm Produce
The Association of Small Scale Agro-Producers in Nigeria (ASSAPIN), has called on government at all levels to subsidise farm produce to enhance food security in the country.
Addressing a news conference in Ijebu-Ode on Tuesday to commemorate the 2011 World Food Day, the National Vice-President of the Association, Mr. Joshua Mabinuori, said that government subsidy would encourage farmers to produce more food.
Mabinuori noted regrettably, that farmers were not making profit due to poor storage facilities and pricing of farm produce.
He, therefore, urged the government to invest more in agriculture, as a matter of urgency, to avert food crisis in the country.
The ASSAPIN boss also suggested that rather than providing subsidy which would not get to farmers, governments at all levels should purchase farm produce at a predetermined profitable price from the farmers at the farm gate.
He explained that government could in turn sell the subsidised produce to the public at a reduced price.
“Talking about subsidy, the Federal Government claimed to have spent billions of naira in subsidising the cost of farm input such as fertiliser which farmers do not have the opportunity to access.
“ The small-scale farmers, therefore, urge government at all levels to purchase farm produce at a predetermined, appropriate and profitable prices from farmers at the farm gate rather than subsidising inputs.
“In other words, the problems and challenges of Nigerian farmers is not the cost of input but the poor price offered to the farmers for their produce at the market place.
“If government can subsidise farm produce, farmers will be able to break even and this would in turn encourage farmers to produce more food.”
Mabinuori said that farm produce subsidy could be achieved by strengthening farmers’ cooperatives as well as the establishment of marketing boards.
“Small-scale farmers believe that if government at all levels can put all the above mentioned measures in place, there will be abundance of food in the country for consumption as well as employment opportunity.
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
