The All Farmers Associa
tion of Nigeria (AFAN) has  in Abuja told the Federal Government to do more toward the full realisation of the value chain in cotton and sugar production.
The National Technical Adviser of AFAN, Dr Tunde Arosanyin, who made the call in an interview with our correspondent, said this was the only way farmers could put in their best in cotton production.
According to him, textile production activities in states like Kaduna and Kano where the industry is active is still low.
“So much was put into cotton production; even the Bank of Industry gave substantial funding for the production.
“Over N200 billion was injected into the industry with cotton farmers also benefitting.
“This made a lot of farmers to go into cotton production from 2013 to 2014 but from my own point of view, the industry is yet to come up.”
He named some challenges affecting the industry as access to funds and a lack of infrastructure like power supply.
Arosanyin said that until the food value chain was properly developed, hiccups in the circle of production would still be there.
“If the farmers produce cotton and the textile mills are not fully on ground, then we will have problem of marketing and this will make farmers not cultivate much again,” he said.
On sugarcane production, Arosanyin said that the country had no business importing sugar.
“We will want to see some of the organizations that have bought the existing companies which are yet to come on board in terms of full processing.
“Government must look into such areas to ensure that the full value chain initiative is performing well,” he said.