Chairman, Palm Oil Dealers Association, Cross River Chapter, Mr Owali Ilem, has commended the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for introducing the Anchor Borrowers scheme to boost agriculture in the country.

Ilem told newsmen in Calabar recently that the inclusion of oil palm producers in the CBN’s programme would provide more resources for the farmers to increase their productivity.

He urged oil palm farmers in the state to form cooperative groups to enable them to access funds from the scheme and have a value chain for their products.

He, however, stressed the need for State and Federal Governments to increase their funding allocations to agriculture to ensure desired food sufficiency in the country.

Ilem disclosed that the country spent N59 billion on the importation of 1.7 million metric tons of palm oil annually, adding that this would have been avoided if proper attention was given to oil palm production locally.

”This importation is unnecessary and ironical considering the fact that in the past, palm produce was one of the country’s major exports,” he said.

He called on the Cross River Government to construct roads in the rural communities to enable farmers to have access to their farms.

”Rural farmers are groaning under poor road network and lack of access to their farms across the 18 local government areas in this state.

”So, it will be good if the state government assists us in opening up the local communities by constructing rural roads,’’ he said.

The farmers chairman decried the high cost of food items, including palm oil, currently in the state and country, describing it as self-inflicted hardship occasioned by the neglect of agriculture.

He said: “Early in the year, we were buying 25 litres of palm oil at between N2,500 and N3000; now it is sold at N14,000 per litre. It has never happened like this before.

”Everyday people keep calling me from Lagos asking whether the product is available in Cross River. The demand has never been as high.’’