By Eneojo Herbert Idakwo
At 65, Nigeria stands at a crossroad. For a nation blessed with vast arable land and an enterprising farming population, the question remains: why is our agricultural productivity still a recurring debate rather than a settled success story?
One initiative that gave a glimmer of hope in recent times was the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP). Introduced in 2015, the scheme was designed to link smallholder farmers with anchor firms, providing them with credit, inputs, and market access. In the cotton, textile, and garment (CTG) value chain, this intervention was a game-changer. For once, cotton farmers, who had nearly abandoned their fields due to poor yields and market failures, found renewed confidence.
The National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN) played a pivotal role in implementing ABP for cotton growers. At its peak, over 200,000 cotton farmers across 30 states were integrated into the scheme. Seeds, fertilizers, extension services, and guaranteed offtake brought dignity back to cotton farming. Yields jumped from an average of 300kg per hectare to 1.4 tons per hectare. Some progressive farmers, with improved practices, even recorded 2.5 tons per hectare. These were no small feats.
The ripple effect was undeniable. Rural economies witnessed a revival. Youths who once dismissed cotton farming as an occupation of the old began to embrace it because profitability returned. Processing companies, which had been lying dormant, restarted operations. Employment in ginneries surged. Textile factories that once lamented lack of raw materials found fresh lifelines. In short, the ABP became a bridge connecting Nigeria’s forgotten cotton heritage with a modern future.
Yet, in the midst of these gains, the ABP was discontinued. While the reasons are understandable — from repayment challenges to misuse of funds — the total abandonment of such a transformative model raises more questions than answers.
Here lies the crux of my argument: Nigeria does not need to discard the Anchor Borrowers Programme. Nigeria needs to reinvent it.
A modified ABP, driven by lessons from past challenges, can anchor Nigeria’s agricultural renaissance. Imagine an ABP with:
Biometric farmer verification to eliminate ghost beneficiaries.
Digital repayment systems tied to produce off-take, reducing defaults.
Partnership with credible farmer associations like NACOTAN to ensure grassroots monitoring.
Integration of youth and women into the value chain, creating a generational shift in cotton farming.
Insurance mechanisms to cushion farmers against climate and pest shocks.
These are not impossible dreams. They are pragmatic corrections to a tested model.
Critics may argue that the ABP was prone to abuse, but the truth is that all interventions in developing economies carry risks. The real question is not whether to scrap them, but whether to design them smarter. For cotton, the stakes are too high. Without cotton revival, Nigeria’s textile dreams will remain wishful thinking. And without textile revival, our quest for non-oil diversification is only halfhearted.
At 65, Nigeria cannot afford to keep recycling poverty and unemployment in its rural communities. Cotton offers us an economic and industrial pathway that combines agriculture, manufacturing, and exports in a single value chain. It is a rare low-hanging fruit that we must not ignore.
This is why NACOTAN’s voice — and indeed, the voices of thousands of cotton farmers — matter now more than ever. They are not asking for charity. They are asking for partnership. They are asking for a policy environment that recognizes their role as national growth drivers.
The reintroduction of a modified Anchor Borrowers Programme, with cotton as a flagship commodity, should be one of Nigeria’s 65th birthday gifts to itself. Because beyond statistics and policies, what is at stake is the dignity of labour, the pride of our textile heritage, and the survival of rural economies.
The future of Nigeria’s agriculture is not in endless policy papers. It is in bold, practical steps. ABP was one of those steps. Let us not walk backwards.
Happy Independence, Nigeria. The work of nation-building continues.
We are earnestly waiting to commence the program as beneficiary farmers in the first anchor borrowers programm we benefitted and paid back by submitting the required Grain payments with documented evidence,we thought the program will continue with automatic engagement for those who paid back but unfortunately the process suffered set back.