Kaduna marketing board takes off

Kaduna state government has reintroduced marketing board in collaboration with private sector partners to guarantee price for farm produce in the state.
A statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor Nasir el-Rufai on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, stated that the Kaduna Produce Management Company (KADPMC) had mandate to support farmers with price and guarantee market for farmers when necessary. It read in part: “The Kaduna state government and its private sector partners have announced the take-off of the Kaduna Produce Management Company (KADPMC).
The company is expected to announce the minimum guaranteed price it would offer farmers in Kaduna state for selected crops in the 2018 cropping season. “KADPMC’s mandate is to provide support for famers in a way that rewards output and encourages farmers to produce more. The company is expected to channel this output support by guaranteeing minimum prices for selected crops and acting as a buyer of last resort when necessary. “The company will also be responsible for the produce aggregation, storage and quality control services that the old commodity and marketing boards used to provide for farmers and buyers.”
Continuing, it read: “Therefore, the government and its private sector partners spent most of 2017 agreeing the Public Private Partnership (PPP) structure for KADPMC. Major players like Flour Mills of Nigeria, the Olam Group, Falke, Stallion Group and Springfield Agro were approached. “KADPMC was subsequently incorporated with Flour Mills, Falke Industries and Crown Flour Mills (an Olam company) as the initial majority shareholders, with KDSG holding a minority stake. In April 2018, the KADPMC announced the resumption of Mr. Chris Gaiya as its Managing Director.
“Other companies like Tomato Jos, Shebag Holdings and Namalco are joining the KADPMC team. The KADPMC promoters believe that it is more prudent to offer farmers an incentive to produce more, rather than merely providing subsidised inputs.”