Dr. Olukayode Oyeleye, the Special Assistant on Media and Strategy to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said this in an interview in Ibadan on Friday.
He spoke on the sideline of a two-day International Cocoa Conference organised by the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Oyeleye said that the e-wallet system was designed to assist the poor farmers who hitherto had been unable to afford basic agricultural inputs.
According to him, the scheme is designed for only three years, to enable the farmers afford the basic inputs to improve their production.
``The Growth Enhancement Support Scheme is an intervention meant to lift the poor farmers in terms of enabling them to be able to afford the basic inputs like fertiliser and some other forms of agro-chemicals.
``It is meant to be applied in such a way that first year, second year, third year, the farmers are enabled to procure the inputs that they need such that subsequently, they would now be able to have money to purchase these things without a recourse to this kind of intervention any more.
``So, it is not meant for big farmers, it is meant for extremely poor farmers, it’s meant to be used for about three years after which they will have moved up and they will now be empowered financially.’’
Oyeleye said that those who had misgivings about the scheme failed to embrace the scheme or did not believe it would work.
He explained how the scheme works.
``The way it works is such that states and Federal Government contribute 25 per cent to the cost of those inputs. The farmer is then suppose to pick up the remaining 50 per cent cost.
``So, it boils down to the fact that the farmer is paying only 50 per cent of the market value of what he is picking up.
``And then of course, to be a beneficiary, one must have registered under the Growth Enhancement Support, so the registration now qualifies such individuals for benefit under the scheme.
``So, those who are complaining that they haven’t received the support this year, either that they haven’t registered, in which case, they wouldn’t have been beneficiaries, or that some of them are having misgivings; even those that registered didn’t quite believed that this thing was for real.
``Some did not even have the requisite 50 per cent that they are supposed to bring. So these are some of the things, they may complain.’’
He, however, agreed that the scheme had yet to cover the entire country, but assured that the ministry would go back to the drawing board to perfect the scheme in the remaining two years.
``Agreed that not all parts of the country had been covered 100 per cent, but this is the first attempt.
``So, there is a very big opportunity to be able to now go back to the drawing board based on the findings on the field this year and perfect it for the subsequent years.
``By and large, the intention is clear; to help the poor farmers move up the ladder financially.
``Also, this system is such that the inputs are not being supplied by the Federal Government, but rather private sector business people have been brought into the growth enhancement support scheme; the agro dealers have been registered as well with the growth enhancement support scheme.’’
According to him, the agro dealers are the ones that are supplying the inputs to the farmers, after been certified as having registered.
``The e-wallet system entails sending notices to the agro dealers as well as to the benefiting farmers by mobile phone; and of then, of course, the system is such that, there is a kind of cluster of farmers around specific agro dealer in a particular location.’’
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