To this end, he said, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is soon to
introduce the National Agricultural Payment Initiative (NAPI) as a boost
to the e-wallet system geared to biometrically capture the data of all
farmers under the scheme.
He attributed the non-implementation of the e-wallet fertiliser
allocation this year to change of administration at the central level,
and the non-payment of outstanding payment to agro dealers who supply
the fertiliser.
The director who spoke in an interview with journalists yesterday in
Bauchi, said however that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is doing
everything possible to offset the outstanding arrears to the fertiliser
suppliers towards making headway in the programme.
“There is also this new programme that is coming up, the National
Agricultural Payment Initiative (NAPI) in which we are going to capture
biometrical data of all farmers which is an improved version of the
e-wallet system.”
According to him, successes recorded during the last e-wallet system of
fertiliser allocation will be fused into the new programme, as errors
noticed during the e-wallet system are consolidated into the new NAPI
scheme.
Yusuf stated that the ministry made all necessary arrangements to
continue implementation of the e-wallet fertiliser allocation this year
but for one of the impediments which was the non-payment of outstanding
arrears to agro dealers who supply the commodity.
“The non-payment of the outstanding arrears was the main cause that has
not allowed the implementation of the programme this year, but efforts
are being made by the ministry to offset the outstanding arrears,” he
said.
He recalled that the e-wallet allocation system in which farmers use
GSM to redeem fertiliser had experienced some problems such as lack of
GSM by some farmers, and the problem of network especially in rural
areas, hence the introduction of electronic identification cards for
farmers to operate like the ATM.
“Under the new system, cards will be issued to farmers with national
identification numbers. It is a smart card just like the ATM cards
whereby at any given time farmers can access inputs without problem of
network, they can go into banks and make transactions using Point of
Sale (POS) machines, they can access loans, and so forth.”
Yusuf described NAPI as consolidated success recorded under the
e-wallet system that could be implemented in future, saying registration
under NAPI is soon to commence.
He called on farmers to get ready for registration under the new
programme that could be partnering with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the
National Identity Management Commission and state governments for
farmers’ registration.
Yusuf also revealed that about 700, 000 farmers registered and
benefitted from the e-wallet system of fertiliser allocation in Bauchi
State in the last two years and implored farmers to ensure that they got
registered under the new NAPI programme.
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