Dr Paul Ebikabowei John is the Director General of Bayelsa State Commodities and Export Development Agency. In this interview with Preye Okah, he explains what the agency is doing to stop food shortage and inflation.
What does Bayelsa State commodities and export development agency do?
Our responsibility is to promote export business in Bayelsa State, export products for sale, export products overseas, encourage internal food production and encourage international export production so that we can produce a lot and send them overseas.
What are some of these export products?
We have identified seventeen export produce that we can use to make a lot of returns to the state government and some of these export produce we have them in tonnage. They are palm oil, plantain, we have cassava and cassava produce which is being processed into Garri and other things. We also identified crops like bush mango which is Ogbono and we also have Crayfish, Shrimps and Snail. We have Water Yam. We have Water Snail, Bamboo Raffia Palm, Potatoes, Banana and others.
How do you intend to preserve them so that they can get out of the state without going bad?
We have a warehouse where we will preserve those export crops but we don’t keep them in our warehouse beyond 48 hours. Some are perishable goods so those ones that are perishable, we sell them off. We sell them back to the public from our plaza at government controlled price.
Can people get anything from there now?
For now, the ones we had, have been cleared, we are waiting for new things to come.
How do you assemble all those produce, because I know almost every part of Bayelsa is riverine?
We assemble them through our local government field officers. We have field officers in all the eight local government areas. These field officers interact with local farmers and there are people we call vendors. These vendors relate with our field officers on a daily basis. So if they have anything, they bring it to them and we pay at a subsidized rate.
There is this saying that Bayelsa State is easily prone to inflation. Don’t you think what you are doing can increase inflation and cause food shortage because you get all these things and dump in a particular warehouse and they are sold out in bulk?
No. It will even reduce the cost of food items in the state. Now we have them in bulk and at a cheaper price for the people to buy. We collect from farmers and we disburse to the general public and at the same time we disburse to exporters who want them in tonnage and those we cannot sell out in tonnage we sell at a retail price. So the essence of this programme is to reduce cost of food items in the state. We are indirectly controlling prices of commodities in the market. Most people will prefer to come to the plaza to buy rather than going to Swali market by so doing, we are forcing the general market to reduce their prize because when you have your goods and people are not buying and everybody is going to one particular pool to collect, that will generate this awareness and then people will begin to say instead of us to leave our food items unsold, they will sell it at the particular price that is affordable to the people. Indirectly, we are using that system to push down prices of goods and services in the society.
What is the agency’s relationship with the state and federal governments?
We are working in collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council and at the same time we are working in collaboration with Nigeria Export and Import Bank where we are expecting some of our export grants to be given to the state. The federal government budgeted about 30 billion naira for exporters this year. Now the highest state with the export growth will be able to access this money through the Central Bank of Nigeria and then the money will be brought to the state for exporters to benefit and it will energize the exporters.
How can people be registered?
We have registered about thirty eight exporters of Bayelsa origin who are farmers who are now waiting for federal government incentives to energize them to go back to their bases and continue to produce more for public consumption. This is a way of energizing them to produce more and the agency works as a middle man between the exporters and the federal government. The money comes to the agency and we disburse to the farmers and the farmers will report back to us with their produce and through that produce we give back to the society through export.
Have you got any funding from the state government?
We have not got any funding from the state government. The state government wants to give six million naira which is our take off grant. We are still expecting that. As soon as the state government makes that available to us, Bayelsa will never experience increase in the prices of food items anymore.
What plans have you put in place to make sure that you preserve these items?
Like in the processing, we have discussed with the Nigerian Export and Import Bank. We have written to them and we have told them to assist us with fund to get processing machines like machines to process garri, palm kernel, palm oil. So by the time we are able to get this funding, we will be able to increase our export drive in the state.
Many crops were lost last year because of flood. How are you planning for this year?
If we had been properly funded and we had been in operation before the flooding, we will have gone a long way to help the people. Because most of the farm produce that we will have in the warehouse would have served as a succor to a lot of people who had nothing to eat during the crisis. We would have been giving out garri, plantain, and so many food items from there. So it’s a way of preserving for the rainy days because no one knows when we can run into crisis. Now we are asking for fund. If government can fund us now, we will meet up those problems experienced during the flood season. So, if the flooding is coming this year and if we are given those monies that we are expecting from the state government, we will be able to at least stock the warehouse with new food items so by the time we run into that problem, supply will be easy for us.
How do you intend to get all the items for supply or are you going to buy from outside the state?
We are not buying from outside the state. We are encouraging our farmers. We have enough land for farm but our people have decided to run away from the land for oil money, government appointment and all the rest. That is why most of those things are not coming up but, if we can move them back to farm through this process, as long as the farmers are given incentives and they are receiving money from us, they can go back to farm immediately. So that will energize them to go into farming even the youth can go into farming with the hope that people can come and collect and pay. Before you know it, we will have enough food inside and outside the ware house. All these things will work if the state government finances us. And at the same time, we have product monitoring unit which monitors every food product that moves out of Bayelsa state. Once it is at the trucking level you are going to pay N2000 at the tollgate to the agency and if you are not registered, you are not entitled to move the products out of the state.
Won’t all these cause food shortage in the state?
It will not. As we are right now, the consumption level of farm produce in Bayelsa is about 2.5%. That is to tell you that we are not buying. They are just moving them out. There are people who go straight to the farmers, pick and take them out and then bring them back to the state at an exorbitant price. That is why you are having this inflation. So if we are able to stop them, they can’t come in and pick. We control all the process and then we supply back to the state at a government own price. People now buy at a lower price rather than inflation price.
When do you intend to surmount all the challenges that are now staring you in the face?
Two years from now, Bayelsa will know their food ratio. Bayelsans will no longer be seen as a state that is having high cost of living. Export produce will increase and the state government will make so much money to plough back into the farming sector. Once this happens, people will be coming from outside to buy. And we will have a market space for export produce.
How do you come about the 2.5% Ratio?
2.5% is the consumption ration. We have calculated the ration. We are looking at the import and export ratio in the state. The state consumes more of food from outside than food produced from within. You now discover that the circulation of what we have in the market comes from outside and that increases the price of goods and food in the state and it is hiked from transportation, road levies and those charges are being put on the items.
