lost some farmers to insurgency attacks nationwide whilst some could not access their farmers for several months. yet, they kept the faith. they did not give up. they persevered. they did not abandon our fight for food self - sufficiency. today's event, therefore, is a celebration of their doggedness and an appreciation of their commitment to food security. 5. the anchor borrowers'programme has catalyzed the rural economy and has built a sustainable framework for financing small holder farmers in nigeria. the programme has developed an ecosystem among all nodes of the agricultural value chain and these linkages can be better optimized through synergy among all stakeholders. as at the end of december 2021, we have financed 4, 489, 786 farmers that cultivated 5, 300, 411 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches hectares across 21 commodities through 23 participating financial institutions in the 36 states of the federation and fct. 6. we are delighted that these efforts have yielded fruits in not just increasing the availability of rice, but also in moderating prices, reducing imports and increasing job creation in the country. for example, thailand alone exported 1. 3 million metric tons of rice to nigeria in 2014. the abp was launched in 2015 to curtail these imports, and since then, we have seen incremental reductions in rice imports from thailand. by 2016, rice imports from thailand had fallen to only 58, 000 metric tons. as of the end of 2021, they only exported 2, 160 metric tons to nigeria, thereby saving us foreign exchange and helping preserve jobs in nigeria. 7. beyond increasing our national output from about 5. 4 million metric tons in 2015 to over 9 million metric tons in 2021, we have also significantly improved the productivity per hectare of the smallholder farmer from about 2. 4 metric tons per ha in 2015 to between about 5 metric tons per ha in 2021. these expansions have not only made nigeria the largest rice producer in africa, but has also unlocked enormous private sector investment in the rice value chain as the number of integrated rice mills grew astronomically from 6 in 2015 to over 50 in 2021 with many more in various stages of completion. today, nigeria's milled rice matches the foreign rice in quality. your excellency, as part of this event, you will be inspecting some of the numerous nigeria milled rice in the exhibition stands. 8. taking a cue from our success in the rice value chain, we commenced

, the composition of treasury coupon securities available for purchase is reasonably predictable. the current monthly pace of treasury purchases is within the range seen during the federal reserve ’ s previous asset purchase programs, whether measured in par terms or when adjusted for duration risk. current soma holdings are less than 20 percent of coupon treasuries outstanding, and our purchases make up only about 25 percent of monthly gross for example, in january, the desk decreased its purchases of 30 - year fixed - rate 3. 5 percent coupon agency mbs relative to projected gross issuance as a result of concerns about the near - term availability of this coupon for settlement and increased its purchases of 3 percent coupon agency mbs. the desk could also purchase from the stock of securities that trade as specialized pools, although such purchases may involve different efficacy and cost considerations. for example, the percentage of securities issued outside of the tba market has recently been higher due to programs like the home affordable refinance program ( harp ). mbs backed by loans refinanced through harp have lower prepayment risk than other mbs, because borrowers can only use the program once, and consequently are not typically issued in the tba market. of course, this maturity distribution could change as part of the committee ’ s ongoing assessment of the economic outlook and the efficacy and costs of asset purchases. bis central bankers ’ speeches issuance of coupon securities. 18 we have a larger presence in the market for longer - term securities, with soma holdings making up about 35 percent of securities with four or more years to maturity. the committee carefully assesses the total amount, pace and composition of its purchases in part because it is aware of the potential for large - scale asset purchases to contribute to financial market dysfunction. some on the committee have listed financial market disruptions among the potential risks that they will consider as they evaluate the current purchase program. there is a finite supply of treasury securities and agency mbs available to purchase, in terms of both total outstanding amount and how much is available for purchase in the market at any given time. if the federal reserve were to become too dominant a buyer or holder, it could reduce the tradable supply of these securities and discourage trading among market participants, leading to diminished liquidity and price discovery. a significant deterioration in liquidity could lead investors to demand a premium for transacting in these markets, ultimately raising borrowing costs and undermining the program ’ s policy goal