No fewer than 250,000 farmers from 34 states have accesses over N55 billion loan from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) since its inception two years ago.
ABP was launched on November 17, 2015, by President Muhammadu Buhari in Kebbi State, and designed to create economic linkages between farmers and processors for increased agricultural output.
Acting-Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN. Mr. Isaac Okorafor, gave the figures on Wednesday during a media briefing on the implementation of the programme
He explained that because of the need to ensure self-sufficiency in rice production for Nigeria to become a net exporter of the product, rice farmers alone got N44 billion or 80 percent of the loans.
“It also goes to underscore the effectiveness and efficiency that the CBN has put into this program.
“We have about 250,000 who have also cultivated close to 300,000 hectares of farmlands and you can see the impact on the street,” Okorafor said.
President of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Aminu Gorongo, who was present at the briefing, told journalists that ABP has been repackaged such that it is now private-sector driven.
According to him, the ABP partnership between the CBN and RIFAN will ensure that 200,000 farmers are given fresh funds to plant rice in the dry farming season in addition to another 500,000 farmers that will be inculcated in the wet farming season.
“We have started a collaboration with the CBN on this private sector is driven anchor borrowers program.
“We have launched this program and we want to put this country on the right part especially in the area of agri-business,” Gorongo disclosed.
