Agriculture
FIFTY-five thousand maize farmers in the country are to benefit from the loan scheme initiated by the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and the Maize Association of Nigeria (MAAN).
The President of MAAN, Alhaji Bello Abubakar-Funtua, who spoke at the launch of the scheme in Zaria, Kaduna State, on Thursday, said that the programme was aimed at boosting food production in the country.
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the launch came up after a two-day sensitisation workshop organised for maize farmers on “Good Agronomic Practices for 2018 Wet Season’’ in Zaria.
Abubakar-Funtua said that the programme would involve maize farmers drawn from all the six geo-political zones of the country.
“This is a national programme; we are covering 19 states — five states from the North-West, five states from the North-Central, four from the North-East, three from the South-West and two states from the South-South.
“We are targeting 55,000 farmers and we are going to cover 83,000 hectares of maize farms across the country; it is, therefore, highly motivating and encouraging.
“The inputs to be distributed are not for free; the scheme entails a soft loan with only nine per cent interest, instead of the usual 25 per cent interest on commercial banks’ loans, and it has a recovery period of six months.
“This implies that the subsidy is on the loan’s interest and not on the inputs; the programme is geared toward assisting farmers to enhance their productivity,’’ he said.
Abubakar-Funtua said that if a farmer was cultivating only one hectare of farmland, the loan would enable him or her to cultivate additional one or two hectares.
He said that the programme was aimed at boosting the morale of smallholder farmers by empowering them to increase their production capacity and scale up their agricultural activities.
“The beneficiaries are not going to repay the loan with cash but with what they have produced; even the loan is coming in kind and not in cash; so, there is no cash component.
“It concerns only farm inputs and the services that will be given to the farmers; after harvests, the beneficiary farmers will pay back the loan with the maize they have produced and we are expecting at least three tonnes (30 bags) per hectare.
“These bags are enough for a farmer to repay the loan and the balance is what is referred to the farmers’ gains or profit,’’ he added.
The MAAN president, however, urged the beneficiaries to be sincere with regard to their loan repayment expectations, saying that loan defaulters would frustrate the good intention of the Federal Government.
Also speaking, the Managing Director of BOA, Alhaji Kabiru Mohammed-Adamu, said that the programme would enhance food production in Nigeria.
“BOA is ready to partner with MAAN or any other crop association to boost food production and productivity, which is the major aim of this programme,’’ he said.
Mohammed-Adamu said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in collaboration with BOA, had decided to engage in financing specialised crops production, in line with the comparative advantages of specific areas across the country.
“For example, maize is the dominant crop in the North; it is grown heavily in Kaduna State and some other parts of the country.
“Therefore, this collaboration is to sensitise those farmers that are into maize production so that we can introduce good inputs, which will boost their productivity, to them.
“We also introduced to them markets for their produce when it is harvested.
“So, it is an opportunity for BOA and CBN to interface with the farmers at the grassroots level, at farm locations, so that we can understand their challenges and be able to serve them better,’’ he said.
A representative of CBN, Hajiaya Murja Wambai, pledged that the apex bank would continue to support farmers to enable Nigeria to achieve food security, reduce unemployment and curtail poverty.
She urged the beneficiaries to utilise the loan judiciously so as to achieve the desired goals, adding that they should also endeavour to promptly pay back the loan in line with the loan conditions.
Wambai lauded the efforts of MAAN for its commitment to fulfilling all the preconditions for the securing the loan.
– Jun. 28, 2018 @ 16:25 GMT |
Tags: 000 maize farmers to benefit from BOA/MAAN loan scheme – Official 55
