agriculture

Non-interest loans for farmers and MSMEs

24 Jun 2020 By ummiyusuf

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is set to establish a policy on non-interest loans which will be integrated in its intervention programmes especially the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) for farmers, and the Targeted Credit Facility for households and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) affected by the current pandemic.

The Bank’s Director, Development Finance Department, Yila Yusuf, made these disclosures at a stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja to review the successes recorded so far under the ABP and the strategies for the 2020 agricultural wet season.

Furthermore, the intervention is expected to create about five million jobs down the agro-commodities value chains stimulate Nigeria’s speedy economic recovery.

So, how can MSMEs, households and farmers gain access to these non-interest loans when it is officially announced by the CBN?

One can begin by applying for the CBN interventions such as the ABP, Targeted Credit Facility, and others, because the the non-interest loans will be integrated with these programs.

To read more about the CBN interventions, visit nmfb.com.ng

FG TO DISTRIBUTE AGRICULTURAL INPUTS TO FARMERS

13 Jun 2020 By halimafarouk

An endeavor has been made by the Federal Government to alleviate the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on food production in Nigeria, the government started the dissemination of agricultural inputs to farmers nationwide.

According to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, the move would enhance agricultural production and avert food scarcity in 2021.

It said in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday that the inputs distributed to smallholder farmers included various varieties of seeds of rice, maize, wheat and palm seedlings.

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Sabo Nanono, inaugurated the distribution exercise in Kaduna.

He stated, “The Federal Government will continue to support smallholder farmers with relevant inputs through associations and cooperatives to ensure that the country does not experience food shortages as a result of the pandemic.

“Rice farmers through the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria will receive support worth about 270 metric tonnes and 300MT of certified seeds of FARO 66 and 300MT of foundation seeds of flood- tolerant rice varieties of FARO 66 and FARO 67.”

He added, “The ministry is also distributing 26MT of certified wheat seeds to wheat farmers, 1,350 maize production kits and 18,517Kg of Aflasafe to ensure that the maize produced is aflatoxin-free.”

Nanono said the association was expected to distribute the seeds to its members nationwide for the 2020 cropping season.

Source: https://punchng.com/fg-distributes-agricultural-inputs/

Call for Enrollment for the NIRSAL PLC Agro Geo-Cooperative Formation Process

30 Apr 2020 By ummiyusuf

The Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL PLC) is calling on all smallholder farmers, farmer leaders and aggregators to key into its Agro Geo-Cooperative model created for the purpose of sustainable farm/field structuring and governance, to enable sustainable access to finance, quality inputs and structured markets through NIRSAL’s facilitation.

The exercise aims at creating 16,000 Agro Geo-Cooperatives (ranging from 10 hectares to 20,001 hectares and above) on 4 million hectares of farmland and enrolling about 8 million farmers across Nigeria who are expected to produce about 12 million metric tonnes of Grain Product Equivalent (GPE) annually over the medium to long term.

It will also serve as a means of employment and a source of income generation for organised Agro Geo-Cooperatives during this pandemic.

To begin the enrollment process, click the link below:

https://nirsal.com/agrogeocoop/

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development inaugurates task force to avert food crisis

25 Apr 2020 By ummiyusuf

A few weeks ago, the Federal Government reduced the price of fertilizer from N5,500 to N5,000, reduced the price of fuel, increased the moratorium period on loans and also reduced the interest rate from 9% to 5%.

These measures were put in place to cushion the adverse effect of the Covid-19 pandemic and reduce some burden on Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), especially those whose businesses had to be put on hold due to the lockdown.

For the MSMEs in the Agricultural sector and value chain, activities have to carry on in order to prevent food shortages which will further add to the lingering issue of hunger and poverty in the country.

However, farmers and others involved in the Agricultural value chain currently have to deal with;

  • High cost of transportation of farm produce and other goods
  • Inadequate finance for commercial agriculture
  • Theft of farm produce on the transportation routes
  • Restrictions on movement of goods due to the lockdown and many others.

Consequently, the losses posed by the challenges are transferred to the consumers in form of high prices, affordable to some and outside the means of others.

The good news is that, the appropriate Ministries and Agencies have geared up towards tackling these challenges to ease the fears of food insecurity in the country.

Recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Muhammad Sabo Nanono inaugurated the joint technical task team on emergency response to COVID-19 with the aim of facilitating free and unhindered movement of food, livestock and agricultural inputs and farmer’s movement across the nation, during the lockdown and the 2020 farming season to avert food crisis.

Therefore, it is safe to say that losses incurred by farmers will lessen soon and the purchasing power of food, livestock and agricultural inputs for every household .

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