Farmers Send Important Message to Buhari As CBN Halts Anchor Borrowers Programme’s Funding
- The Central bank of Nigeria is reported to have stopped funding farmers through its Anchor Borrowers Programme(ABP)
- The loan scheme, which was designed to help Nigeria become food sufficient, has been met with a high rate of defaults
- Farmers are now begging president Buhari to speak with the CBN governor to continue with the programme
Nigerian farmers have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to instruct the Central Bank of Nigeria to resume the disbursement of financial support to farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Programme.
According to them, the CBN has stopped that the apex bank has stopped supporting farmers under the ABP scheme since 2021.
The farmers explained that support is too important to ignore if the country is to avert an impending threat to national food security, the Punch reports.
Source: Facebook
The farmers spoke through the Presidents of 68 agricultural commodities associations, which include All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Maize Farmers Association of Nigeria, Cotton Farmers Association of Nigeria, among others.
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Farmers speak
The Federal Government in 2015 activated the ABP scheme under the CBN, which was geared towards providing farmers with the critical funds and inputs needed to increase local production, but loan defaults have been a problem.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Sadiq Daware, the Forum of Agricultural Commodity Associations’ Chairman, assured the CBN that though the recent floods dealt severely with farmers and affected the repayment of loans, the monies would be repaid.
He, however, added that the halt in financial support to farmers might erode the gains so far attained by farmers in the agricultural sector.
Daware said:
“Since 2015 the bank has been providing support to farmers. In fact, a lot of money was disbursed and farmers to some extent have utilised those funds. You are all witnesses of the return of pyramids across the country.
“You have witnessed the ones in Kebbi, Niger, Gombe and some southern parts of the country. Recently, the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria also built a pyramid here in Abuja.
“The Maize Association of Nigeria did the same in Kaduna. This is to show you that farmers have answered the President’s call to go back to farms and produce massively.”
Vanguard reports Daware stressed that government should take immediate and urgent steps to salvage the situation before it snowballed into a crisis of devastating proportions
He added:
“But now, the CBN has stopped providing funds to support farmers and this was since 2021 till this year, 2022. For close to one and half years, farmers under our associations have not received support from the CBN.
“Therefore, we are calling on the President to again ask them (CBN) to continue supporting farmers in Nigeria to scale up capacity and produce what Nigerians can eat.
“Mr. President should direct the CBN to urgently provide funds to farmers for the 2022/2023 dry season farming. This should be treated as top priority and acted upon in earnest.”
CBN begs farmers to repay loans
Meanwhile, the CBN has sent a message to farmers asking them to repay their loans.
Sadeq Ajayi from the Office of the CBN Development Finance revealed that most farmers in Oyo State, who benefited from the program, have not repaid their loans.
Meanwhile, CBN recently announced that between January and February 2022, it disbursed over N29.67 billion under the ABP scheme said
Legit.ng weekly price check: Traders, buyers complain bitterly as bag of rice sells for N50,000 in Bayelsa
Flood has taken over major states in Nigeria, rendering some residents homeless and farmers, helpless.
As Nigerians continue to lament the severe impact of flooding across the country, traders and buyers in Bayelsa state have decried the hike in the cost price of major goods in the state.
This is as a bag of rice now sells for N50,000 in Bayelsa state and a cup now sells for N200.
While residents of the state are struggling daily to get over the impact of the flood, traders in the state lament bitterly over the hike in the cost price of goods which has led to the reduction in buyers' purchasing power.
Source: Legit.ng
