ABUJA-President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) will on Tuesday officially
launch N20billion ‘Anchor Borrowers’ Programme’ (ABP) which the Central
Bank of Nigeria has set aside for rice farmers across the country.
The programme which is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria
(CBN) aimed at creating an Ecosystem to link out-growers (Small Holder
Farmers) to local processors will take place in Kebbi State.
Under the ABP, the CBN in a statement Saturday said it has set aside
the sum of N20 billion from the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) for farmers at a single-digit
interest rate of 9.0 per cent to address the challenges of poor funding.
The Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele who met with rice
producers and millers recently, said that the developmental initiatives
programme has been designed to create economic linkages between farmers
and processors to not only ensure increased agricultural output of rice
paddy, but also importantly close the gap between production and
consumption by ramping up utilisation capacity of Nigeria’s integrated
rice mills.
Emefiele said If these noble objectives can be achieved, it is not
unlikely that the country will require even more integrated milling
capacity to meet the huge local production of rice paddy.
According to him, “The essence of the meeting was not to apportion
blames to any party on the current prevailing situation but to identify
ways for all stakeholders to work together in a creative synergy to mop
up any excess unsold paddy and going forward key into the CBN’s ‘ABP.
Emefiele who expressed optimism that the new initiative would work,
urged millers and investors in the rice value chain who have been joined
by representatives of the state governments of some key rice producing
states to collaborate with the CBN to ensure that in the next few years
Nigeria as a great country will no longer be one of the world’s highest
importer of rice but a net exporter of the commodity.
He, however, said that the country can never fully attain its true
potentials by simply importing everything into the country, stressing
that such trend has resulted in the low operating capacities of the
manufacturing industries and cannot be allowed to continue.
He explained that policy document of the programme also indicated
that the anchor borrowers’ programme will build capacity of banks in
agricultural lending to farmers and entrepreneurs in the value chain,
reduce commodity importation. It will also reduce the level of poverty
among small holder farmers and create jobs while assisting rural
small-holder farmers to grow from subsistence to commercial production
levels.
He identified lack of mechanisation, low quality inputs and poor
funding as major hindrances to rice production in Nigeria but stressed
that the programme was aimed at solving the problem of finance.
On the conditions for accessing the loan, the CBN boss said the
farmers will be thoroughly trained on the global best agronomical
practices.
“The farmers must be a member of a validated cooperative before
applying for the loan. We will find out how much it will take to produce
one hectare of rice to determine the amount that will be given to each
individual. The idea is to enhance efficient management of the
resources” he said.
Speaking further, he said Nigeria is a major rice producer with over
20 key rice producing states in the country with most cultivating under
two seasons: wet and dry seasons.
“Rice is one crop in which the country has comparative advantage to
easily become self-sufficient given the huge potentials that exists.
Today, rice is no longer considered a luxury food to millions of
Nigerians but has become a cereal that constitutes a major source of
calories for both the rural and urban populations of the country.”
“Indeed figures from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development indicate that in the period, 2012 to 2014 paddy rice
production in the country grew from 4.5 million metric tones in 2012, to
7.89 million metric tones in 2013, peaking at 10.7 million MT in 2014.”
The Governor said that the capacity of the country to achieve even
better production figures cannot be overemphasized, considering that
only about 40 per cent of the available potential land area for rice
production is currently being cultivated.
He stated that the production figures above show that in recent
history, the country had never witnessed such rapid growth of paddy rice
production.
Meanwhile, some dynamic features of this new agricultural initiative
include the Identification and selection of Small Holder Farmers,
grouping of out-growers into viable cooperatives/clusters, registration
of the cooperatives, determination of the economics of selection and
engagement of banks/ insurance companies, capacity Building of
out-growers, banks’ staff and extension agents.
Other salient features of the initiative also include opening of bank
accounts by cooperatives/farmers, loan application and disbursement,
commencement of agronomic practices and distribution of agro-inputs at
recommended periods.
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