140,000 farmers got N26.2bn loan from us in 3 years —BOA

A total sum of N26.2 billion has been disbursed to 140,000 farmers through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in the last three years, according to the Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture (BOA), Kabir Adamu.

He said the funds were disbursed to support farmers and boost agriculture in the country.

He said the bank had introduced indirect lending through input suppliers to replace direct loans disbursement in a bid to ensure thatfarmers had easy access to loans.

On loans recovery, he said the bank had to seek the intervention of the courts to recover N5 billion from thefarmers.

He stated that the bank restructured loans taken by some farmers who faced natural disaster challenges from non-performing to performing loans, adding that N9.3 billion micro credits were disbursed in 2017 alone at 9 per cent interest rate.

He noted that the bank had introduced Information Communication Technology packages to capture data on farms sizes, farmers’ information and quantity of inputs in a bid to tackle fraud in the system.

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He revealed that Project Monitoring Teams made up of representatives of the bank, CBN, farmers’ groups and inputs suppliers had been set up to ensure the timely delivery of quality inputs to farmers, stressing that any defaulting firm would face the law.

Adamu, called for partnerships with the media to ensure a proper utilisation and recovery of agricultural loans aimed at improving the lives of Nigerians.

For the 2018 dry season farming, he said that the bank was targetting 500,000 farmers and had set aside N25 billion for Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) and another N10 billion for National Egg Production Scheme.

Adamu. added that 10,000farmers were targeted under the Accelerated Agricultural Development Scheme (AADS), to enhance food security, employment generation and promote the wellbeing of Nigerians.