Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
April 5, 2018
The Agriculture and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria (AAEUN) has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to include land clearing in its Anchor Borrowers Scheme.
The Chairman of AAEUN in Kwara, Mr David Ehindero, who made the call in Ilorin on Thursday, said farmland clearing constitutes about 50 percent of expenses incurred by farmers.
Ehindero who commended the apex bank for initiating the scheme, said many farmers in the state are beneficiaries.
“This scheme is one major initiative put in place by the Federal Government which has direct impact on farmers in the country.
“There has been visible improvement and people have developed more interest in farming since the inception of the scheme.
“The Development Funds Office (DFO) of the CBN is doing well, but timely release of funds is very important because agriculture is about season.
“We also discovered that the scheme does not cover land clearing, it only covers cultivation. We want the DFO to consider capturing farmland clearing which covers 50 per cent of farming expenses,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Mr Tajudeen Ajibola, commended the CBN for the initiative.
“About 800 farmers’ cooperative societies are undergoing documentation for the programme.
“We are sure that the loans will be released soon, but we don’t know the exact number of beneficiaries for now,” he said.
The Chairman of Kwara Youths Integrated Farmers, Mr Mumini Onimago, expressed gratitude to the government for the initiative and called for supply of more agricultural inputs to enhance productivity.
Onimago also appealed to government at all levels to lend support in the area of storage facilities for the success of the Off Takers Scheme.
