Michael Olugbode in Maiduguri
The Central Bank of
Nigeria (CBN) has put in place a task force in all local governments in
the
Northeast to recover N36 billion advanced to farmers.
The loan facilities
were advanced to the farmers through the Northeast Commodity Association
(NECAS) as part of the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Federal
Government.
Inaugurating the
committee for the 27 local governments in Borno State in Maiduguri
yesterday, the National Chairman of NECAS, Sadiq Daware, recalled that
the association made it clear to the benefiting farmers in the state
that the inputs distributed to them were loans.
Daware said NECAS was
able to secure N36 billion loan from CBN on six different commodities
comprising rice, maize , sorghum, soya beans, sesame and cotton for
farmers in the Northeast.
He noted that Gombe
State’s farmers got the highest portion of the loan because they farmed
the six commodities while 3,722 farmers in Borno State got the least of
the loan because they participated only in the cultivation of rice.
He hoped that farmers
in Borno State who could take advantage of cultivating variety of crops
would be enrolled into the programme in the next farming season.
Daware said: “With
relative peace in Borno State, we are optimistic that at the end of the
programme, we will be able to make substantive recovery. We expect to
recover at least 80 percent of the loan to the farmers.”
He said the programme was well structured that no farmer would incur any loss even in the event of natural disaster.
He added: “They are
about starting harvesting now and that is why we have invited all
stakeholders, including the extension agents, with a view to inaugurate
committee that can go and follow these farmers so that they can repay
the loans.”
“Reayment of the loan
will definitely allow for the continuation of the programme. If farmers
receive loans without paying back, then definitely, the programme
cannot be sustained.”
Speaking at the
inauguration, the Development Finance Officer of CBN, Maiduguri Branch,
Mahmud Nyako, said repayment of the loan varied from commodity to
commodity and from hectare to hectare.
Nyako said: “Some have
half hectare, some have one hectare and there is maximum of two
hectares for rice farming. So each farmer gets N212,000 per
hectare including labour related activities.
“The expectation was
that farmers at the end of harvest could repay back 50 percent of the
loan and at the next farming cycle use the input and repay the remaining
50 percent of the loan.”
Nyako stated that
defaulters who did not suffer any natural cause would be prosecuted. But
farmers that experienced natural disaster should report the incident to
enable them to benefit from the window created by CBN for such loss.
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