President Buhari Launches N20bn CBN Loan for Rice Farmers
President Muhammadu Buhari, will on Tuesday, November 17 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) focusing on the creation of 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, November 14, 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, Godwin Emefiele who met with rice producers and millers recently, stated 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.
He said: “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
