Farmers who applied for the Agricultural loan under the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrower programme have been told not to expect to be given cash, instead they will be given farming implements to assist them in food production.
Speaking at a meeting in Kaduna to sensitise farmers on the CBN Anchor borrower programme for this year wet season, Aminu Mohammed from Kaduna State office of the CBN said experts whould supervise every farm to ensure better yields.
“For Nigeria to come out of insecurity is for us to be self sufficient in food production. One of the objectives of this programme is to make people rich and eradicate poverty. You will be given farm inputs to go to the farm. You will be given bags of fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides to apply to the crops”.
“Nobody is going to use your salary to pay this loan. You pay the loan from your produce after sales. And you make money from the remaining ones. However, when you default loan payment, your salary account will be deducted from the Unity bank.
“We have been doing this Anchor borrowing since 2016. But this is the first time we are doing directly with NLC. We want to stop importation of food. It is not only maize and rice that can be cultivated. We can do tomato because Nigeria has good soils. You have to listen to experts so that you can harvest much,” he explained.
Aminu however lamented that, one of CBN’s dilemma was that some farmers are not applying all the bags of fertilizer supplied to them, hence appealled to beneficiaries to apply all the facilities given to them.
In his remarks, the Kaduna State Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Suleiman Magaji encouraged participants not to rely on their salaries but start something, no matter how small so that they can grow bigger.
He said, “You must not be as rich as Dangote before you can do business. This loan is enough for farming and you have enough time to pay back the loan. You pay after harvest. You can see the crowd. They are from zone one, two and three. We are going to engage Kaduna Agricultural development programme at the local government areas. The rainy season is here. By the first week of June you should start planting”.
Also, while advising farmers and prospective ones, the NLC State Secretary, Christiana John-Bawa said civil servants should go into farming like poultry, fishing and crops production.
She cautioned against subjecting businesses to family members buying on credit, saying nothing runs down business like selling on credit.
Also while giving the overview of the programme, a Consultant to CBN sensitisation on Anchor borrower programme, Mr. Kekere Solomon said, “52,000 cups of maize stems can be harvested from one hectare of land which can produce 40 bags of maize from the one hectares of the land.
He explained that, “A bag of maize is N17000 now, but in few months it may go to N24000. So from 20 bags sale, you can pay back the loan of N320,000 granted you by the bank.
“CBN will provide facilities for the farming. Eg herbicides, insecticides. There are already buyers for your produce. You can now plant your maize in May and June. Workers in Kaduna must grab this opportunity and show to the world that they can do it.”
Insurance
Interestingly, it was gathered that there was insurance cover for the farming activities because Agric business is one of the most risky businesses.
An insurance expert at the event said if peradventure, farmer suffered drought, poor rainfall, locust attack on crops, insects destroying crops, the insurance company has to come in to evaluate the loss and tell the bank.
The expert added that, “the bank will therefore reduce the actual amount a farmer is supposed to pay back because of the natural loss the farmer incurred which was not his fault”.
There was testimony of a man simply called Bala on how he made it in life from a humble background amidst mockery by friends.
Bala said, “When I was in government college in Kaduna, my father challenged me to learn how to drive motor. My father taught me how to drive tanker. I got my driving licence in 1982. My school mates were making mockery of me that I have turned myself to a motor boy. Today I am one of the top officials of NUPENG. Today I have two houses.
“I am married with 18 children. Some of them are graduates, others are undergraduates. Nobody should underrate little business. Start something small to grow bigger. My wife has grinding engine. She makes profits every day. And sometimes I borrow from her and pay back later”.
Confidence Okwuchi
