CBN, Farmers To Share Losses Equally Under Agric Lending Programme

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Tuesday said it would be sharing the losses of farmers that took loans under its Anchor Borrowers Programme on equal basis should such losses occur within a farming season.

The CBN Director, Development Finance, Mr. Yusuf Yila, disclosed this during the 2020 dry season stakeholders’ forum in Abuja.

The stakeholders meeting involved anchor/processors, commodity associations and participating financial institutions.

The forum was aimed at getting feedbacks from all stakeholders on the challenges they face in driving dry season farming.

The forum is also aimed at exposing the CBN 2020 dry season programme to farmers.

Yila said the decision to share risks equally with farmers was in line with the apex bank’s commitment to drive food sufficiency in Nigeria.

For this year’s dry season farming, he said the apex bank’s intervention would be focussed on rice, maize and tomatoes.

He said the CBN wants to improve yields of these crops as the failure of dry season farming could spell catastrophe on food security.

Already the prices of these commodities have increased tremendously in the markets.

Yila also revealed that the CBN is willing to finance the growing of wheat in Nigeria.

To achieve this, he called on farmers who are willing to go into wheat farming to get viable fields, adding that the CBN would finance such initiative

“We are also doing pilot for wheat and the CBN willl fund it,” he said.

He added that the CBN is willing to support the Nigerian farmers to produce the six million metric tonnes of wheat which Nigeria currently imports annually.

The CBN Director also urged banks to improve financing to farmers, adding that sanctions will apply if banks fail to finance agriculture.