“We Got Nothing” – Farmers Tackle CBN Over N29bn Loan, Send Message To Buhari

Nigerian farmers have appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to instruct the Central Bank of Nigeria to resume the disbursement of financial support to farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Programme.

According to them, the CBN has stopped that the apex bank has stopped supporting farmers under the ABP scheme since 2021.

The farmers explained that support is too important to ignore if the country is to avert an impending threat to national food security.

The farmers spoke through the Presidents of 68 agricultural commodities associations, which include All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Maize Farmers Association of Nigeria, Cotton Farmers Association of Nigeria, among others.

Farmers speak The Federal Government in 2015 activated the ABP scheme under the CBN, which was geared towards providing farmers with the critical funds and inputs needed to increase local production, but loan defaults have been a problem.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, Sadiq Daware, the Forum of Agricultural Commodity Associations’ Chairman, assured the CBN that though the recent floods dealt severely with farmers and affected the repayment of loans, the monies would be repaid.

He, however, added that the halt in financial support to farmers might erode the gains so far attained by farmers in the agricultural sector. Daware said: “Since 2015 the bank has been providing support to farmers. In fact, a lot of money was disbursed and farmers to some extent have utilised those funds. You are all witnesses of the return of pyramids across the country.

“You have witnessed the ones in Kebbi, Niger, Gombe and some southern parts of the country. Recently, the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria also built a pyramid here in Abuja. “The Maize Association of Nigeria did the same in Kaduna.

This is to show you that farmers have answered the President’s call to go back to farms and produce massively.” Vanguard reports Daware stressed that government should take immediate and urgent steps to salvage the situation before it snowballed into a crisis of devastating proportions He added:

“But now, the CBN has stopped providing funds to support farmers and this was since 2021 till this year, 2022. For close to one and half years, farmers under our associations have not received support from the CBN.

“Therefore, we are calling on the President to again ask them (CBN) to continue supporting farmers in Nigeria to scale up capacity and produce what Nigerians can eat.

“Mr. President should direct the CBN to urgently provide funds to farmers for the 2022/2023 dry season farming. This should be treated as top priority and acted upon in earnest.”

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