Nigeria’s Central Bank has been encouraged to lower loan rates in order to increase food production by the Agriculture Development Farmers Association of Oyo State.
According to The PUNCH, the association’s chairman, Salihu Imam, stated that a large decrease in financing costs would spur agricultural growth and improve the country’s food security.
“Bringing down lending rates to two percent is not only a wish, but a need for the development of our agriculture industry,” Imam stated. Our country’s farmers are its backbone, and accessible loans are the engine that keeps us moving forward.
Over the years, the Federal Government has launched numerous programs to assist farmers, such as the Agricultural Credit Support Scheme, which gives farmers access to loans at eight per cent.
Through the Anchor Borrowers Program, the CBN also gave farmers single-digit payouts of N629 billion in 2022.
“Offering affordable loans is an investment in our collective future, ensuring economic stability and food security,” stated Imam.
He demanded that Nigeria’s disproportionately high cost of government be reduced and the money saved to be put towards investments in agriculture.
He suggested that all local governments buy tractors and rent them to farmers at discounted prices.
He said, “Alternatively, the government could loan tractors to farmers’ cooperative associations, with repayment spread out over a minimum of five years.”
Oyo State intends to plant two million seeds/seedlings over the course of the next three seasons, a move that Imam used as evidence of the potential for coffee production.
He claimed that the state was working with important organizations such as the Cocoa Research Institute, Nigeria Export Promotion Council, and the West African Speciality Coffee Association to achieve the target.
