The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) on Wednesday said that 33,974 rice farmers would benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) Anchors Borrowers loan in Zamfara State.
The Chairman of the association Alhaji Isyaku Ajiya-Anka, explained that to-be-beneficiary farmers were identified during the biometric data capturing exercise conducted in the state.
According to him, while the total loan package is N219, 329.50 per hectare, each farmer will receive one pumping machine, 30 kilogrammes of rice seedlings and six bags of fertiliser.
Ajiya-Anka explained that as part of the package, the farmers would also get herbicides, pesticides, farming services which include ploughing, harrowing, planting and harvesting.
He clarified further that while the farmers would not get the cash directly, for those who do not require all the services, the cost of services not required would be used to offset part of the loan.
In his comments, the state Coordinator of the CBN Anchor Borrowers Scheme, Aliyu Hafiz, said that every farmer had a card which contains all his details and the required quantities of inputs he should be given.
Hafiz confirmed that the distribution of the inputs had begun in seven local government areas of the state namely, Anka, Kaura Namoda, Gusau, Bungudu, Gummi, Bakura, and Talata Mafara.
In the last two and a half years of the implementation of the Scheme, over N55 billion had been disbursed by the apex bank to more than 250,000 farmers.
The Scheme, which was launched in Kebbi State on November 17, 2015 by President Muhammadu Buhari, was designed to create economic linkages between farmers and processors, not only to ensure increased agricultural outputs but also to close the gap between production and consumption.
