The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, an agency of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, has disbursed N2.63 billion to 24,732 rice farmers for the 2017 planting season.
Aliyu Abdulhameed, managing director/chief executive officer, NIRSAL, said this at the Nigeria Agribusiness Group Conference, Thursday, while speaking on the topic, “Harnessing agricultural potential for food security, youth development, nutrition and wealth creation.”
He explained that the disbursement of the funds to the rice farmers was in continuation of NIRSAL’s mandate to facilitate the flow of finance to the agric sector.
The intervention, according to him, would help to achieve the objectives of the Economy Recovery Growth Plan of the federal government to diversify the economy, attain self-sufficiency in food production and entrench inclusive economic growth.
He added that the disbursement was part of a N17 billion nationwide support programme for rice growers being implemented under the CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
Abdulhameed stated that NIRSAL would deploy strategies to ensure farmers did not only get access to finance but also get the needed support to achieve the best yields from their efforts to enable them pay back their loans and still make good profit.