The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has distributed a total of N1.01 trillion via the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP), to over 4.2 million smallholder farmers, farming 21 commodities across the country as of May 2022.
This is according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria. The Bank added that between April and May 2022, it released the sum of N57.91 billion under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to 185,972 new projects.
The apex bank’s credit is in line with the CBN’s mandate to give the real sector easy access to credit in order to ensure economic stability having suffered from a recession during the covid-19 pandemic.
The bank said, “Between April and May 2022, the Bank released the sum of N57.91 billion under the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) to 185,972 new projects for the cultivation of rice, wheat, and maize, bringing the cumulative disbursement under the Programme to N1.01 trillion, disbursed to over 4.2 million smallholder farmers cultivating 21 commodities across the country.”
The CBN also loaned a total of N21.23 billion under the Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS) for 10 state-led and three private sector-led projects.
It said, “The Bank further disbursed the sum of N1.50 billion, under the Accelerated Agriculture Development Scheme (AADS), to one (1) new youth-led project, piloted and funded through the Government of Ondo State for the acquisition of assets for oil-palm cultivation and the establishment of poultry farms. This brings the total disbursement under the Scheme to N21.23 billion for 10 state-led and three (3) private sector-led projects.”
Under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme, the Bank issued N21.73 billion to support seven (7) large-scale agricultural projects (CACS).
The Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) evolved from consultations with stakeholders comprising the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, State Governments, agro-processors, commodity associations, financial institutions and smallholder farmers to ramp up agricultural production, boost non-oil exports and diversify the revenue base of Nigeria.
The core of the Programme is to provide loans to smallholder farmers to boost agricultural production, create jobs, and reduce food import bills for the conservation of the foreign reserves.
The broad objective of the ABP is to create economic linkages between smallholder farmers and processors to increase agricultural output and ensure food prices.
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