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| Chief Audu Ogbeh |
The Federal Government has expressed displeasure on the high interest rates charged on bank loans to farmers.
According to the government, most banks rarely lend to farmers. For those who do, there are always high interest rates, which it says has affected the agricultural sector in a negative dimension.
This was made known by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh while speaking at the national workshop on developing a rapid action plan for quality seed production and presentation of the alliance for a seed industry in West Africa.
Ogbeh lamented that no farmer could survive the high interest rates demanded by Nigerian banks.
“You can’t borrow in this country to fund agriculture yet, they want us to do magic. Most of the banks insist that the lowest they can give is 25 per cent interest on their loans and no farmer can survive with that rate,” the minister stated.
He observed that most banks were not speaking the same language with the farmers when it comes to funding agriculture.
Ogbeh, however, stated that the government was working hard to address the development, and stressed that it was high time the nation fed its citizens and reduced the importation of food to the barest minimum.
On the demand for seeds, the minister said the estimated amount in 2016 was about 350,000 metric tonnes for rice, maize and sorghum, with an approximate seed industry value of N112bn or $564m.
He said, “The 2015 annual production was about 122,000 MT valued at N43bn or $216m. This, effectively translates into a supply-demand gap of about 231,000 MT valued at N81bn or $409m.
“Presently, the gap is filled through massive use of low quality seeds, such as farmers saved seed and supplies from unscrupulous seed merchants. In this regard, Nigeria needs a seed industry revolution.”
Meanwhile, the International Fund for Agricultural Development has announced that about 9.2 million out of the 14.2 million targeted Nigerians have benefitted from its development projects across the county in the last 30 years.
The agency said that over $317.6m had been spent in financing 10 projects in Nigeria.
The Director, West and Central Africa Division, IFAD, Ides de Willebois, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at the presentations of findings by the Independent Office of Evaluation of the agency.
Willebois said the projects had improved the livelihoods of the rural poor and strengthened their food production systems.
He said that the evaluation was carried out to assess the results and performance of the IFAD-government partnership in reducing rural poverty, and to generate findings and recommendations for the future partnership between the agency and Nigeria.
According to the government, most banks rarely lend to farmers. For those who do, there are always high interest rates, which it says has affected the agricultural sector in a negative dimension.
This was made known by Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh while speaking at the national workshop on developing a rapid action plan for quality seed production and presentation of the alliance for a seed industry in West Africa.
Ogbeh lamented that no farmer could survive the high interest rates demanded by Nigerian banks.
“You can’t borrow in this country to fund agriculture yet, they want us to do magic. Most of the banks insist that the lowest they can give is 25 per cent interest on their loans and no farmer can survive with that rate,” the minister stated.
He observed that most banks were not speaking the same language with the farmers when it comes to funding agriculture.
Ogbeh, however, stated that the government was working hard to address the development, and stressed that it was high time the nation fed its citizens and reduced the importation of food to the barest minimum.
On the demand for seeds, the minister said the estimated amount in 2016 was about 350,000 metric tonnes for rice, maize and sorghum, with an approximate seed industry value of N112bn or $564m.
He said, “The 2015 annual production was about 122,000 MT valued at N43bn or $216m. This, effectively translates into a supply-demand gap of about 231,000 MT valued at N81bn or $409m.
“Presently, the gap is filled through massive use of low quality seeds, such as farmers saved seed and supplies from unscrupulous seed merchants. In this regard, Nigeria needs a seed industry revolution.”
Meanwhile, the International Fund for Agricultural Development has announced that about 9.2 million out of the 14.2 million targeted Nigerians have benefitted from its development projects across the county in the last 30 years.
The agency said that over $317.6m had been spent in financing 10 projects in Nigeria.
The Director, West and Central Africa Division, IFAD, Ides de Willebois, disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday at the presentations of findings by the Independent Office of Evaluation of the agency.
Willebois said the projects had improved the livelihoods of the rural poor and strengthened their food production systems.
He said that the evaluation was carried out to assess the results and performance of the IFAD-government partnership in reducing rural poverty, and to generate findings and recommendations for the future partnership between the agency and Nigeria.
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