Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Kebbi State has explained that its members recorded 3.5 million metric tones of rice in the rainy season.
Chairman of the association, Alhaji Muhammad Sahabi Augie, who confirmed this during an interactive session with the newsmen in Birnin Kebbi, yesterday, alongside other executive of Anchor Borrowers noted that the programme had impacted the economy of the state.
“Our farmers recorded bumper harvest of 1.5 million metric tones after President Muhammadu Buhari launched the Anchored Borrower programme in Nov. 17, 2015.
“Prior to the programme, we did have 700,000 metric tons, but the first year of the programme, we got 1.5 million metric tons and since then, the output keeps on increasing. Our last harvest now was 3.5 millions metric tons which is above 150 percentage. “Owing to the success we had recorded in 2016, the nearby countries of Mali, Cameroon, Niger and Benin republics came to Kebbi State in 2016 and thereafter, to buy our paddy rice,” he said.
Branch Manager of the Bank of Agriculture(BOA), Kebbi State, Alhaji Aliyu Zurmi, said N12. 8 billion Anchor Borrowers was disbursed to RIFAN members through the bank. He maintained that the state government had nothing to do with the disbursement of the loan which the BOA disbursed to registered farmers across the 21 local government areas in the state.
“We disbursed the loan ourselves, the state government has no hand in it; it just served as guarantor for the famers,” Zurmin said.
An official of the Anchor Borrowers in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Bello Udulu, explained that N12.8 billion was what was transferred to Bank of Agriculture for disbursement as loan to the rice farmers in the state not N17 billion.