Sylvanus Viashima, Jalingo
Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) has partnered the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Unity Bank to provide loans to support dry season rice farming in Taraba State.
Chairman of the association, Mallam Tanko Andami, during the distribution of the farm inputs in Jalingo at the weekend said about 16,000 rice farmers are to benefit from the project.
He said the deal ensured the provision of farm inputs worth over N200,000 each for the 16,000 farmers. He said the loan was secured from Unity Bank and guaranteed by the CBN under its Anchor Borrower Scheme.
He said, apart from the inputs, each beneficiary of the scheme would receive N60,000 from Unity Bank to take care of cost of labour for the cultivation of their rice farms.
Andami said each of the beneficiary is expected to repay the loan once they start harvesting produce from their farms.
He said before the disbursement of the loan, a consultant, Fair Global, was engaged to map out members across local government areas of the state.
Andami said only those captured by the consultant were given the loan.
According to him, it would be the second time that the association would support rice farmers in the state with loans to boost production.
He said with the introduction of the Anchor Borrower scheme farmers no longer take loans from middlemen who change higher interest rates than that obtainable by the apex bank scheme.
He expressed the satisfaction with the response from beneficiaries in repaying loans received last year.
