Anchor Borrowers: Kebbi farmers repay 47% of loans – CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says farmers who accessed fund under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) have commenced repaying their loans.

Media reports have suggested that farmers who benefited from the loans had been defaulting in payments, a position the CBN has denied.

Details of the loan disbursement and repayment obtained from the CBN indicate that as at March 31, 2017 a total sum of N33.34 billion had been released through 12 participating finance institutions to 146,557 farmers across 21 states cultivating over 180,018 hectares of land.

The data shows that out of the total amount of N33.34 billion released to date, about N15.137 billion disbursed to 73,941 Kebbi State farmers have fallen due for repayment with N7.119 billion representing 47 per cent, repaid and returned to CBN.

According to the CBN, the balance of N18.203 billion of the 12 month-tenured loans released to farmers in the other 20 states for two cropping (wet and dry) seasons have not fallen due for repayment.

However, farmers in other benefiting states have also commenced the repayment to the tune of N1.238 billion which is already with the CBN.

Efforts are currently being made by the participating state governments to ensure that all outstanding loans are repaid by the farmers as soon as they are due before commencement of the next dry season cultivation.

Six commodities -rice, wheat, maize, soya beans, cotton and fish - have also been cultivated by the farmers with appreciable yields achieved with Kebbi State alone accounting for about two million metric tons of rice out of an estimated four million metric tons so far realized under the programme nationwide.