Edo: 35,000 farmers register for CBN borrower programme

A total of 35,000 farmers have registered for the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Anchor Borrower Programme in Edo State.

The Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Bashir Kadiri, disclosed this recently in Benin while speaking with journalists.

He said there were about 2,000 cooperative societies in the state and that each of them was expected to cultivate a minimum of one hectare and a maximum of five hectares.

He further explained that with the current Anchor Borrower Programme farmers in the state would embark on cultivation of cassava, maize and raising of livestock, while rice production would be added in the nearest future.

Kadiri noted that the verification exercise had already been carried out in two local government areas and that the exercise was yet to be done in others.

“The verification exercise was to authenticate the claims of the cooperators; whether they are genuine farmers, possess the actual hectare of farmland, among others. The programme was mainly for smallholder farmers and CBN would disburse money directly to the farmers,” he said.

He pointed out that the duty of the state government was to verify the claims of the cooperatives and send its final assessment to CBN who would then deal directly with the farmers upon submission of their Bank Verification Number (BVN).

“The programme would open the window for agricultural development, as well as boost the cultivation of maize, cassava and raising of livestock in the state,” he said.