Buhari: 200,000 farmers get N43.9bn loan

President Muhammadu Buhari said about 200,000 farmers have so far benefitted from the N43.9 billion Federal Government agricultural Anchor Borrowers Programme.

In a nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 57th independence anniversary yesterday, the president described the implementation of the programme as a success.

The President said the amount was released to benefiting farmers through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and 13 other participating institutions.

He said the programme involved 233,000 hectares of farmland, cultivating rice, wheat, maize, cotton, soyabeans, poultry, cassava and groundnuts, in addition to fish farming.

The programme was inaugurated by the president in November 2015.

Buhari said the initiatives was undertaken in close collaboration with the states and commended the efforts of the governors of Kebbi, Lagos, Ebonyi and Jigawa states for their support to rice and fertilizer revolutions.

“Equally commendable are contributions of the governors of Ondo, Edo, Delta, Imo, Cross River, Benue, Ogun, Kaduna and Plateau states for their support for the presidential initiative for palm oil, rubber, cashew, cassava, potatoes and others crops.

“With the abundance of rainfall last year and this year, agriculture has enjoyed divine intervention,” President Buhari said.