The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending, NIRSAL, has disbursed N500 million loan to 4,630 farmers in Nasarawa State from 2017 to date.
Noel Dilli, Head of Project Monitoring and Remediation Office in Nasarawa State office made the disclosure at stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday in Lafia.
He said that the farmers were given loans to assist them in the production of different farm produce, to harvest and process the product for value addition.
Mr Dilli explained that 3,000 farmers got the loan in 2017/2018, 500 got in 2018/2019, while in 2020, 1, 130 farmers got the loan respectively.
He said that nothing happened in 2019 as a result of coronavirus pandemic that ravaged the entire globe which Nigeria was also affected.
Mr Dilli regretted that despite the laudable efforts to assist farmers to boost production, more than 80 per cent of the beneficiaries in the state were yet to repay their loans.
“Lack of repayment of the loans has brought a setback to the programme thereby affecting chances of more farmers to benefit from the facility.
“So, we have set machinery in motion to recover the loans that were supposed to be paid back within six months,” he added.
He appealed to farmers to always repay whatever loan they collected for the overall development of the country.
On her part, Onerno Obaseki, Assistant Manager, Agricultural Value Chain-Production and Integration Services, AVC-PIS, of NIRSAL PLC, commended stakeholders for their participation and useful suggestions at the meeting.
Mr Obaseki urged farmers to embrace the NIRSAL’s approach to farming as a business to move from peasant to sustainable agribusiness.
She assured farmers that if they embrace the approach of farming, it would help in ensuring food security in the country.
Responding on behalf of the beneficiaries, Musa Mohammed representing Rice Millers Association of Nigeria, commended NIRSAL for their intervention in the agricultural sector.
He added that the intervention had improved productivity in both farming and processing of harvested produce, while appealing for more investment in the sector to enable the country to become self-sufficient in food production.
The meeting had in attendance farmers from the 13 Local Government Areas of the state, processors and the media among others.
NAN
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