President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) will on Tuesday officially launch N20billion ‘Anchor Borrowers’ Programme’ (ABP) which the Central Bank of Nigeria has set aside for rice farmers across the country.
The launch, is an initiative of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) aimed at creating an Ecosystem to link out-growers (Small Holder Farmers) to local processors, will take place in Kebbi State.
According to a statement from the CBN on Saturday, it has set aside the sum of N20 billion from the N220 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) for farmers at a single-digit interest rate of 9.0 per cent to address the challenges of poor funding.
The Governor of the apex bank, Mr Godwin Emefiele said that the developmental initiatives programme has been designed to create economic linkages between farmers and processors.It will ensure increased agricultural output of rice paddy, and also importantly close the gap between production and consumption by ramping up utilisation capacity of Nigeria’s integrated rice mills.
