By Nneka Nwogwugwu & Abdulrahman Abdullahi
National Vice President of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) and current National President of Potatoes Farmers Association of Nigeria (POFAN), Chief Daniel Okafor has urged the government to establish accurate data for farmers who obtain agricultural loans.
Okafor, speaking in an interview with NatureNews lamented that the government and some banks are giving agricultural loans to people claiming to be farmers without proper data and documentation.
He said that government by-passes farmer organisations and give out loans to self-acclaimed farmers who end up spending the loans for purposes not intended.
“The loans they are giving are good but they are not giving them to the right people. They are supposed to be monitored by farmer organizations.
“They don’t have records and data of the farmers they are giving the loans to. Getting data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is not enough because there is a need to monitor the loans given out.
“The way they are giving the loan is not proper and acceptable by farmers and this shows failure on the part of the government,” Okafor said.
The potato national president lamented that though the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Anchor Borrowers Programme and the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) have given out loans to rice, cassava and other farmers, Potato Farmers Association has not received any loans from the government.
He said, “As a potato farmer, we have only received grants from the Federal Government and have not received loans as an organization.
“We decided not to take loans until we have a modality and presently we have developed a modality. Our 10-year rolling plan will be unveiled in February.”
Speaking on the challenges emanating from these loans, Okafor said some farmers do not pay the loans.
“I’m former general secretary of Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA) and a board member.
“During that time, cassava farmers collected loans but did not pay them.
“For example, Flour Mills gave loans of about N500 million for cassava bread Some farmers have not paid that money back.
“Even rice farmers in Kebbi have not paid their own. They have not reached 30 percent of their payment to CBN through Anchor Borrowers Programme,” he said.
He linked nonpayment of these loans to poor records and monitoring of the farmers.
According to him, “There’s no template and records for these farmers. For example, for the past five years, my organization has not taken any loan and this was because we didn’t have the modality.
“But as we unveil our 10-year rolling plan, we will get loans from the government this year and we will monitor and evaluate the farmers.
“I have data of about 280 farmers that we collected during the Covid-19 lockdown.”
When asked if the farmers eventually deliver food outcomes after collecting these loans, he said, “I don’t know what other farmers used the loan for because I know that farmers delayed some projects because nobody is monitoring them.
“But my organization has already set up committee where will monitor the farmers after collecting the loans.”
Okafor noted that government’s inability to receive payment on loans to rice farmers in Kebbi State has caused it to come up with new conditions while giving out loans.
He advised, “They should work with farmer organisations and should not give loans to people who don’t own a farm.
“Government should also make them include a traditional ruler and their religious heads while they are applying for the loans as a way to also monitor them.
“The CBN or banks that give agric loans should set up a committee that will monitor and evaluate loans given to farmers.”