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By Wasilat Ahmad
Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Mr. Godwin Emefiele, said the CBN is targeting to fund farmers to cultivate at least one million hectares of farmland in the 2020 dry season farming in the Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP).
Emefiele said the bank is targeting at least 5 million metric tonnes of rice paddy in the 2020 dry season farming.
The input distribution is under the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) -CBN ABP.
Represented by the CBN Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Mr. Edward Adamu at a programme, the governor said the partnership with RIFAN under the Commodity Association Window of the ABP is a flag-ship programme to explore the potentials inherent in Agricultural Commodity Associations and position them strategically as drivers of enhanced agricultural productivity in Nigeria.
“From a modest pilot of 75,000 farmers in 26 states, the RIFAN-CBN ABP has now been fully established in all states of the federation and the FCT,” he said.
He said the 2018 wet season witnessed a geometric rise in beneficiaries, as about 275,000 farmers were empowered to cultivate 220,000 hectares.
He said, “The target hectarage for 2019 was 500,000 and we hope to achieve one million hectares by 2020 dry season.”
Emefiele said that beyond rice, the Commodity Association Window has been expanded to cover more commodities like maize, cassava, sorghum, soy bean, ginger and many more.
