By Awyetu Asabe Hope
The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer of the National Cooperative Financing Agency of Nigeria, Emmanuel Atama, has said efforts are underway to ensure that the proposed $500 million loan from the World Bank reaches genuine farmers, rather than being diverted by political actors.
Speaking during an interview on Wednesday, Atama said the intervention, which targets about one million farmers, is designed to address the shortcomings of previous agricultural financing schemes.
He noted that earlier programmes often failed due to poor access to information and political interference, which prevented funds from getting to intended beneficiaries.
“This is going to be different,” Atama said.
“We now have a minister who is passionate about cooperatives and is working to remove bottlenecks that previously hindered effective implementation.
According to him, consultations with the World Bank highlighted flaws in past initiatives such as the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, with assurances that such challenges would be addressed in the new scheme.
Atama explained that the agency has begun sensitising farmers across the country, encouraging them to participate through cooperative societies to improve transparency and coordination.
He added that the loan would largely be disbursed in the form of agricultural inputs rather than cash, to ensure proper utilisation.
“Even where cash is involved, it will be limited to about 10 to 15 per cent,” he said. “Most of the support will come as inputs to prevent misuse.
The agency also plans to adopt a cluster farming model, where farmers operate within coordinated groups.
Under this system, services such as land clearing would be centrally managed, with costs deducted directly from beneficiaries’ accounts.
The initiative is part of broader efforts to boost agricultural productivity and strengthen food security in Nigeria.
