By Nneka Nwogwugwu
USAID and Feed the Future, the United States government’s global food security initiative, is expanding efforts to directly address and mitigate the impacts of the global food, fuel, and fertilizer shortages in Nigeria.
The USAID funded Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, implemented by Mercy Corps, in collaboration with the International Fertilizer Development Center (IFDC) and Save the Children International (SCI), has announced that 262 of its participants have received a Sterling Bank Agric loan to boost their productivity and increase yields.
Earlier the bank and the Rural Resilience Activity launched a disbursement ceremony to celebrate the significant contribution of N82.4 million in loans. Recipients included women and youth farmers and agribusiness owners in the Northeast states of Gombe and Yobe.
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Many farmers belong to cooperatives supported by the Motherhen Development Foundation in Gombe State and in Yobe states and the Sustainable Household Income and Enhanced Livelihoods initiative.
“Sterling Bank is proud to lead this critical effort at rebuilding the economic fortunes of Northeast Nigeria by providing appropriate and demand driven financial services that align with the aspirations of women and young people in the region and across Nigeria who are often excluded from financial services,” said Olushola Obikanye, Group Head, Agric Finance & Solid Minerals Group of Sterling Bank
“This partnership will significantly improve the living standards of farmers and other vulnerable people by boosting food sufficiency and poverty reduction as a prerequisite for de-escalation of insecurity and conflict in the North-East.”
The loans are in response to rising food insecurity and inflation, which are attributed to challenges that predate the Russian invasion of Ukraine such as the economic impacts of Covid-19 as well as other macro-economic conditions like misguided trade, agricultural, and monetary policies.
