By Dipo Olowookere
Farmers in Kwara State who require funding support to increase their production will now have the avenue to get such courtesy the state government.
This is because the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s administration has secure an agricultural loan of N1 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) majorly for farmers in the state.
In order to access the facility, farmers in the state will have to open an account with selected microfinance banks.
But those who will majorly benefit the funding support are those involved in the cultivation of soya beans, rice, maize and others.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture and Rural Water Support Services, Mr Anu Ibiwoye, noted that the loan would only be released to the farmers through microfinance banks in Kwara State.
“I wish to confirm that the 1bn agriculture loan just came in about a week ago. We are starting with our estate farms across the state and we also have plans for individual and farmer groups that will benefit from the loan.
“We have a structure on ground to hasten the process through automation, because we have software that can track each farmer’s account,” the Governor’s aide stated.
However, he warned that farmers with the Biometric Verification Numbers (BVN) will not receive the agric loan.
“We cannot disburse the loan without the BVN, so we are going to screen out farmers without it. Basically in the template, we are proposing N129,000 per hectare for soya beans, N203,000 for maize and N212,000 for rice.
“Over 29, 000 farmers have registered, while one thousand farmers will be captured in the first phase,” Mr Ibiwoye emphasised.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Modupe Gbadeyanka