Kano – Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) in Kano State on Tuesday advised farmers to register with the association to enable them benefit from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) anchor borrower programme.
The Chairman of the association in the state, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, made the call while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano.
Aliyu said the advice was necessary as the Federal Government was committed to ensuring success of the programme.
“Those who have not been able to register for the wet season farming, can do so for the dry season farming because the federal government is serious about the programme.”
According to him, the programme is not restricted to wet season as farmers stood the chance of producing rice twice in a year.
The chairman said the advice was necessary because of the processes involved before one could be registered for the programme.
“Farmers should not be discouraged with the processes as they are part of the prerequisites for securing the loan,” he said.
NAN reports that of the 100,000 farmers initially targeted for the programme, only 35,000 farmers were able to scale through CBN guidelines for the registration.
However, a cross section of the farmers who spoke to NAN, urged the federal government to review the guidelines to make it earlier for farmers to participate in the programme.
One of the farmers, Abubakar Lawan, said the guidelines should be revisited because majority of farmers had no bank account.
“Reviewing some of the guidelines for the registration will make it easier for many farmers to partake in the programme,’’ he said.
Another farmer, Malam Bala Musa, who commended the federal government for the initiative, said reviewing the registration process would give farmers the opportunity to participate in the programme.
“We believe the intention of government is to assist farmers to enhance their Socio-economic status and boost production of the commodity,” Musa said. (NAN)
