By Shuaib Sadiq
Kaduna – Farmers in Kaduna State on Monday appealed to the state government to give them more time to pay back N4 billion loan the collected under the Anchor Borrower’s Programme.
The farmers made the appeal in Kaduna under the aegis of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).
The state Chairman of AFAN, Malam Nuhu Aminu, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the government should not use a mobile court to recover the loan as it threatened.
He advised to the government to liaise with the farmers’ cooperative groups and various associations to recover the amount in value of farm produce.
“Let the state government handle the loan recovery carefully so that it does not discourage farmers from taking loans.
“When the issue of the loan came up in the 2015/ 2016 farming season, we suggested to the state government that the programme should be implemented gradually as against the fire brigade approach adopted, Aminu said.
NAN reports that the state government on Feb. 14, announced that it would establish a mobile court to enforce repayment of the N4 billion loan released to farmers.
The amount was released to more than 11,000 farmers in the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the Federal Government Anchor Borrower’s Programme.
The state government had said that only 22 per cent of the N4 billion was recovered from the farmers at the end of the 2016 farming season.
It said that the failure of the farmers to repay the loan with their farm produce informed its decision to establish a mobile court to recover the amount or its value in produce.
NAN reports that the N4 billion was released to farmers engaged in maize, soybeans and wheat production in the state.
The government had appointed Olam and Flour Mills as off-takers of the produce in the programme.