RIFAN targets 50,000 Adamawa farmers for this year’s farming season

The national treasurer of Rice Farmers association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Alhaji Sadiq Daware said RIFAN in Adamawa state, through the anchors borrowers program introduced by President Muhammadu Buhari, is targeting about 50,000 farmers in the state for this year’s farming activities.

According to him the program is deliberately designed to Support small farmers in Nigeria by way of advancing a loan packet to them in a single digit interest so that they can help in production and adding value to what they are producing.

Sadiq revealed that central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is the organisation that anchors the financing of the program and as the critical stakeholders they have been given the mandate to identify farmers and give them mandatory training on the kind of products to produce.

He further said that the program is not only on Rice production,but each State were to identify crops that are having comparative advantage and Adamawa state have choosing Rice and Maize to massively produce by its farmer’s in this year farming season.

”Knowing how difficult it is to normally access commodities aim at empower local farmers, RIFAN approach CBN to allow allow farmers to get direct access with the association and a model known as RIFAN CBN anchors borrowers was designed to interface between Farmers and anchors.”

Sadiq Said He iterated that small, medium and Large farmers are identify under the RIFAN model to have a loan packet between 1-5 hectares without paying any amount to have the loan ,while 6-20 hectares and 20-50 hectares scale famers will pay 30% of their equity to respectively have the loan.

However Sadiq opined that the RIFAN model is a cashless model that aimed at discouraging farmers that their desire is to have money at hand without much to commodities input be deny the loan.

”RIFAN model will provide certified seeds, fertilizers, agro chemicals sprayers, water pumps and all what’s take to produce one hectare at the Cost of 2,300,” he added.

He appreciates the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing this laudable program and Governor Muhammadu Umaru Jibrilla Bindow of Adamawa state for Supporting the program in the state.

By Tom Garba, Yola

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