CBN Announces N432bn Fund To Support Rice Farmers, Others

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the sum of N432 billion to support farmers of nine key commodities for the 2020 planting season.

The Director of Development Finance at the CBN, Mr Yusuf Yila, announced this on Thursday at a meeting organised by the apex bank for farmers under its Anchor Borrowers’ Programme in Abuja.

He listed the commodities to include rice, maize, poultry, cassava, tomatoes, fish, cotton, cocoa, and dairy.
According to Yila, the intervention is expected to produce over 8.3 million metric tonnes of the targeted commodities.

This comes days after the Federal Government approved N13 billion intervention fund for pest control in 12 states.

The states, which were described as “frontline”, included Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Yobe and Borno.

The fund, according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, was approved to ensure uninterrupted agricultural activities during the 2020 farming season and control transboundary pests.

It added that the approval was aimed at minimising the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, as well as guarantee both nutritional and national food security.