The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) has offered support to 2,872 farmers in the South-South region of Nigeria while empowering 475 female farmers from Uyo for cassava production during the 2020 wet season.
Anne Ihugba, NIRSAL’s head of corporate communications, disclosed that recipients from the region would benefit from the cultivation of 68,771 hectares of land nationwide and that the women were selected based on NIRSAL’s Agro Geo-Cooperative (AGC) model.
Ihugba emphasized that the women farmers received training on good agronomic practices and were given various inputs for their use, adding that members of the Uyo Women AGC will obtain funds through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Anchor Borrowers’ Program.
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NIRSAL was established by the Federal government to maximize the potential of agriculture, increasing food security, job creation and economic growth through the creation of partnerships between agriculture and finance.
It stimulates agricultural lending to transform the economy, deliver inclusive growth and impact the lives of farmers for better productivity.
Helen Akula, head of NIRSAL’s Akwa Ibom Project Monitoring, Reporting and Remediation Office, spoke on behalf of NIRSAL’s CEO, Aliyu Abdulhameed, noting that NIRSAL’s support for the Uyo Women AGC would not only empower its 475 farmers but would create jobs for many families in the community.
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Akula reiterated that the scheme was designed to promote commercial farming and pave the way for better living conditions for farmers as well as food security, job creation and economic growth.
“The input you have received is not a grant but a loan that must be paid back for other farmers to also benefit from,.” the NIRSAL representative prompted.
