Unity Bank Plc will continue to partner rice farmers in the country to reduce the importation of the staple food, Tomi Somefun, the chief executive officer of the bank has said. The commercial bank’ s CEO gave the assurance on Tuesday during the unveiling of rice pyramids by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Somefun-led bank is a major partner in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Anchor Borrowers programme where farmers Associations are granted soft loan to produce grains such as rice and maize. The programme is part of the import substitution policy of the Buhari administration to make the country self sufficient in food production.
Over 190 000 smallholder farmers across 35 states under the CBN Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) have so far received loans from the bank according to checks by the magazine.
Speaking on Tuesday the managing director of the bank said the lender will not relent in its continous support for farmers under the aegis of RIFAN to achieve zero reliance on rice importation.
To achieve this, Somefun said Unity ” Bank will continue to support the farmers and ensure that more smallholder farmers get the requisite financial support to boost rice production.
“Our strategic partnership with RIFAN started in 2018 when we financed about 273,000 smallholder farmers. This was the largest single-ticket transaction in that year. This financing cut across 33 states of the Federation including the FCT,” Somefun added.
“In 2019, the Bank increased the tally by financing another 146,810 smallholder farmers for the wet and dry season farming. This funding cut across 35 States of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Additional funding was granted to finance additional 221,450 smallholder farmers of the Association across the 32 states of the Federation including FCT for the wet season, and additional 300,000 hectares was financed in sixteen states for the 2020 dry season cropping season”.
In 2018, the bank’s strategic partnership with RIFAN led to the financing of about 273,000 smallholder farmers to a tune of about N37 billion which was the largest single ticket transaction that year, as the financing cut across 33 states of the federation, including the FCT.
Also In 2019, the bank increased the tally by financing another 146,810 smallholder farmers to a tune of N42 billion for the wet and dry seasons’ farming. This funding cut across 35 states of the federation, including the FCT.
Unity Bank Plc will continue to partner rice farmers in the country to reduce the importation of the staple food, Tomi Somefun, the chief executive officer of the bank has said. The commercial bank’ s CEO gave the assurance on Tuesday during the unveiling of rice pyramids by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
The Somefun-led bank is a major partner in the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN Anchor Borrowers programme where farmers Associations are granted soft loan to produce grains such as rice and maize. The programme is part of the import substitution policy of the Buhari administration to make the country self sufficient in food production.
Over 190 000 smallholder farmers across 35 states under the CBN Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP) have so far received loans from the bank according to checks by the magazine.
Speaking on Tuesday the managing director of the bank said the lender will not relent in its continous support for farmers under the aegis of RIFAN to achieve zero reliance on rice importation.
Tomi Somefun, chief executive officer, Unity Bank Plc, says the bank will continue to partner with the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) to reduce rice importation and create more jobs.
To achieve this, Somefun said Unity ” Bank will continue to support the farmers and ensure that more smallholder farmers get the requisite financial support to boost rice production.
“Our strategic partnership with RIFAN started in 2018 when we financed about 273,000 smallholder farmers. This was the largest single-ticket transaction in that year. This financing cut across 33 states of the Federation including the FCT,” Somefun added.
“In 2019, the Bank increased the tally by financing another 146,810 smallholder farmers for the wet and dry season farming. This funding cut across 35 States of the Federation including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Additional funding was granted to finance additional 221,450 smallholder farmers of the Association across the 32 states of the Federation including FCT for the wet season, and additional 300,000 hectares was financed in sixteen states for the 2020 dry season cropping season”.
In 2018, the bank’s strategic partnership with RIFAN led to the financing of about 273,000 smallholder farmers to a tune of about N37 billion which was the largest single ticket transaction that year, as the financing cut across 33 states of the federation, including the FCT.
Also In 2019, the bank increased the tally by financing another 146,810 smallholder farmers to a tune of N42 billion for the wet and dry seasons’ farming. This funding cut across 35 states of the federation, including the FCT.
Meanwhile, Godwin Emefiele, the CBN Governor said yesterday that the government bank has empowered at least 4,489,786 farmers through thd Anchor Borrowers intervention programme.
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