Rabi Emaiku, chairperson of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Kogi state chapter has decried the devastating effect of the 2018 flood that shattered the high hopes of farmers as it affects their productivity.
The chairperson attributed it to the penchant resale of inputs by some farmers under the Anchor Borrowers Scheme inputs credit facilities.
“Farmers went to farm with high hopes of bountiful harvest but suddenly we were attacked by the flood and everything we planted was destroyed by the devastating flood and I had to cry to Abuja,” Emaiku said.
She disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Lokoja recently, saying that political farmers was also undermining the objective of the scheme at boosting rice production in the country, adding that some culprits who were enlisted and registered as farmers had also made recovery of the loans given to the association very difficult.
“They sell the inputs lower than the cost at which they were given. They resell each pumping machine given to them at the cost of N39, 000 for as low as between N10, 000 and N12, 000,” she said.
“Fertilizer given to them at N6, 950 per bag they resell for between N2,500 and N3,500. At whose loss is this? It is annoying because they will have to pay back the loans or others will not benefit,” she added.
“That is why the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Unity Bank, RIFAN and other stakeholders have resolved that a farmer will have to pay 20 per cent of the total value of the inputs approved for him before they can access it,” Emaiku lamented.
She equally disclosed that N114.3 million was recovered in 2019 as repayment for the loans and remitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from farmers who were not affected by the flood that devastated the riverine areas and swept off farm crops in the previous year.
However, she hinted that approval has been given for 9,708 rice farmers in the state to access the facilities in 2019, adding that distribution of inputs, based on payment of the 20 per cent commitment, started two weeks ago.
She said that the total package of the facilities per farmer amounts to N231, 500.
In 2017, 731 farmers benefitted from the first RIFAN project in the state during the dry season farming while in 2018, 11,706 farmers benefitted from same programme across the state, the association says.
She equally commended Governor Yahaya Bello for payment of the 2019 counterpart contribution to the Anchor Borrowers Scheme which she said made it possible for the state to be reconsidered.
VICTORIA NNAKIAIKE, LOKOJA
