Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says sustainable agriculture has a key role to play in eliminating global poverty and creating wealth for 1.2 billion poor people globally.
The Vice President said this at the third Nigeria Inclusive Finance Conference 2017, with the theme: “Incremental Financing Options for Agribusiness in Africa: Solutions to Worldwide security” at the weekend in Abuja.
The Vice President also hailed the Association of Non-Bank Microfinance Institutions of Nigeria (ANMFIN) for its support to agropreneurs in Nigeria, and for organising the conference, saying its assistance to farmers was coming at a time the Federal Government was speeding up diversification of the economy.
Represented by Olukayode Pitan, managing director, Bank of Industry (BoI), the Vice President said, “The efforts of the association in enhancing the funding opportunities for agropreneurs within the agricultural value chain in Nigeria, shows an awareness of both the challenges as well as an appreciation of the sector’s importance in enhancing an inclusive economic development in the country.” According to World Bank statistics, there are 1.2 billion extremely poor people in the world, many of whom are found in global regions of Africa and Asia.
Osinbajo pointed out that, “In Nigeria, the estimate of people living below the poverty line is currently put at 67 per cent. Most of whom reside in the rural area, and largely practice subsistence farming. These alarming statistics have not gone unnoticed by the national government, and development agencies on how to renew the fight against poverty.
”The elimination of poverty globally will not be possible, except through sustainable agricultural programmes. It is more effective in raising income for the poor.
“In Nigeria today, agriculture contributes up to 25 per cent to the GDP and contributes about 30 per cent to job creation. Its importance to national growth and development is even noticed more in the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, as one of the key priority areas that would spur economic growth.” In her earlier remark, Adeshola Ogunleye, president of AMFIN, said, “Having operated for about seven years resulting in the affiliation of over 4,000 MFIs to the AMFIN’s network serving over 4.5 million clientele, ANMFIN is ready to take the quantum leap in establishing a funding project that will service the network and the microfinance institution sector in general.”
She said, “The fund entitled Farmer to Finance Mutual Fund is founded on the concept of financial engineering and impact investing in which about 500 to 1,000 AMFIN members will be required to pay in a 10% -15% sum of their expected loan of five to ten million nairas to the fund, while the fund will be leveraged with a bank, and impact investors, government agencies and development finance Institutions will be marketed to investors in the fund.”
Also, Dan Ugbama, chairman of the board of trustees of AMFIN, said, “The conference seeks to achieve the creation of wider opportunities for microfinance institutions to engage with concerned stakeholders in finding ways of providing a broader platform for the rural poor towards engaging in new ways to accelerate economic activities in Nigeria.” The ANMFIN members are self-help groups, trade unions, CBOs, financial cooperatives and non-governmental organisations as micro-entrepreneurs in remote communities in Nigeria providing microloans to farmers, traders and artisans on daily basis.
