CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme: Rice farmers cry foul

The Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kano State chapter has accused the State Product Monitoring Team of sabotaging the rice segment of the Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers programme in the state.
The Product Monitoring Team was set up by the Kano State Government to collaborate with the farmers and the CBN for effective implementation of the programme in the state.
The state RIFAN Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, made the accusation in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Kano on Friday.
Aliyu said the team, which is under the leadership of the Managing Director of the State Agricultural and Rural Development Authority, Prof. Mahmud Daneji, has not been forthcoming in ensuring that the farmers benefitted from the loan this irrigation season.
Aliyu said: “The PMT is not committed to the success of the Anchor Borrower programme in Kano State.
“We are the most backward on Anchor Borrower programme among all the states that are participating in the programme.”
According to him, the Central Bank of Nigeria had approved the loan for the farmers since the 2016 rainy season and wondered why they should not be given the facility.
Aliyu alleged that the team, which was supposed to have convened a stakeholder meeting, but instead the chairman travelled out of the country and could not be seen for a long time.
He said: “The PMT chairman has succeeded in ensuring that the programme failed in the state since none of our members benefitted from the loan this irrigation season.
“Their reason is that our members did not repay the loan they collected for the wet season but they have forgotten that the loan was given in September 2016, when the rainy season was almost over.”
Aliyu noted that the inability of the rice farmers to access the loan for the dry season farming, had adversely affected rice production in the state and the country at large.
When contacted, the PMT Chairman and Managing Director of KNARDA, Prof. Mahmud Daneji, described the allegations as untrue and a deliberate attempt to tarnish the image of members of the team.
According to Daneji, the reason why the loan was not given to the farmers for the
dry season farming was because of their failure to pay the loan for the wet season programme.
Daneji said: “Out of 5,540 farmers that collected the loan during the wet season, only four have so far repaid the loan.
“This is the reason why the loan was not given for the dry season farming.”
NAN.