Some farmers in Plateau State have been rewarded by the Central Bank of Nigeria for repaying promptly the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund facility they collected.
The reward was through the 2020 Best Farmers’ Award.
Dabu Haji (fish farmer) emerged the overall winner, while Samson Gariwani (poultry farmer) emerged the first runner-up.
Rev. Iliya Mapal was the second runner-up, while Rev. Iliya Mapal (potato farmer) emerged the fourth position winner.
CBN Controller, Jos Branch, Yusuf Duniya, said the Best Farmers of the Year Award under ACGSF was introduced in the 1980s to encourage farmers that borrow under the scheme and repay the loans as and when due.
Daniya said the awards were in recognition of selected farmers that borrowed under the scheme, who adopted best agronomic practices to achieve good yield, kept good records and repaid their loans as expected.
He said that ACGSF awards had stopped for a time but was resuscitated in 2020.
He said: “Following the ACGSF board resolution to resuscitate the ACGSF Farmers Award Programme, approval was granted to re-commence it in 2020 at both the state and national levels.
“The award encourages competition and also motivates borrowers to repay their loans on or before the due date.
“This year’s Best Farmers of the Year Award are in two categories: The State Farmers of the Year for loans of N1 million and below and the National Farmers of the Year for loans above N1 million.”
Helen Temtsen, the Head of Development Finance, CBN Jos, said the event was to honour three farmers out of the 2,187 farmers that borrowed under the scheme in 2020.
Temtsen said: “The winner will be presented with a plague, a certificate and a cash award of N100,000, while the first and second runners-up will be presented with a certificate and a cash award of N75,000 and N50,000 respectively.
“The sole objective of today’s ceremony is not just to celebrate these winners, but to encourage the general public to get involved in the programme.
“We urge other banks, especially microfinance banks to key in and provide opportunities to our rural farmers to benefit from the scheme.”
Dr. Hosea Finangwai, the Plateau State Commissioner for Agriculture, in a goodwill message, lauded the CBN for its efforts to motivate farmers to go into agriculture business.
Finangwai said Governor Simon Lalong was passionate about agriculture and tasked him (commissioner) to ensure that agriculture thrives in the state.
Haji, the winner of the 2020 awards, a fish farmer from Bassa Local Government Area, commended the bank for giving them the loans to invest in their farms.