First Bank of Nigeria Plc has expressed its strong commitment to agricultural financing.

This, it says, is to play an exemplary role in the development of the nation’s agricultural and allied sectors.

As a financial supermarket the bank promises both the rural and urban farmers of financial assistance to help them grow more corps.

To this end, it has launched various agricultural schemes to suit the entire range of micro, small, medium and large agricultural businesses.

Revealing the “First Bank Farm Settlement Scheme”, the firm notes that it is a programme designed to create a community where Nigerian youths are interested in agriculture can live and work together on individual farm projects in all the state of the federation.

The scheme, it says, is a classical model of the much desired public-private sector partnership involving the bank, a state government and the central bank.

Under the arrangement, the state government provides the infrastructure, while the bank provides working capital and the young farmers contribute their skill and manpower.

Stating the objectives of the product, the bank says, it is to complement governments effort to create employment, engender national food security as well as inculcate and stimulate pride in the agriculture profession among young Nigerians.

It however says, the scheme is meant for a new generation of economic actors and employers of labour so as to contribute to rural development.

Speaking on the “Guaranteed Fund Credit (GFC), the firm states that, the product allows people to access credit facility up to N1 million as a farmer, even when such person can only provide 25 percent security cover for the borrowing.

Farmers with collateral can access as much as N10 million under this scheme, says the bank.

It also explained that GFC provides credit for various agricultural enterprises under a guarantee fund model.

It noted that it derives its essence from the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme of the central bank of Nigeria.

Accordingly, farmers will enjoy a refund of up to 40 percent of interest paid on credit facilities under an interest Draw Back Programme sponsored by the Federal government and CBN.

In a bid to take agricultural credit campaign of the firm to schools, it equally unveils the “First Bank Agricultural credit to schools (FACTS)”.

The products provide working capital loans to secondary schools and tertiary institutions with agricultural and agro-allied projects.

According to the bank, the scheme will facilitate the commercialisation of schools farm projects/businesses in secondary and tertiary institutions that have agricultural science programmes pilot farms, bakeries or related projects.

Although, serving primarily to impact knowledge to students, such school projects provide an avenue for the schools to diversity their sources of revenue in the face of insufficient funding, it says.

It however, indicates that it equally will stimulate interest in agribusiness and agricultural profession among youths.