… Registers 370 Cooperative Farmers Groups

No fewer than 370 cooperative farmer groups have commenced registration in Enugu, Chief Alfred Eneh, the Chairman, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Enugu chapter, has said.

Eneh told newsmen on Friday in Enugu that the purpose of the registration was to enable small and medium scale farmers to access the N200 billion Federal Government agriculture loan.

He said that the bio-data of individual members of each group were being collated for easy identification.

He said that disbursing such loan through cooperative groups would facilitate recovery and enable others to benefit.

The chairman said stringent conditions by the disbursing banks had made it difficult for farmers in the state to benefit.

“No farmer in Enugu has accessed this loan because banks were demanding collaterals such as vehicles, share certificates and developed property from my members.

“Now that we have formed cooperatives, and with personal data of every member being recorded, we hope to benefit as nobody will default in payment.

“A defaulter stands the risk of losing his/her land because it will be sold to recover the money,’’ he explained.

The chairman commended efforts of the Minister of Agriculture, whom he said, had promised to remove all bureaucratic bottle-necks that had stalled effective administration of the fund to farmers.

He said that each beneficiary would receive between N200,000 and N1 million, depending on the size of the person’s farm.