Farmers Lament Govt’s Policy On Agric Loan

The earlier frenzy by ‘farmers’ in Abia State to benefit from a N1 billion commercial agriculture loan has ceased as the state government tightened modalities for its disbursement.

It would recalled that the state government recently accessed the loan for disbursement to genuine farmers in the state.

Residents of the state received the news with joy, and expectations were high as greater number of people in the state scrambled to benefit.

The state government issued a directive that only genuine farmers would benefit from the scheme following an alarm by rural poor farmers who expressed concern that the process may be hijacked by “portfolio farmers’’ in the state.

In order to ensure that the loan got to genuine farmers, the government decided to invest substantial amount of the loan in direct and compulsory procurement of farm inputs for beneficiaries.

The Commissioner for Agriculture, Chief Ike Onyenweaku, said that the idea worked as some “political jobbers’’ who wanted to hijack the process gave way.

“We made it such that only those that demonstrated that they were genuine farmers will benefit from the scheme.

“The arrangement is that certain amount from the loan will be used to procure fertilisers and other inputs for beneficiaries.”

Onyenweaku said that no fewer than 3,500 rural farmers had so far accessed the loan.

NAN recalls that Dr Akinwumi Adesina, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, had on June 27, 2012 in Umuahia, inaugurated the disbursement of the loan.

A total of 51 farmers, three each from the 17 LGAs received cheque of various sums of money at the inauguration.

“The number of beneficiaries now stands well over 3,500 farmers.

“The disbursement is in stages and we have so far covered nine LGAs of the state and still counting.”

Onyenweaku said that government targeted 8,000 farmers for empowerment through the scheme.

“By the time we cover the 17 LGAs of the state, about 8,000 farmers would have been reached”.