9% interest on agriculture lending is the highest in the world - Minister

Natural fruits

WorldStage Newsonline-- Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh has lamented that  the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy under the national programme that fixed lending to farmers at nine percent interest rate is not good enough as it is still the highest anywhere on planet earth.

The minister would want the apex bank to consider a five percent lending rate to.

Speaking on Tuesday in Idofian, Ifelodun local government area of Kwara State at the launch of the second phase of agricultural equipment hiring enterprise organized by National Centre for Agricultural Mechanisation (NCAM), Ogbeh said: “We thank the CBN for the efforts it has made so far in trying under the national programme, to lend money to farmers at nine percent interest rate. But we are like Oliver Twist, 9 percent is very good but it is not good enough for agriculture. Nine percent is the highest for agriculture anywhere on planet earth.

“We want five percent and we are going to plead with banks if they want this country to feed well; agriculture to grow and Nigeria to become a major exporter of food, interest rate has to reduce to the barest minimum. Five percent will give them more returns as more farmers will borrow and pay back.

“Beginning from this year, Nigeria will embark on agro-forestry. We are looking at cashew at least two million trees a year, cocoa three million per year, because there should be no reason why Nigeria should be now number ten on the line of cocoa producers when just 50 years ago we are number one. We are now miserably behind Ivory Coast and Ghana. We shall plant more castor seeds. Nigeria spends 350 million Dollars yearly importing castor oil.

“Our programme on rice and wheat will increase and we are starting a programme on cattle breed improvement. We want 200 farmers in the country to start the programme. The programme will be private sector driven supported by the treasury.

“The Fulani cow you see wandering about is a very unhappy animal. We don’t feed it well; it does have water to drink and in roaming around it is creating crisis between herdsmen and farmers.

“We intend to bring that crisis to an end in the next two years. We will simply grow grasses for the cows, locate them in one place, give them good water to drink and good vet services.

“If rice and wheat and sorghum can grow in the north, then cattle folders can grow in the north. If the largest ranch on earth is in Saudi Arabia with 153,000 cows and the Saudi authorities grow grasses in the United States, ship them to Saudi Arabia to feed their cows there is no reason why we can’t grow grasses in the south and transfer them to the north to feed our cows. This innovation will happen.”

On the administration’s programme for the youth, he said that “we are very sad about your plight. We feel you should enjoy better life than our time. We know many of you as a result of the pains you suffer have taken to drugs, but we want to assure you that the agriculture programme has a large portion. We want to say to you that in partnership with the state governors, we are designing programmes where at your young age you should be designing your own plantation.

“In your older age you can sustain your families, drive good cars, go to Abuja and come back because you are a landlord. But if don’t invest from now for tomorrow you could become old prematurely. We will support you in the cashew extension programme.”


Source: worldstagegroup