More than 4,000 farmers benefit from rice Anchor Borrowers Scheme in A/Ibom

More than 4,000 farmers have benefited from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sponsored rice Anchor Borrowers Scheme in Akwa Ibom State.

Governor Udom Emmanuel who made this known while presenting the 2017 budget to the state house of assembly said all the rice farmers have been empowered with grants to boost rice production in the state.

He said improved oil palm and cocoa seedlings have been distributed to farmers adding that the state government has also  inaugurated a 1,000,000 day-old-chicks per month capacity poultry hatchery complex at Mbiaya, Uruan local government area  through public private partnership as part of efforts to grow the agriculture sector and turn it into a business sector.

According to the governor, poultry farmers in the state have equally been mobilised to “off-take the product of the poultry hatchery while it has established an out-growers scheme for the hatchery as well as began a training scheme for the poultry farmers.

He disclosed that over than 5,000 farmers have been mobilised for the Anchor Borrowers Scheme for cassava farmers in conjunction with Skye Bank and the CBN adding that 5,000 jobs have been created in the downstream sector and about 15,000 jobs in the upstream through the value addition.

The governor who announced an allocation of N6.831 billion in the 2017 budget for the agriculture sector said the state government in collaboration with the Skye Bank and the CBN also launched the Anchor Borrowers Scheme for cat fish farmers with 2,000 cat fish farmers mobilised and 6,000 jobs created in the downstream and 18,000 jobs created in the upstream sector through value addition.

“In view of these achievements, the policy thrust of the present administration is to grow agriculture as a business and not as a developmental project or past time or a subsistent vocation,’’ he said.

Emmanuel said the state government intends to sustain the tempo and level of agricultural activities currently going on in the state by “using the dynamics of technology in the sector.’’

According to him, the state government will continue with the Integrated Farmers Scheme, the Fadama 111 programme, rice project, women agro-entrepreneurship programme, community plantation development scheme and rural community farms development scheme among other programmes as part of the state government’s determination to pursue vigorously sustainable development and food sufficiency in the state.

The total budget size of the state for 2017 is N365 billion as against N423 billion in 2016.