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IN a bid to ensure food security in the region and country at large, the Association of Northern Agricultural and Allied Commodities Practitioners (ANAACOP) in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has inaugurated farmers programmable money agro e-Naira engagement.
The programme targets one million farmers in Northeastern states in the 2023 farming season.
The CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele who was represented by Hajiya Rakiya Muhammad, the Director Information Technology and Coordinator Naira programme of CBN, said in Yola, that the e-Naira was the first digital currency to be launched in Africa and second in the world.
Congratulating the association and the beneficiaries for having the programme, he explained that it would help farmers to access affordable inputs for tremendous progress and transformation as the result of technology and innovation.
He said that currently, 50 farmers were targeted to test run the programme in Adamawa, however by the end of the year it is expected to scale up to one million farmers and another four million by 2024.
“So what we are doing is providing a platform where we can have accountability, transparency and make the programme efficient to encourage people who will be able to provide finance to those who need it”, he added.
On his part, the Chairman ANAACOP, Mr Sadiq Daware commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the Anchor Borrowers Programme through the CBN. He said that the programme would help a lot of farmers in the country and today the Naira programme would reduce intermediaries and provide easy access to credit and financial services for farmers in rural communities of Northern Nigeria.
“Today we are happy to inform all Nigerians that ANAACOP through the CBN has gotten it right to make sure that farmers, particularly the smallholders farmers, will get loans at ease with little or no hitches leveraging the e-Naira programme,” he said. Daware assured farmers that they would not regret it at the end of the day.
Chairman, Ribadu Farmers Group, Malam Mijinyawa Mahmudu, who spoke on behalf of the beneficiaries, appreciated the Federal Government interventions in the agriculture sector through CBN. He also commended the association for coming up with a program that has a direct impact on small-scale farmers.
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