James Emejo in Abuja
The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammad Abubakar has said that the repositioning of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) was non – negotiable adding that it would improve access to grants for smallholder farmers.
He said the planned recapitalisation would also boost food production and generate revenue for the country.
Abubakar also reassured of the federal government’s commitment in its diversification plan through agriculture.
The minister spoke during his familiarisation tour to some agricultural institutions in Kaduna State over the weekend.
He said BOA as a development financial institution in the agriculture sector is to provide agriculture and rural financing for smallholder farmers.
He added that the plan would boost nutrition and food security, increase the local farmers income and create more jobs for Nigerian farmers.
The minister said it would simulate improvement in the lives and growth across the farming communities, adding that ‘’President, Muhammadu Buhari is very passionate on the need to grow what we eat and eat what we grow so as to de-emphasize unnecessary importation of food which constitutes a drain on our foreign exchange’’.
In a statement by the ministry’s Chief Information Officer, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, Abubakar further disclosed ongoing plans by the ministry in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to streamline agricultural loans to smallholder farmers for proper utilisation, effective production and efficient services scheme in the various value chains.
He pledged that the ministry under his watch would ensure that the BOA obtained licence to operate maximally and deliver services towards achieving its core objectives and mandate.
Abubakar stated that the diversification agenda of the present administration was one of the cardinal policies aimed at achieving nutrition and food security, reducing poverty rate and improving the Agribusiness in the Agric sector.
However, acting Managing Director of BoA, Alhaji Alwan Ali Hassan appealed for the “Completion of the restructuring and recapitalisation of the Bank as approved by the shareholders on August 18, 2021 especially in the area of engaging the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MoFI) and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the release of the Capital allotted to them”.
