The Gezawa Commodity and Exchange Market has organised a sensitisation workshop for small holder farmers in Kano State on the importance of accessing financial services in boosting agricultural production.
Speaking at an interactive session with the farmers on Saturday in Kano, the Coordinator of the Exchange, Mr Binfan Bingchan said that the aim was to create awareness on the financial services available to farmers in all aspects of agricultural production.
According to him, farmers should form cooperatives to access loans and other services to boost their production of commodities for exports and local consumption.
In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST), Prof. Shehu Alhaji-Musa, said improved prices of agricultural commodities would entice more people to embrace farming thereby boosting production in the country.
He said agriculture was a great pillar as far as development was concerned, hence all necessary measures needed to be taken to move the sector forward.
Alhaji-Musa advised wealthy individuals to invest more in the agricultural sector through the procurement of modern farming equipment to mechanised farming activities including poultry.
Also in his contribution, the Managing Director, Bank of Agriculture, Alhaji Kabiru Adamu said the bank is collaborating with the Central Bank of Nigeria in providing necessary assistance to farmers under the Anchor Borrower scheme.
He said the programme had started yielding positive results, especially with the high increase in rice, tomatoes, and other food products in the country.
Adamu explained that plans were on to provide loans to ginger, palm oil, tomatoes and poultry farmers targeted at boosting production.
Similarly, the Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kano Chapter, Alhaji Faruk Mudi said the forum was very timely especially at this period that the farming season had commenced.
He advised farmers to utilize the opportunity in exploring available chances at obtaining loans to boost agricultural production both for internal consumption and export.
Source: www.pmnewsnigeria.com
