The total amount disbursed to farmers under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme from inception in 2009 rose to N611 . 5 bn as of the end of November 2019 .

The Central Bank of Nigeria disclosed this in its November 2019 economic report
Part of the report read , “ In November 2019 , the sum of N1 . 07bn was disbursed to three projects under the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme. Thus , the total sum released to the economy , under the scheme from inception in 2009 to date, stood at N611 . 50 bn in respect of 596 projects .

“ In November 2019 , 62 projects repaid the sum of N8 . 15bn , of which payment by 59 projects were steady repayments, while three projects were full repayments.

“ The repayments brought the cumulative repayment under CACS from inception in 2009 to N384 . 41 bn . ”

An analysis of the number of projects financed under the CACS by value chain indicated that of the 596 CACS sponsored projects , production accounted for 61 . 6 per cent and dominated the activities funded, while processing accounted for 27. 7 per cent .

These were followed by storage , input supplies and marketing , which accounted for 4 . 7 per cent , 3 . 3 per cent and 2 . 7 per cent , respectively .

The CBN said the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme guaranteed a total of N388 . 22 m to 2 , 125 farmers in November 2019 .
The amount represented a decrease of 0 . 5 per cent and 5 . 3 per cent below the levels in the preceding month and the corresponding period of 2018 , respectively .

Sub -sectoral analysis showed that food crops obtained the largest share of N182 . 55 m ( 47 . 0 per cent ) guaranteed to 1 , 127 beneficiaries , followed by livestock sub -sector at N84 . 36m ( 21 . 7 per cent ) guaranteed to 351 beneficiaries; and cash crops at N36. 07m ( 9 . 3 per cent ) guaranteed to 177 beneficiaries .

Fisheries , mixed crops , and ‘ others ’ obtained N34 . 39 m ( 8 . 9 per cent ) , N31 . 91m ( 8 . 2 per cent ) and N18 . 95 m ( 4 . 9 per cent ) guaranteed to 103 , 279 and 88 beneficiaries, respectively .

Analyses by states showed that 28 states , including the FCT , benefited from the scheme in November 2019 , with the highest and lowest sums of N67 . 49 m ( 17. 4 per cent ) and N1 . 24 m ( 0 . 3 per cent ) guaranteed to Ogun and Jigawa states , respectively .

“ The predominant agricultural activities in November 2019 were harvesting of grains , legumes , and tubers across the country . In the livestock sub -sector , farmers intensified their activities in preparation for the expected end of year bumper sales . The end period headline inflation , on year -on -year and twelve -month moving average bases was 11 . 85 per cent and 11 . 35 per cent , respectively , in November 2019 , ” the bank stated.

Source:- Punchng.