Benue farmers get new app to boost access to finance

Smallholder farmers in Benue State have expressed optimism towards meeting the growing food demand of the country with the advantages of the new mobile app, FarmersWallet.

The financial platform, which allows farmers to save money in bits towards subsequent cropping seasons, would transform the lives of millions of smallholder farmers across Benue and other parts of the country as it will empower farmers with financial services, planting tools and market access.

Our correspondent reports that the smallholder farmers’ confidence in boosting food supply in the country followed the unveiling of the FarmersWallet mobile app on Monday in Makurdi, the state capital.

The chief executive officer/co-founder of FarmersWallet, Engr. Iorlaha Valentine, said the initiative was meant to break the chain of insufficiency that long held back smallholder farmers from achieving desired goals in agricultural development, saying the digital platform can provide more than just farm inputs.

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“We are creating a digital platform (the first ever digital cooperative financing in Nigeria) that allows our users (smallholder farmers) to save at their convenience and securely for farm inputs, such as seedlings, agrochemicals, fertilisers and mechanisation, while also providing access link to micro loans, insurance, market data and extension advisory services.

“FarmersWallet is designed to address the unique challenges faced by our smallholder farmers and we firmly believe it will play a vital role in unlocking investment by the farmers themselves, strengthening our agricultural value chain and ensuring that our smallholder farmers are better equipped to meet the growing food demands of this country,” the CEO said. 

China Peters, Chairman of the Forum of Agricultural Commodity Heads in Benue State, noted that the opportunity created by the app would foster an environment where farmers in the state would thrive, contributing not only to their families but also to the economic growth of Benue and the entire nation.

“At a time when the agricultural sector faces numerous challenges, including climate change, market fluctuations and access to finance and quality farming inputs, the introduction of the FarmersWallet mobile app is a timely intervention,” Peters said.

The state Caretaker Chairman of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Chief Abel Owiocho, on his part, stressed that technology-driven agriculture was now in vogue, and urged farmers across the state to embrace the innovation for their own good.

“The real thing now is technology. We should all embrace it despite the challenges of some farmers in the interior who don’t have knowledge about apps. But we will take the knowledge to such farmers,” Owiocho stated.