CBN to partner agric agency on integrated farms

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will collaborate with the National Agriculture Land Development Authority (NALDA) to develop integrated farms across the country, provide affordable and accessible finance to farmers in Nigeria’s rural communities and provide jobs for its teeming population.

The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele said this during the inauguration of the first National Agriculture Land Development Authority (NALDA) Integrated Farm Estate in Suduje Daura, Katsina State by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Emefiele said it is an agricultural hub for inhabitants of the area with its wide-range of facilities to support the rearing of poultry, goat and rabbit pens as well as fish ponds, crop farming areas, processing and packaging plants, storage, clinics, residential areas, schools, training centres and an administrative facility.

Emefiele noted that the CBN, through the deployment of well-targeted intervention programmes to farmers in the rural communities was aiding the government’s efforts at improving job and wealth creation.

“These measures are also supporting our nation’s food security objectives. Nigeria is likely to make significant strides over the next three years in repositioning our agricultural sector for greater growth, given the combined efforts of NALDA and the CBN’s in making land and credit available to farmers,” he added.

“Our development finance efforts were also driven by the need to diversify the economy by reversing the ugly trend of relying largely on revenues from crude oil,” Emefiele said.

He also said CBN would integrate rural farmers into the federal government’s Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), which is focused on providing five million homes with electricity using renewable energy,” he said.