Farmers are no doubt the nation's feeders. They are the ones that make sure we don't go to bed hungry. Whether a subsistence or a commercial farmer, farmers are worth celebrating because nobody can survive for long without food. You can imagine what our world would be like without farmers. Imagine going to bed hungry because there is no one in the field tilling the soil and cultivating the lands.
This article on agricultural loans for farmers in Nigeria provides a list of loan options meant for farmers in Nigeria and they include:
Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF): The ACGSF is an initiative by the federal government to extend credit facilities to farmers in Nigeria. The ACGSF began operation in April 1978. This initiative provides a #3 billion credit facility which is extended to farmers through banks.
Agricultural Credit Support Scheme (ACSS): this is an initiative of the federal government and the central bank for Nigeria with the support of the bankers committee. This scheme was introduced to reduce the rate of inflation in the country, to also reduce the cost of food production in the country, to increase Nigeria's foreign earning capacity and to increase surplus for exportation. Interested applicants willing to access the ACSS funds are advised to go through their state chapter through which they can approach the bank for this loan. This only applies to small-scale and agro-allied farmers. Large scale farmers can approach the bank directly and apply for the ACSS loan.
Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS): this agricultural scheme was formed by the central bank of Nigeria with the federal ministry of Agriculture and water resources to promote and finance food production, processing and storage in order to make the prices of commodities stable in the country.
Agri-Business/ Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme ( AGSMEIS): this initiative was founded in order to support the federal government in their measures to promote and finance small and medium scale enterprises to sustain our economy and as well as create employment. To access the AGSMEIS loan, you must be trained by a certified Entrepreneurship development institute provided by Nirsal Microfinance Bank before you can apply for a loan. When your application is accepted and the funds disbursed, the funds will be in your nirsal Microfinance Bank account which you would receive help from the EDI center you trained to ensure you carry out the stipulated agro activity effectively and then repay your loan. Please note that to access this loan, you do not need a collateral and the interest rate is 5% per annum.
Bank Of Agriculture (BOA) : Bank for Agriculture bus owned by the federal government through the ministry of finance incorporated and the central bank for Nigeria. There are many funding opportunities available through BOA and they include:
Equipment leasing product (ELP): this scheme was developed to support production and agro-allied activities. Credit in this scheme is upto #50,000,000. Individuals can access upto #5,000,000 while corporate organizations can access upto o #50,000,000. The interest rate is up to 20% for commodity trading and 14% for agric production.
Cooperative Family Feeding Programme (CFFP): this scheme was introduced in order to make agricultural produce easily accessible to end users. This is to encourage the consumption of locally produced foodstuffs and curtail the extreme importation and consumption of foreign food items.
Export Finance Facility: this scheme under Boa aims at encouraging foreign trade, job creation and economic development by providing credit facility to exporters for pre-shipment and invoice discounting of any confirmed order.
There are many loan options available to Nigerian farmers but the list we made are amongst the verifiable loan channels.
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