By Ahmed Rufa’i Dutse
The World Bank has offered a total sum of N370 million as agricultural loan to accredited farmers in 10 selected rural communities under Argo-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL in Jigawa state.
Flagging off the distribution of the loan facility, the Jigawa state governor Malam Umar Namadi said the world Bank’s intervention is timely as he described as a strong support to his administration to achieve it’s 12 point agenda presented to the people in the state before he was voted in to power.
The governor explained that empowering rural communities through their own businesses and creating enabling environment for the sustainable growth of those businesses are clearly captured in his government’s 12 point agenda adding that the World Bank Revolving Fund intervention is absolutely designed for achieving so.
According to him under the project 10 communities are selected whereby each community would benefit from the sum of N37 million to be shared among the screened and accredited farmers who are to engage in their respective cropping business.
Namadi maintained that he is optimistic that, the money if injected and properly utilized in the ten beneficiary communities will make a big difference in terms of poverty eradication, Job creation, sustainable food security and development”.
He urged the beneficiaries and the funds managers to be honest and fear God in thd collection and repayment of the loan for others to benefit”.
In his speech at the occasion the state commissioner for environment, Dr Nura Ibrahim explained that the Community Revolving Funds (CRFs) loan was designed to support rural community/farmer groups to undertake investments specific to the climate-smart rain-fed crops intervention which is critical to deliver investment at community and household level”
.”CRF is not a grant but rather an investment fund for the village that can revolve and grow over time as an innovative approach to project sustainability under ACReSAL project geared to increase the adoption of sustainable landscape management practices in targeted watersheds in northern Nigeria.
“Each eligible farmer group with minimum of 10-25 beneficiaries will receive N37 million and we are targeting 2,800 group with the loan in the state.” Hon Nura stated.
In her speech, one of the beneficiaries from women farmers’ group, Hajiya Iya Wawu expressed their gratitude to the state governor, the world Bank and all the people who contributed towards the actualization of the program, as she prayed for the sustainability of the program.