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CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme is a Federal Government owned Agricultural Linkage Programme for supporting farmers in the area of credit (loans), access to farm inputs and markets, (offtakers); which is implemented by a long list of stakeholder organizations that includes industries who have applied to buy off produce at agreed cost with farmers, apex farmer groups and other Government institutions, with well documented guidelines for implementation that can be obtained at all branches of CBN nationwide and on the CBN Website.
The administration of ABP in Ogun State, in line with approved CBN guidelines, is vested on a 17-member advisory committee comprising of professionals and heads of farmers organizations. The day to day implementation is being handled by CBN approved Project Management Team (PMT) which comprises of the Head of Development Finance Department of the CBN in Ogun State (who serves as the Team Lead) and other statutory members from relevant institutions and organizations).
All decisions on linkage to credit and input, and loan disbursement from CBN approved banks, get the sign off from CBN, farmers’ organization heads and a wide range if stakeholders, in line with CBN guidelines. Farmers who have been enrolled into CBN ABP, as it operates in Ogun State, are in charge of their choice of service providers for inputs, through a mandatory town hall meeting where participatory farmers agreed and signed off on, “who provides their inputs and at what cost”, “who buys their produce (company) and at what cost, location and quality level”. Funds from CBN are credited directly into the accounts of individual beneficiaries, without passing through any intermediaries. These beneficiaries are into an agreement bond with CBN and respective Farmers Organizations, to abide by the terms and conditions of the credit linkage.
The Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture provides supervisory role to enable farmers who signed off to obtain loans, have access to free extra training and facilitation of other logistics from Ogun State Government, through the Ogun State Agricultural Development Programme (OGADEP), so that they can repay their loans easily, haven gone through training to improve yields.
The Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture also ensures that young people who have registered for Agricultural opportunities through various channels (including Ogun State Job Portal), are immediately made available for any openings from Federal Government and other Agencies for monitored participation. The Ministry also facilitates access to cleared land, in some cases, to enable young people who do not have access to land opportunities, to participate.
The CBN, Ogun State Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Groups maintain a pure technologically driven verified list of processed and pending applications for ABP. It is practically impossible for misrepresentation or diversion of funds, as there is BVN validation exercise for each participating farmer, and also linked to the National Identity Scheme.
In Ogun State, there are numerous opportunities for Agricultural Interventions, as listed below, including Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) for Food Crops:
(a.) CBN Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP): This programme was designed by the Federal Government to create economic linkage between farmers and agro processors. Under this programme, loans are given to farmers via Participating Financial Institutions (FPIs) to be paid back at a Single Digit Interest Rate after the first harvest, depending on commodity. Presently, the commodities under the programme in Ogun State include Cassava, Maize, Rice, Fishery, Poultry, Cattle, Piggery, Cotton and Oil Palm. So far, CBN has credited individual accounts of first batch of *3,500 beneficiaries of Cassava though Wema Bank*. The funds are meant to cater for the Economics of Production (EOP) agreed by the farmers themselves, as cost of running their respective farm projects, which they will repay after selling their produce to offtakers.
(b.) CBN Cocoa Development Initiative*: Under this programme, Ogun State will provide land and aggregate and train farmers, including youths, who are willing to participate in the Programme.
(c.) CBN Oil Palm Intervention Programme*: Youths are linked to the opportunity at 5Hectares per person for primary cultivation, maintenance and processing facilities at single digit loan interest with moratorium period on repayment.
(d.) CBN Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS)*: This is a Federal Government intervention funding scheme through Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) that promotes agricultural businesses and small/medium enterprise as a vehicle for sustainable economic development and employment generation.
(e.) Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System For Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) through CBN*: in which 394 Maize Farmers, 54 Rice Farmers and 21 Poultry Farmers have benefitted from Ogun State.
(f.) Presidential Fertilizer Palliative Intervention*: Presidential Fertilizer Palliatives for Smallholder
farmers with each farmer entitled to 2 bags of fertilizer at a price lower than open market price. The intervention became necessary to guarantee access by smallholders to fertilizers at subsided prices.
(g.) Ogun State Planting Materials Palliatives (PMP)*: As part of the efforts to cushion the effects of COVID-19 among smallholder farmers in the Ogun State, The State Government is supporting smallholder farmers with free improved planting materials across the 20 Local Government Areas throughout the growing season. This also aims at promoting and diffusing the use of improved planting materials of most commonly grown staple crops and selected tree crops with a view to achieving food security and poverty reduction.
(h.) Ogun State Broiler Project*: This is an initiative of the State Government in partnership with the Bank of industry as a public-private partnership (PPP) to empower the youths of Ogun State that are interested in the broiler production project. It is designed to create source of livelihood for young agripreneurs through a cluster farming model. Presently, production is at the 4th cycle while arrangement is almost concluded with CBN for the expansion phase which will accommodate many participants.
(i.) World Bank/Ogun State Economic Transformation Programme (OGSTEP)*: The Agriculture component of OGSTEP seeks to help address key constraints to increased private sector investment in agriculture and promotes farming operations in the following priority value chains: cassava, maize, rice, soybean, tomatoes and pepper, sesame, fishery and poultry. OGSTEP Agriculture Sector Component is aimed at 40,000 farmers.
(j.) EU/GIZ Nigeria Competitiveness Project (NICOP)*: Ogun State in collaboration with GIZ, European Union, Federal Government and Lagos State, launched this initiative to train youths in the tomato and chilli pepper value chains. 3,000 smallholder farmers would be trained towards increased productivity, linkages with inputs, credits and market, job creation and food security.
For further enquiries about CBN Anchor Borrowers Programme (ABP) and any of the aforementioned Agricultural opportunities being facilitated by Ogun State Government, you can contact any of the following:
- Development Finance Development of CBN Nationwide;
- Chairman, Nigeria Cassava Growers Association (NCGA) Ogun State Chapter and National Office;
- Chairman, Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Ogun State Chapter and National Office;
- Headquarters of Farmers Organizations;
- Department of Planning, Research and Statistics, Ministry of Agriculture, Block D, State Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
- OR via Email: ogunagric@ogunstate.gov.ng OR phone call: 09037909008.
Information Officer
For: Permanent Secretary
Ministry of Agriculture
12th August, 2020
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