NIRSAL empowers 475 female cassava farmers in Uyo

From Nduka Chiejina, Abuja and Nsa Gill, Uyo

The Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc) is empowering 475 female cassava farmers in Uyo for the 2020 wet season farming.

Members of the Uyo female cassava farmers will receive finance through the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrowers’ Programme (ABP) for which NIRSAL Plc is playing a role as a Participating Financial Institution (PFI).

NIRSAL, in a statement, in Abuja yesterday said the women under the Uyo Women Agro Geo-Cooperative (AGC) have been structured into 475 female farmers “trained on Good Agronomic Practices and received various inputs for their use.”

NIRSAL added that “all 478 hectares of land will be mechanised throughout the planting season to enhance yields and profits and eliminate the drudgery of farming with crude implements”.

NIRSAL said the event in Akwa Ibom fits into its regional and nationwide support for farmers under the ABP.

According to NIRSAL, “a total of 2,872 rice, maize and cassava farmers belonging to Uyo Women AGC, PemoAnegbette AGC, Upalibuisi AGC, Southern Basin AGC, Integrated AGC, IjeomaAibiokula AGC, Green Money Initiative AGC and God’s Own AGCare will receive NIRSAL’s support in the Southsouth states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta while a total of 44,670 farmers cultivating on 68,771 hectares of land are benefiting nationwide”.

NIRSAL said: “Mrs. Theresa Thompson Akpan, the President of the Uyo Women AGC, described the CBN’s support through NIRSAL as a milestone in enhancing cassava production in the state”.

Speaking through Helen Akula, the Head of NIRSAL Plc’s Akwa Ibom State Project Monitoring, Reporting and Remediation Office (PMRO), the NIRSAL’s Managing Director/CEO Aliyu Abdulhameed, said NIRSAL’s  support for Uyo Women AGC would not only empower the 475 farmers of the AGC but will create jobs for many families in the community.

Meanwhile, stakeholders and natural rubber farmers and processors have called on the Federal Government to set aside intervention funds for the development of rubber plantations, rubber processing and manufacturing.

The National President, Natural Rubber Producers, Processors and Marketers Association of Nigeria (NARPPMAN), Mr. Peter Igbinosun, and the General Manager of Royal International Farms and Estates Limited, Mr. Usen Umoh, spoke to reporters in Calabar yesterday and described the natural resource as “irreplaceable and a goldmine that can complement crude oil”.

Igbinosun said the intervention fund should attract an interest rate of between three and five per cent yearly with a moratorium period of between three and four years considering the gestation period of the rubber trees which is six years with good agronomic practices.

The president recommended that the repayment should be spread over 10 to 15 years.

He called for the selection of a development bank to handle the processing and disbursement of the intervention fund.

To ease the challenges faced by natural rubber farmers and processors, he further advocated the establishment of an agency for bulk purchase of machinery/equipment agency, saying it will facilitate the acquisition of tractors, implements, land development, machinery, and equipment.

According to him, the rural development policies of the Federal, state and local governments should be integrated to farm plantations to create the necessary infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, electricity, and water.

Igbinosun listed the benefits of the initiative to the country if the rubber subsector which has been long neglected is well-positioned. He noted that rubber plantation and processing is a capital and labour-intensive industry.

“Rubber, grown in 24 states of Nigeria, including Kaduna, Taraba, Kwara, Adamawa, etc as well as southwest and Southsouth states, has the capacity to create wealth; enhance non-oil sector foreign exchange earnings and can also greatly reduce crime and youth militancy.

“Rubber is in high demand all over the world and plays a major role as a foreign exchange earner and contributor to the growth of our national economy. Natural rubber is a strategic material as it cannot be replaced in many important applications,” he said.

He maintained that to reduce unemployment, the support of the Federal Government can employ 640,000 people and 160,000 indirectly as service providers, adding that they have 200,000 hectares of rubber plantation in Nigeria both small holders and industrial plantations.

Speaking also, Umoh said rubber farmers face increasing challenges and would need medium and long term facilities.

Umoh said high cost of credit to finance private rubber plantation development is the bane.

“There is also the high cost of inputs, labour and processing mostly due to the current energy crisis / uncontrolled hike in the price of petroleum products. We can also add that poor exploitation practices are also our bane.

“Surviving rubber trees are exploited by untrained and greedy tappers by employing damaging tapping techniques such as slaughter tapping resulting in rubber tree deaths.

“There is also the long gestation period of 5-7 years for rubber which serves as a disincentive to smallholders and investors in the commodity. Obtaining short and low-interest loans from the banks for the crop most times is a mirage. There is difficulty in accessing land for cultivation because of land tenure system.”