The members of the House of Representatives have mandated its committee on Finance and Agriculture to investigate the Federal Government’s disbursements of agricultural loans and credit facilities to farmers from 2009 to date.
The lawmakers observed that since 2009, 275 billion Naira was said to have been disbursed to farmers yet the country cannot boast of food sufficiency.
According to the lawmakers, the Federal Government has approved the disbursement of funds to farmers in various Schemes to the tune of over N275 billion, ranging from Commercial Agricultural Credit Scheme (CACS) to Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), to help farmers improve agricultural production and guarantee food security in Nigeria.
They also noted that apart from increasing food supply, the Scheme was to grant agricultural loans to large and small scale commercial farmers to lower the prices of agricultural produce, generate employment and increase foreign exchange earnings.
But the lawmakers are concerned that most farmers have not been able to access the loan due to stringent procedures by banks.