3rd August, 2017
Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL), under the aegis of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Wednesday launched the National Feed Finishing Project for Livestock Farmers in Yola.
The Managing Director of NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed, who spoke at the launching, said that the project was aimed at harnessing the enormous potential of livestock production in the country.
He said that the project had so far trained over 100 certified livestock farmers on the feed finishing scheme in Adamawa.
“Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending was created by CBN, with the collaboration of Ministry of Agriculture and Bankers Committee.
“The entire cooperation of NIRSAL is with the resource endowment of 500 million dollars by CBN to support farmers nationwide,’’ he said.
Abdulhameed noted that the development would lead to a significant boost in agricultural production, particularly in the livestock segment of the value chain.
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He said that the project had five pillars which included risks sharing, insurance development, technical assistance, value chain pillar and incentive reward mechanism to promote quality service delivery in crop growing and livestock production.
He said that NIRSAL was established in 2013 with specific mandates to boost agricultural productivity and facilitate the country’s efforts to attain self-sufficiency in food production.
He said that other mandates included job creation, economic diversification and spurring increased participation of commercial banks in agricultural finance.
In his remarks, the Deputy Governor of Adamawa, Mr Martins Babale, thanked the NIRSAL for selecting Adamawa for the launch of the pilot project.
Babale said that the state government would always welcome such developmental projects.
Besides, the state Commissioner for Livestock, Alhaji Isa Barima, said that Adamawa had over four million cows and six million other livestock.
He said that the state government had gazetted about 31 grazing reserves and was working in tandem with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture to achieve the goals of the national livestock project.