Abia Farmers Prepare To Take Agric Loans

Farmers in Abia State under the auspices of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, AFAN, have begun desperate efforts to obtain the organisation’s identification cards to enable access the Federal Government N1 billion agricultural loan .

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the state government has already organised a sensitisation workshop for the farmers in readiness for the exercise.

Small-scale farmers in the state, who wish to benefit from the loan, have been directed to pay N1,100 for the identity cards.

The Chairman of the state chapter of AFAN, Chief Dunlop Okoro, told NAN in Umuahia that farmers in the state were eagerly waiting for the loan.

“The state government had announced its readiness to apply for the loan and I am only praying that this will be actualised.

“Farmers have been made to register with the Ministry of Agriculture to obtain their identity cards.

“I am asking the ministry to make sure that these identity cards are made available to farmers and also make sure they access the loan,” he said.

Okoro said that farmers in the state had long been neglected due to lack of funds “and we have waited for this type of opportunity’’.

“The Commissioner for Agriculture, Chief Ike Onyenweaku, has assured us that the loan will be ready by December and I am praying that it will be feasible,” he said, adding that farmers in the state had no reason to doubt the authenticity of the identity card project.

“In the past promises had been made but were not met. With the new commissioner, everything he has said since he assumed office has been done.

“So we believe this one will be done too,” he said.