Niger farmers establish village savings association

The farmers association in Niger has established a Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) among members at various wards in the state.

Alhaji Shehu Galadima, chairman All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in the state, disclosed this to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna on Saturday.

He said the farmers decided to set up the scheme to help members attain solid financial base in financing their agri-businesses.

Galadima said the farmers, who are members of various cooperative societies, were taught how to save money after each harvest for use during the next farming season.

“What we do is that at the beginning of every cropping season we give loans to interested members at agreed low interest rate,” he said.

He explained that the soft loans would enable the farmers stay in business.

The AFAN Chairman said that apart from utilising the funds to cultivate a particular crop, it could also be used to diversify into other agri-business.

He also said that the measure would encourage the farmers to establish their own agri-business.