By Ajuma Edwina Ameh
As Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL Plc), continues to assist farmer-groups and agri-businesses, the organization says it only links farmers and agri-businesses with commercial banks for sustainable access to affordable and cheap financing.
The financing is done through its Agro Geo-Cooperative (AGC) model.
According to the non-bank financial institution, wholly-owned corporation of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the lack of access to sustainable commercial finance by farmers in Nigeria remains an obstacle to socio-economic growth.
To address the issue, NIRSAL Plc developed its AGC model which links farmer groups with commercial banks’ financing as well as financiers with farmer groups and agri-businesses in need of finance.
Making the disclosure through its official social media pages — Facebook and Twitter — the organization noted that its financing frameworks present a window of financing to address working capital constraints associated with specific segments of agricultural value chains.
“In line with the NIRSAL AGC model’s processes, we met with Amodad Poultry Farmers Association, in Potiskum LGA of Yobe State, to agree on the Economics of Production (EOP) for poultry and to conduct an assessment of the group’s farm.
“In Gombe and Sokoto State respectively, we sensitized farmers in Tula community and members of Jabraka AGC, on the NIRSAL AGC formation process and how as structured farmer groups they could access commercial finance,” NIRSAL wrote.
