Keystone Bank supports rice farmers

…Invites govt, stakeholders to access funding  

Stories by Amaka Ifeakandu
Lagos

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, Keystone Bank Limited, Mr.  Philip Ikeazor has said that the sum of N300 million had been approved for primary producers in the agricultural value chain, particularly rice farmers. The  plan according to him is  to increase funding to N1billion in the immediate future. He also said the bank would sustain current support for the agricultural initiatives of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as well as government’s efforts to diversify the economy through investment in the sector.

He listed some of the projects which had reached advanced stages of the bank’s financing to include 47 Rice Cooperative Farmers involving 500 members in Taraba State); 29 Rice Cooperative Farmers of 296 members in Sokoto State; 28 Rice Cooperative Farmers for 381 members in Zamfara State; and 10 Rice Cooperative Farmers for100 members in Anambra State. .Speaking in Abuja while delivering a lecture titled:” Keystone Bank Intervention in the Nigeria’s Rice Value Chain’, at the NEPAD 3rd Nigeria Rice Investment Forum (NRIF 2016), he said the further had early financed 37 rice cooperatives under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund in Niger State. Speaking further he said agriculture remained a veritable source of the country’s economic diversification strategy and would be accorded importance by the bank. Ikeazor urged farmers, processors, state governments andinvestors to approach the bank and access funds for their rice projects.

Ikeazor who was represented by the Executive Director, Northern Directorate, Keystone Bank, Mr.  Shehu Mohammed,  said:”I am delighted to be invited to participate at this conference as one of the representatives of lending institutions and organizations involved in the promotion of increased lending and appropriate structuring of relevant financialinstruments to the agricultural sector (especially rural, small scale farmers and processors) as it relates to rice value chain.”He said:”The importance of rice to Nigeria’s food security must be acknowledged as it represents the highest in the import bill (about $2.5billion annually) among food items being imported to the country. In recent times the Agric Industry has witnessed an upsurge in activities of farmers, processors and investors in the rice sector in Nigeria.”This is due to the policy initiatives of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development and the Federal Government of Nigeria toaddress the inherent challenges militating against the production of this staple food
locally.