Zamfara state government has secured approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to finance a total of 60,000 farmers through their commodity associations.
This was announced by the special adviser to the governor, Zamfara State Directorate of Accelerated Cotton Development (ZAMDACOD) for Zamfara state government and CBN Anchor Borrowers programme, Alhaji Abdullahi M. Maiturare while addressing newsmen in Gusau, Thursday.
He said under the arrangement, 30,000 farmers each from cotton and rice sectors would benefit from the state government/CBN partnership scheme.
He stated further that all arrangements to effect the scheme are already at the pipeline, adding that cotton farmers were to be treated under the National Cotton Association of Nigeria NACATON, while rice farmers are to be handled by the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) respectively.
Maiturare further stated that the state government has already dedicated 130,000 hectares of farmland for cotton farming located across the 17 emirates of the state in order to attain the success of the programme.
He said: “Equally important, the state government, in collaboration with the Raw Material, Research and Development Council, an agency attached to Federal Ministry of Science and Technology had secured 4.5 tones of assorted cotton seed suitable for farmlands estimated to cover at least 2,000 hecters under the scheme in the state.”
He commended the state governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, on his gigantic approach of reviving the cotton production and ailing textiles industry, indigenous cotton ginneries and appealed to people in the state particularly farmers to reciprocate the gesture by giving all the necessary supports to all policies and programs of the state government in order to move the state forward.
