AGRICULTURE: Nigeria to get $38million loan for agric development

NIGERIA’S DECISION-MAKING FEDERAL Executive Council (FEC) has approved total loan package of $37.9 million for the development of the agriculture sector and poverty eradication in the country. The Rome- based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will contribute $27.78 million, representing 67.8 per cent of the total loan, as well as a total grant of $386,800 towards the initiative. The Ford Foundation will provide a total grant of $500,000, the Nigerian government $6.17 million (15 per cent of the loan), the participating institutions $4.762 million and the beneficiaries (farmers) $785,100. The interest- free loan, payable over 40 years, has a moratorium on payment of 10 years, but will attract a service charge of 0.75% of the amount outstanding. The loan is aimed at the execution of a programme that will grant rural farmers direct access to credit. Some 345,000 beneficiaries from 23 of the country’s 36 states will benefit from the programme.