The federal government of Nigeria plans to pump N3trillion into the
Bank of Agriculture (BoA) with the aim of making farmers have access to fund at
an affordable interest rate.
According to the government, access to funding remained one
of the biggest challenges facing farmers in the country.
The Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Heineken
Lokpobiri disclosed this in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital during the inaugural
harvest of a Tillapia fish farm of Premium Aquaculture Limited, Oyan Dam.
He said commercial banks were not ready to fund agriculture,
hence the decision by the federal government to recapitalise BOA was to
facilitate the diversification of the country's economy to agriculture.
He therefore, disclosed that the nation's fish demand stood
at 3.1 metric tonnes per annum but currently hovering around 1.1 metric tonnes
per annum, leaving a deficit of 2.1 metric tonnes.
According to him, the government resorted to backward
integration to encourage local fish farmers and bridge the gap between demand
and supply.
