…Chairman Ikpeme says financing targets 18 LGAs to boost food security

The Cross River State Agricultural and Loan Board has unveiled plans to roll out agricultural grants, loans, and credit guarantee schemes for farmers across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.

The announcement was made on Friday, by the Chairman of the Board, Sir Toni Ikpeme, during a stakeholders engagement on agribusiness financing, agricultural grants, and credit guarantees held in Calabar.

Sir Ikpeme said the interventions were designed to address financing constraints across the agricultural value chain and to support smallholder farmers, cooperatives, women, youth, agribusinesses, processors, and input suppliers.

“Today’s conversation is not just about money. It is about people, productivity, opportunity, food security and the future of our State,” he told participants drawn from government, financial institutions, farmers, and development partners.

He noted that many farmers in Cross River have land and knowledge but lack the capital to cultivate, expand, or access markets.

“A farmer may have the land. A farmer may have the knowledge. But without the financial capacity to put all these resources together, that potential may never be fully realised,” he said.

Sir Ikpeme explained that the resuscitation and repositioning of the Agricultural and Loan Board aligns with the “People First” agenda of Governor Bassey Otu. He added that the board’s objective is to ensure that every naira deployed translates into increased production, more businesses, more employment, and greater food availability.

According to him, the board will in the coming weeks begin implementation of the Agricultural Loan Disbursement Framework, with clear eligibility requirements, financing windows, and accountability mechanisms.

The Chairman stressed that government cannot achieve agricultural transformation alone and called for partnerships with financial institutions, private investors, and development agencies.

“Cross River State has the land. We have the people. We have the climate. What we must now do is connect these opportunities with the right financing, technology, markets and partnerships,” he said.

Declaring the engagement open, the chairman, Cross River State House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture, Natural Resources, Forestry and Climate Change, Hon. Bette Philip Obi,
pledged legislative support for the exercise.

He added that the engagement was long overdue because Governor Otu’s agenda is to transform the agricultural sector by ensuring farmers are empowered.