Nigeria tasks African leaders on loan affordability to farmers

Nigeria at the weekend has charged African leaders to evolve ‘novel’ ways through which low class farmers in the continent would have access to loan facilities to achieve food security.

Besides, the country ‎has pushed for a peer review conference of African states to take affirmative actions on the utilisation of soil contents through the use of fertiliser.

Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri who spoke at the 29th Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Regional Conference for Africa in Abidjan, Cote d’ Ivoire, ‎said loans availability does not automatically translate to affordability in Africa.

He said: ‘’African leaders must do the needful by mobilising resources across governmental and corporate levels to establish a common pool of funding for the African farmers. This is achievable if our leaders can initiate inter-state talks on this. A common interest rate for the African farmers is the beginning of the journey to food sufficiency.”