By Valentine Amanze, Online Editor
The Federal Government of Nigeria has granted N6.4 billion loan to farmers in Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba states to boost cotton production during the rainy season.
The President, National Cotton Association of Nigeria (NACOTAN), Mr. Anibe Achimugu, disclosed this in Gombe on Monday.
He said that the loan was provided through the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
According to Achimugu, with the loan, the farmers were expected to provide 136, 000 metric tons of cotton for the 2020 wet season based on 1.5 metric tons per hectare, for onward delivery to the CBN.
He explained that the intervention by the apex bank was to enable the farmers to embark on massive cotton production, in an effort to boost Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) industries in the country.
“Already, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed with the military and para-military agencies in the country to produce their uniforms from the local textiles industries thereby boost the country’s economy,” he said.
He pointed out that the association had already commenced a loan recovery process from the cotton farmers in the three North-East Region states.
The president said that through the CBN’s anchor borrowers programme, CTG industries in the country were revived and have started generating employment for the teeming youths.
The National Vice President of NACOTAN, Alhaji Musa Yahaya, said that 28, 000 farmers in Northeast were expected to produce 1000 tons of cotton each at the end of the farming season.
“The N6.4 billion allocated to the three states in the Northeast sub-region is to strengthen 28,000 members of NACOTAN across Gombe, Adamawa and Taraba states,” Yahaya said.
The vice president added that the intervention programme by the CBN has encouraged cotton farmers in the three states and created jobs for thousands of youth as well as resuscitated cotton ginneries in the three states.
