The Head, Agriculture Finance, StanbicIBTC Bank Jerry Gushop, has said that efforts by the Federal Government to structurally transform the Nigerian economy will yield immediate fruits if the value chain development model, including value chain financing, is adopted in the agriculture sector.
Gushop made this remark during his presentation at the 2015 AgrikExpo held in Lagos, recently.
In the presentation, which looked at the role of commercial banks in the agriculture value chain finance, he said that agriculture represents an opportunity sector whose huge economic potential remains largely untapped.
“Value chain development/financing has almost become a magic formula for sustainable agricultural investments. A value chain is a whole range of activities and services required to bring a product or service from idea or input stage to the market,” Gushop said.
He said the value chain model becomes necessary because it can quickly plug the production and financing gap in the industry while unlocking its potential by targeting the whole range of activities in the sector.
He identified the twin problems of low agricultural productivity and paucity of required affordable financing that continues to limit to 22 percent the sector’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
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