This was disclosed at the end of a 5-day training workshop for agricultural value chain players in Kano organized by Nigeria Incentive-based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL).

Briefing newsmen at the end of the workshop, the NIRSAL zonal coordinating consultant in charge of Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina states, Alhaji Babagana Mustapha, said the essence of the workshop was to bring the players, particularly the farmers, to embrace the new trend in global agribusiness as a measure of increasing their income as farmers by raising their productivity level.

“We are optimistic that, if the knowledge and the new strategies we are teaching them are properly applied, it will raise their production level, improve their profit margin, ensure food security and reduce level of unemployment in the country,” he said

Similarly, Chairman National Association of Microfinance Banks, Kano Chapter Abdullahi Isa Nababa, who is also one of the participants, suggested that for effective utilization and disbursement agric finances should be channeled through microfinance banks for being the financial institutions closer to the farmers.

Most of the participants at the workshop believed that lenders were unwilling to lend to borrowers in the sector due to perceived risk and lack of appropriate finance products in the sector. However, they suggested that to address this challenge, lenders and borrowers must collaborate through the development of appropriate finance products that meet the financing needs of actors across the agricultural value chain.

Source: Daily Trust