FG to commercial banks: reduce lending rates for farmers
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the minister said government was committed to encourage youths to venture into modernizing agriculture by using mechanized farming inputs such as machines for planting spraying tilling and harvesting among others1 the minister pointed out that the government was committed to encourage youths participation in agriculture1 the banks do not give consideration to the gestation period before they start the charges this is a big challenge1 nigerias banks interest rates have been viewed as one of the highest in the world1 there is no farmer that could survive the high interest rates something needs to be done because it poses a big threat to food security and development of agriculture1 the minister said government was committed to the development of agriculture as part of the determination to feed the growing population1 to this end the federal government was determined to provide more mechanized farming inputs to farmers in the country to boost food production he said1 some banks are saying that the lowest they can give is 25 per cent interest on their loans and no farmer can survive with this rate1 also prof. titus awokuse department of agriculture food and resource economy michigan state university u.s. said the university and the department had worked in partnership with research and teaching institutions in west africa for 50 years1 awokuse who is the chairman of the occasion said the institution would continue to work towards the development of agriculture in nigeria and african countries1 dr george mavrotas chief of the project head of ifpri nigeria office noted that ifpri work centres around six strategic research areas with gender as cross cutting theme1 according to him ifpri is working to ensure sustainable food production by enhancing groundwater governance promoting healthy food system improving markets and trade building resilience and strengthening institutions and governance1 mavrotas said ifpri would always do its best to ensure adequate policy for the development of the nigerian agriculture1 he said this had become imperative because through adequate policies and research programme food systems could be strengthened to better serve the interest of smallholder farmers and the poor consumers1 participants at the conference were drawn from various sectors of agriculture to deliberate on food security nutrition challenges food system transformation and climate change among others1