Leadership (Abuja)
Aminu Imam
9 September 2008
As part of efforts to ensure that the non-oil sector contributes its quota to the economic growth of the country, the Federal Government has guaranteed a loan of N3,161.06 million under the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) between January and August this year.
According to the figures published on its website on Monday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) disclosed that the number of loans guaranteed by ACGSF, as at August 2008, stood at N28,915 million valued at N3,161.06 million. The food crop sector received the highest guaranteed loan valued at N2,351 million, followed by livestock which recorded N537.43 million, while cash crops and fisheries were granted N115.45 million and N109.92 million respectively.
Further analysis of the credit granted under food crops sub-sector showed that N194.69 million was invested in vegetables, N1,665.56 million went to grains, while N520.51 million was invested in tuber foods.In the livestock sub-sector, N391.46 million was approved for investment in poultry, while N101.10 million went to cattle under the scheme.
Cummulatively, the federal government has disbursed loans totalling N22,499.58 million since the inception of the scheme in 1978.
A breakdown of the approval showed that mixed farming sub-sector received N64.74 million, while livestocks and fisheries received N2,331.30 million and N545.46 million respectively during the period under review. In major areas of the agricultural sector, the money that was invested under the scheme included cotton, groundnut, cocoa, ginger, rubber, oil palm, soya beans and poultry, among others.
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