Nigerian farmers: you can now get a loan from CBN

WTo start commercial farming in a large scale that will produce food to the market in Nigeria you will need to seek every support needed to make your farm a success.

This support should come in the form of cash from individuals or corporate organisations to help in getting the right seedlings, equipments and also hiring the best hands and professionals.

Getting a loan in Nigeria to start or support an already existing farm is not as easy as said on paper. Most banks, for an example hardly partner with farmers probably because of the long time it takes for turnovers or harvest to be made.

Getting a loan from commercial banks in Nigerian today is not as easy as one would think, even if there is a program in place that is designed to help farmers, the criteria to qualify for such will be made very difficult.

Being a farming who is bent on getting necessary financial support for your farm, you shouldn’t be discourage yet because this article will give you a definite path to follow so as to successfully get a loan from the government.

How Is It Possible To Borrow Money From CBN?

This article will explain in details steps that will make it easy to get loan to support your farm, it will be detailed enough, all you need to do is just read to the last page as we take you the journey on how to get an interest free loan from the CBN.

What is CBN Agricultural Loan Program about ?

The Central Bank of Nigeria has recently introduced a program specially designed for farmers in Nigeria, this program is called the Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) or CBN Agric Loan.

It will interest you to know that the federal government of Nigeria already has other schemes on ground like the
Interest Draw-back scheme, Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme (ACGS) and Agricultural Credit Support Scheme.

Through the Debt Management Office (DMO), the federal government of Nigeria has successfully secured ₦200billion three (3) year bond domicile in participating commercial banks in Nigeria.

The state government are not left out of the scheme, the federal government has created a window that will see state government borrow at least 1 billion naira to help farmer’s cooperative societies stand to their feet.

How Can I Be Part Of This Program As A Farmer or Agro-based Entrepreneur?

Meet the minimum requirement : having an agro-based business whose net worth is at least 1 million naira. This should either be in seedlings or equipments and not landed property.

Having the ability to generate 250 million naira in 3 years time.

You must be involved in the following agricultural production:

A. Cash Crops: These include Cotton, Fruit Trees, Palm Oil, Rubber, Sugar Cane, Carcus and Cocoa.

B. Food Crops: This classification include Vegetables and Tomatoes, Maize, Cassava,Rice, Millet, Wheat, Beans.

C. Poultry: This area includes Broilers and Eggs production in sufficient amounts.

D. Livestock: Fishery, Piggery, Cow, Catfish and Fingerlings

E. Food Processing: This include Threshing, Feed mills development and pulverization.

F. Storage: This includes Agrochemicals, good and well-equipped warehouse, and other important commodities for food preservation.

Here are Factors you should Consider Before Applying For CBN LOAN for farmers :

Whats the size the farm in question : commercial farmers will easily get access to loan than subsistence farmer who produce just for themselves. Commercial Agriculture Credit Scheme (CACS) is available for commercial farmers only who are producing in large quantities.

Collateral: you should have asset that will be acceptable as collateral.

private financial organizations,Banks, and CBN will ask for these collateral before they can extend a line of credit to farmers.

Consider the interest rate : interest rate should be the first factor to consider. A loan with a high interest rate won’t be the best for an agro based business whose harvest is either once or twice a year.CBN naira exchange rate

Have a definite budget : you need a financial statement that that should describe how the business needs to raise a capital , allocate and spend its resources. This will help investors and financial institutions help judge if the business is loan worthy or not.