PHOTO: KEMI FILANI
BUA Gives N600m Interest-free Loan To 2,000 Kano Rice Farmers
Rice farmers under the auspices of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) have assured Nigerians that by June; a 50kg bag of rice will sell at N10, 000. The national president of RIFAN, Aminu Goronyo, who gave this assurance, disclosed that the price slash is possible because rice farmers under the association now have direct access to fertiliser. “Fertiliser was a very big challenge, but today it has become history. We have signed MoU where the fertiliser is sold N5, 500 per bag as a government policy.
“We have already achieved rice sufficiency in the last two years because all the rice we eat is grown here in the country. With the government clampdown on the land borders and the high exchange rate, no importer can import rice for profit. I assure you in the next two months, a 50kg bag of rice will come down to N10, 000, as against the present price of between N17, 000 and N21, 000.”
BUA Rice Milling Company, a subsidiary of BUA Group, in its commitment to boost domestic rice production, has disbursed a total of N600m interest-free loan to rice farmers in Kano State. In addition to the interest-free soft loan of N288, 000 each, improved seeds, fertilizers, pumping machines and other tools were distributed free to over 2,000 rice farmers in the state.
The occasion, which held in Imawa Village, Kura Local Council of Kano State, brought together rice farmers under the umbrella of RIFAN, Kano Chapter from Kano and Jigawa states.
In attendance to engage with the farmers and supervise the distribution of the farm inputs and tools was Kabiru Rabiu, the Group Executive Director (GED) of BUA Group, who expressed optimism on the mutual partnership between the rice farmers and BUA Rice Milling Company.
“Kano is one of the most potential states in the country for rice farming and BUA is happy to have successfully established a mutual benefitting partnership with the rice farmers,” he said.
He added that the non-interest loan, which is directly from the company’s capital, granted to the farmers, was BUA’s gesture of encouraging the farmers to increase their yields and support government’s plan towards diversifying the economy into agriculture.
As 2,000 beneficiaries were reached during this pilot phase, BUA is targeting 50,000 farmers to benefit from the scheme in the next four years with a target of a minimum of a million tonnes from Kano alone.