80% of farmers still unable to access loans – CBN

Central Bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso has stated that access to credit is critical to efficiency in the agriculture value chain while noting that 80% of farmers are still facing challenges accessing credit. Cardoso made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday while inaugurating the newly constituted Board of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), to […]

Central Bank governor, Olayemi Cardoso has stated that access to credit is critical to efficiency in the agriculture value chain while noting that 80% of farmers are still facing challenges accessing credit.
Cardoso made the disclosure in Abuja on Tuesday while inaugurating the newly constituted Board of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), to improve lending to the agricultural sector.
Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the move marks a new dawn for agricultural financing in the country, noting that the revitalised scheme will play a central role in expanding affordable credit to farmers, boosting food security and supporting broader economic growth.
He noted that despite agriculture contributing more than one-fifth of Nigeria’s GDP and employing nearly two-thirds of the population, the sector still receives less than five per cent of total bank credit.

 

The CBN boss described the gap as unacceptable, stressing that the country can no longer continue with the “business-as-usual” approach that has stifled the sector’s potential for decades.

 

Smallholder farmers – who make up 80% of Nigeria’s farmers and account for about 90% of our agricultural production continue to face high barriers in accessing affordable credit. Many lack collateral or credit history and are perceived as high-risk by conventional lenders.

 

“This is a structural anomaly we can no longer afford, given that these same smallholders feed our nation and drive our rural economy,” he said

 

Subsequently, Cardoso said, “The ACGSF must therefore assume a transformative role in closing the agricultural credit gap. It should not simply guarantee loans as a formality, but actively catalyze an expansion of lending to agriculture on affordable terms.”

 

The inauguration of the new Board, he said, reaffirms the commitment to reposition agriculture as a core priority within the financial system and national policy.

 

In his response, Chairman of the Board, Dr. Olusegun Oshin said the fund will also look at the agri-business and allied areas.

 

“Technology is important, we will push for ensuring that we monitor the funds to the point of need.”

 

He added that the scheme must focus on the grassroots, where the majority of farmers struggle without credit or storage facilities.

 

He told the gathering that “those that feed us are those weak, poor farmers very far away in the villages and who don’t have access to credit,” adding that even when they manage to raise funds, “they don’t even store it properly because they don’t have the capacity for storage.”

 

Oshin said the board would ensure the fund was impactful at the level of peasant farmers and smallholders.