‘FG must support farmers with credit facilities’

Ododa who was speaking with reporters in his banana plantation, stressed that most of the claims about government granting farmers credit facilities do not reflect the realities on ground.“Most of us find it extremely difficult to get soft loans from the government. Most of what they say is on paper. In reality, majority of the […]

Ododa who was speaking with reporters in his banana plantation, stressed that most of the claims about government granting farmers credit facilities do not reflect the realities on ground.
“Most of us find it extremely difficult to get soft loans from the government. Most of what they say is on paper. In reality, majority of the farmers who want to expand their farms find it difficult to get loan,” Ododa who is also an evangelist, stressed.
The clergyman-cum-farmer who is into fishery and fish feed production,  banana and other seedlings production, stated that government must support farmers with credit facilities to increase their production capacity.
“We rely mostly on the micro finance banks for soft loans. Once the micro finance banks come to your farm and assess what you are doing, they will give you loan without any stringent conditions for collateral. But other banks will ask for huge collateral which in most cases we don’t have,” he lamented.
Ododa recently launched his local fish feed into the market to, in his words, “increase farmers’ profit” through low cost of production, adding that the feed cost N2,500 per 16kg bag.
He expressed desire to expand his orchard and fishery farms if given the necessary financial support, noting also that the agribusiness training programme he runs for youth will be repositioned to provide adequate support to youth who seek opportunities in the agricultural sector.