RUFIN links 18,000 farmers’ cooperatives to credit

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with the federal government has said that 18,000 farmers’ groups have accessed micro credits through its Rural Financial Institution Building (RUFIN) programmes across 12 states.  The Deputy National Coordinator of RUFIN, Mrs. Unekwu Ufaruna, stated this during a media tour to assess beneficiaries’ progress in three […]

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in partnership with the federal government has said that 18,000 farmers’ groups have accessed micro credits through its Rural Financial Institution Building (RUFIN) programmes across 12 states. 
The Deputy National Coordinator of RUFIN, Mrs. Unekwu Ufaruna, stated this during a media tour to assess beneficiaries’ progress in three intervening local government areas of Benue State. 
According to Mrs. Ufaruna, RUFIN, which ends this year (2016), is a seven-year loan agreement between the federal government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in order to build the capacity of economically active poor and link them to formal financial institutions so as to establish viable rural financial systems in the villages. 
She said the aim of the programme was to boost agriculture and rural micro finance enterprises because, according to her “lack of access to finance and credit is the reason why the economically active poor remains poor.”   
The special adviser to the Benue State governor on Rural Development and Cooperative, Dr. Adzer Abya, said the state government appreciated the effort of FG/IFAD’s rural financial building capacity in the state, adding that the RUFIN programme, covers the cardinal objectives of the current administration in the state. 
Dr. Abya stressed that the state government was working hard to pay its counterpart fund of the programme, noting that the achievements so far recorded in the three local government areas have demonstrated the programme’s significance in the state. 
He appealed to the FG/IFAD to extend the programme’s life span in the state, adding that 90% of its people are rural farmers that needed access to the financial services.
The Special adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development on Agricultural Donor Fund,  Dr. Auta Appeh, who was on hand to assess the performance of the programme in the implementing areas, said he was  impressed with the beneficiaries’ success stories and what he had seen on ground. 
According to him, the programme demonstrated that farmers’ lives could be touched significantly by access to soft loans using group lending methodology. 
Most of the farmers that spoke to Daily Trust in their farms, said they were happy that the RUFIN initiative has built their capacity to be more economically active in their communities.