16m farmers to be captured in FG biometric data base—BOA boss


The Federal Government says it will capture no fewer than 16 million farmers in a new biometric database to enable them benefit from intervention packages during the 2017 cropping season.

The Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Prof. Danbala Danju, said this on Sunday while signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Public Private Partnership (PPP) with Trans- Sahara Consortium, Nigeria.

Danju said the Federal Government would ensure that the registered farmers received all the needed inputs and loan facilities in record time to enhance production.

He said that the move would effectively address the challenge of food security, tackle poverty and create employment opportunities for more Nigerian farmers.

“The two parties agreed to capture at least 16 million farmers into alternative multi-application payment system for farmers to access loans and conduct all their agro-businesses within their farms,’’ he said

Sen. Saminu Turaki, who signed for Trans-Sahara Consortium, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) shortly after signing the MoU, that the 16 million farmers would be registered within the next three months.

“By May, we would have registered 16 million farmers on our biometric database to enable them receive all the inputs they need before the farming season commences.

“The Trans-Sahara Consortium will provide the database through EDAPT Technologies company and finance the project,’’ he said.

He said that no fewer than 500,000 Point-of Sale (POS) devices would be made available in various locations in villages for the registered farmers to access all the needed finances and pay for their inputs right at the farms.

“EDAPT Technologies will provide the system, comprising of Bank-End-Super-Structure to house two interlinked secure server platforms.

“The objective of the MoU is to secure biometric application which will assist participating entities with a tool to collect and capture the necessary clients information (KYC) for accurate reports,’’ Turaki said.

Turaki, a former governor of Jigawa, said the multi-purpose Client-Smart-Card would store farmers’ biometric fingerprint, personal data and electronic wallets.

“It is in form of a primary wallet for banking transactions to save and receive agriculture loans and purchase pre-described inputs as agro-dealers,’’ he said.


The Trans-Sahara Consortium is promoting the partnership for the economic benefit of the two parties as proceeds would be shared based on agreed percentages.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Monsanto Nigeria Launches 3 Conventional Maize Hybrids

Maize farmers across Nigeria now have 3 high yielding conventional maize hybrids to choose from the DEKALB ® brand as Monsanto Agriculture Nigeria Limited launches 3 conventional maize hybrids. The launch held in Abuja on Tuesday May 17 2016 had in attendance farmers, development partners, government regulatory bodies and other stakeholders from both the private and public sectors of the economy. The launch of these hybrid seeds follows their registration by the National Committee on Naming, Registration and Release of Crop Varieties, Livestock Breeds and Fisheries in February 2016. The white maize hybrid, DK234 alongside the 2 yellow maize hybrids, DK920 and DK818 obtained registration approval for use in Nigeria after testing across various agro ecological zones on multi-location farms. The white maize hybrid DK234 with yield potential of 13 tonnes per hectare is well adapted for the Southern and Northern Guinea Savanna ecologies and shows tolerance to Maize Streak Virus, ...
Read more

10,000 women farmers to be engaged in ECOWAS rice project – official

Image
 Mr Richard Olafare, the President, Seed Entrepreneurs Association of Nigeria (SEEDAN) says 10,000 women will be engaged in the recently inaugurated Rice Seed Up-Scaling Project. This is contained in a presentation on the project made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday. Olafare said 8,000 youths would also be engaged in the scaling project. According to him, the number of women and youths represented 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively of the 20,000 farmers that will participate in the project. NAN reports that the project is an initiative of the West Africa Seed Programme (WASP) in support of the ECOWAS Rice Offensive Programme that was inaugurated in 2014. Among other objectives, it is targeting the production of 60,000 metric tonnes of paddy rice for Nigeria by December 2017, using 1,200 certified seeds. The project is being implemented by SEEDAN in collaboration with the West and Central Africa Council for Agricultura...
Read more

Tomato disease outbreak: Institute appeals for research funding

The National Horticultural Research Institute, Ibadan, has appealed for funding to carry out research and create awareness on the tuta absoluta pest on tomatoes. The Institute’s Head of Vegetable Programme, Dr Olagorite Adetula, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Friday that there was an urgent need to tackle the problem to save the economy. Adetula said the institute needed money to do surveillance survey of the pest/damage, ascertain the impact of the damage and proffer solution for eradicating the pest. She appealed to the Federal Government to help the institute get pheromones to lure and trap the pests and distribute to farmers. ``Spraying insecticides is not the best, the pest has high production rate, some of them can escape while spraying it and they will be resistant to the insecticide thereby causing us more cost. ``The pheromones can be used for six to eight weeks before changing it, it is very effective, the pest has short life cycle, wit...
Read more