Benue Govt. urges farmers to form cooperatives to access loans easily


Benue Government has advised farmers in the state to form cooperative societies in order to benefit from the N3 billion loan accessed by the state.

Mr Adzer Abya, Special Adviser to Gov. Samuel Ortom on Rural Development and Cooperative, gave this advice while interacting with newsmen in Makurdi on Thursday.

According to him, they can only benefit from the loan when they form and register their cooperative societies.

“Form yourselves into group to form a cooperative society, then register with the Bureau for Rural Development and Cooperatives; that registration was one of the steps that could aid them to access loans easily.

“After the registration, I advise you to open accounts with Bank of Agriculture (BoA) because, it was the only medium that could issue out loans to farmers on behalf of government.”

The governor’s aide said that Gov. Samuel Ortom in his usual manner of magnanimity had decided to wave five per cent interest.

Abya stressed that instead of paying 10 per cent interest, farmers would only pay five per cent.

”This is aimed at encouraging farmers to put in their best in order to boost food production in the state, “he said.

He also advised farmers to always endeavour to participate in all Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) training programmes in order to be equipped and be abreast of latest developments.



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