Reps urge CBN to increase agricultural lending to 7%

The House of Representatives on Tuesday urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to raise agricultural lending from 1.4 percent to 7 percent over the next five years.

The House also urged the CBN to ensure that 50 percent of the lending goes to smallholder farmers through microfinance institutions, farmer cooperatives, and value-chain commodity associations.

This followed the adoption of a motion presented by the lawmaker from Anambra State, Uchenna Okonkwo, during plenary in Abuja.

In his presentation, Okonkwo attributed Nigeria’s struggling economy, widespread poverty, and increasing hunger to declining agricultural productivity driven by low capital investment and insufficient funding.

He expressed concern that despite agriculture contributing 40 percent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and providing over 60 percent of employment, the sector had continued to experience slow growth and underperformance despite its vast potential.

Okonkwo recommended the allocation of an additional $3 billion to NIRSAL to support lending to players in the agricultural sector and reduce interest rates for borrowers to between 7.5 percent and 10.5 percent.

The House adopted the motion and directed the Committees on Banking Regulations, Agricultural Production and Services, Nutrition and Food Security, and Finance to monitor compliance and report back within four weeks for further legislative action. 

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