The devastation caused by floods on hundreds of thousands of hectares of farmlands across the country currently poses a threat to the various agricultural schemes of the Central Bank of Nigeria worth over N1.874tn.
Farmers have also expressed fears regarding the repayment of about N1.4tn loans obtained from CBN under the schemes being implemented by the bank. The widespread floods ravaged and destroyed multi-billion-dollar farmlands covering a space of about 569,251 hectares of land, as crop cultivation has been put on hold on many of the affected farms.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, had revealed on Tuesday that over 569,000 hectares of farmlands had been destroyed by floods. “176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged, while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged,” Farouq had stated. Confirming this on Thursday, the President,
All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Kabir Ibrahim, said the 2022 floods had thrown thousands of farmers into confusion, stressing that the loans from CBN would definitely take the hit in terms of repayments.
“This year, because of the flooding of farmlands, so many farmers have lost the entire plantation that they cultivated. Jigawa State is a typical example. Most of the rice farms there were completely lost and this is the situation in many other states,” Ibrahim stated.
