N10bn Farmers-to-finance fund will reduce poverty and enhance growth – Osinbajo

Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo said the newly inaugurated N10 billion Farmers-to-Finance-Mutual Funds would help reduce poverty and support local farmers to grow their businesses.
Osinbajo stated this in Abuja at the 2017 Conference of the Association of non-bank Micro-finance Institutions of Nigeria (ANMFIN) and launch of of its N10 billion Farmers-to-Finance-Mutual Funds.
He said that the newly established fund would complement the effort of the Federal Government at increasing agricultural output, ensuring food security and the production of raw materials.
Osinbajo was represented at the event by the Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI) Olukayode Pitan.
He commended ANMFIN for the initiative directed at achieving financial inclusion by providing easy and affordable finance to farmers residing in rural areas.
“It is estimated that in Nigeria, those living below the poverty line constitute about 67 per cent, most of who resides in the rural areas and primarily practice subsistence farming.
“Therefore the elimination of poverty is not possible without sustained execution of agricultural development programmes.
“Given the scale of investments required to ensure sustained growth in the sector, private sector involvement is fundamental.
“One major avenue through which this can be achieved is through pooling of capital from private sources, such as the Farmers-to-Finance-Mutual Funds.”