The United States Agency for International Development, USAID is working out modalities for financial inclusion of small holder farmers in North-East Nigeria under its Feed the Future rural resilience activity.
Speaking at the Access to Finance Dialogue in Abuja, the nation’s capital, Country Director, Mercy Corps Nigeria, Ndubuisi Anyanwu, said that USAID was already working with financial institutions to provide effective and efficient mechanisms that would enhance access to affordable financial products and services for small holder farmers in Nigeria.
Food security for Nigeria’s over 200 million population is largely dependent on small holder farmers.
Despite their importance, most of the farmers struggle to accumulate savings and capital, adopt technologies to boost production, mitigate risks and build resilience to shocks.
This Abuja dialogue, therefore, focuses on the need to ensure that the small holder farmers in conflict affected and vulnerable communities in the North-East
can access and use affordable formal financial services, known as financial inclusion.
The Access to Finance Dialogue is a one-day round table talkshop by the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, which is implemented by Mercy Corps in collaboration with International Fertilizer Development Centre, IFDC and Save the Children.
The theme for the event is “Financial Inclusion in North-East Nigeria: Do Disruptive Technologies Hold the Promise?”
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
