Poor funding, infrastructure crippling agric lending — CBN

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has identified poor funding and inadequate infrastructure as major challenges limiting access to finance for Nigerian farmers. Dr. Michael Ononugbo, deputy director and special assistant in the Office of the Deputy Governor, Economic Policy Directorate, highlighted the structural weaknesses in the country's agricultural finance system, rather than a mere shortage of capital.

Ononugbo's remarks were made at the National Close-Out Conference of the Global Project for the Promotion of Agricultural Finance for Agri-based Enterprises in Rural Areas, known as GP AgFin Nigeria, which reached 101,449 farmers and agribusinesses across 10 states. The CBN official emphasized that smallholder farmers and rural enterprises face numerous challenges, including fragmented landholdings, limited access to technology, weak infrastructure, and volatile commodity prices, which make conventional lending difficult.

He also pointed out the need for greater emphasis on agricultural research and innovation, warning that poorly structured, untimely, expensive financing arrangements may fail to improve productivity or even exacerbate the vulnerability of borrowers.

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