The Federal Government, in collaboration with the Niger State Government, has introduced plans to supply N300,000 interest-free loans to 600 small-scale farmers in the state, representing a possible disbursement of N180 million.
The initiative is being carried out by the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), beneath the National Social Investment Programme Agency (NSIPA), to enhance agricultural productiveness and assist smallholder farmers.
The National Programme Manager of GEEP, Hamza Baba, disclosed this on Saturday in Minna in the course of the graduation of the FarmerMoni enumeration train and coaching of GEEP desk officers drawn from the state’s 25 native authorities areas.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Baba defined that the loans would allow farmers to buy agricultural inputs, broaden manufacturing and enhance their livelihoods.
FarmerMoni Offers N300,000 Interest-Free Loans
Baba mentioned every eligible farmer would obtain N300,000, repayable inside one yr, with reimbursement anticipated to start six months after the graduation of farming actions.
He defined that the intervention would cowl farmers concerned in crop cultivation, poultry, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture.
The programme can even contain the identification, registration and verification of beneficiaries to make sure that the funds attain lively farmers.
Key necessities for the enumeration train embrace:
- Digital images and biometric data.
- National Identification Numbers (NIN).
- Verified farm places and particulars of agricultural actions.
- Registration by designated GEEP desk officers.
Baba added that the company would collaborate with the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) and native authorities officers to watch mortgage utilisation and reimbursement.
Niger State Introduces Farmer Verification Measures
The Niger State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Ibrahim Inga, described the initiative as a part of efforts to enhance current poverty discount programmes in the state.
He mentioned the involvement of related stakeholders would strengthen transparency and be certain that solely real farmers benefited from the intervention.
Similarly, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Social Investment Programme, Hauwa Mohammed, mentioned desk officers had been geared up with tablets to seize farmers’ particulars and farmland places.
She defined that the digital registration course of would assist forestall fictitious beneficiaries from accessing the loans.
FG Expands Agricultural Financing Programmes
The FarmerMoni initiative is a part of the Federal Government’s broader efforts to broaden agricultural financing and enhance entry to credit score for small-scale producers.
In March 2026, Nairametrics reported that the Federal Government permitted a N250 billion facility for the Bank of Agriculture to supply smallholder farmers with loans at single-digit rates of interest.
In September, the Nigeria Commodity Exchange and Bank of Agriculture launched a price guarantee scheme focusing on 500,000 farmers in its first part, with plans to broaden to 2 million beneficiaries.
Earlier, the Federal Government and BOA introduced an agricultural financing programme geared toward rising annual grain manufacturing from roughly 11 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes.
The Niger State intervention differs from these broader financing programmes by providing interest-free loans on to a focused group of 600 farmers.
