Abia State government has deployed 302 youths to the farms as part of its efforts to ensure food security and provide job opportunities in the agricultural sector of the economy.
The young Abia farmers have already been trained in modern farming techniques at the CSS Farms in Nasarawa State on the sponsorship of Abia government.
The State Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu told newsmen yesterday at a media briefing in government house that the disbursement of interest-free loans to the young farmers has commenced.
Governor Alex Otti had in September flagged off the interest free loan scheme through his Chief of Staff, Caleb Ajagba, saying that the trained farmers would be supported to put into practice what they had learnt.
The financial incentive which is operated as a revolving interest free loan is valued at close to N1 billion from which beneficiaries would draw funds to engage in farming.
But Kanu said that the loan would not be treated as seeds dispersed indiscriminately, noting that “the Ministry of Agriculture will ensure a guided disbursement of the loans to ensure that there is no abuse of the scheme”.
He said that the disbursement will be cartied out in tranches, adding that the size of the loan would depend on the agric venture undertaken by individual young farmers.
“Beneficiaries will not be given one balloon payment. Rather, the disbursement will be in tranches on milestones that will be tied to the level of extent of work done by the beneficiaries,” he said.
Kanu explained that the safety measures adopted in the disbursements “are to ensure that the loans are adequately utilised”.
The Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Cliff Agbaeze, who was part of the media briefing, threw more light on the agriculture loan scheme, saying it was targeted at the first batch of the CSS-trained youth farmers.
He explained that the interest free loan for the young farmers ranges between N1 million and N3 mifrom one to three million naira depending on the agric venture undertaken by each beneficiary.
Agbaeze assured the freshly trained youth farmers that the Agric Ministry would see them through the process of obtaining the loan and monitor their progress in farming.