Mr. Kenneth Osanebi, Head Project, Monitoring, Reporting and Remediation (PMRO) Office in Ibadan, (also known as NIRSAL Office) recently sensitized livestock and crop farmers on NIRSAL role in Agribusiness Funding at a Fund for Agribusiness Seminar in Ibadan.
The Dr. Omotoso -led Fund for Agribusiness seminar was held at the board room, ANCE building, Jericho Ibadan, and had in attendance the Oyo State Director of Rural Development & project coordinator for RAAMP, Dr. Yode Ayanlowo, representative of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and farmers from across South West, Nigeria.
Mr. Osanebi who was originally invited to grace the occasion with his team, seized the opportunity to enlighten farmers, expatiate on the operations of the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) in Oyo State and proffer answers to the long bugging questions of funding that farmers persistently ask.
He started by reiterating the evident collapse of oil boom, shares and real estate in Nigeria which have informed the decision of the Federal government to focus more on agriculture as a means of salvaging the nation’s economy.
He said NIRSAL started as a department in Central bank of Nigeria in 2011 saddled with the responsibility of dealing with risk sharing and management until 2013 when the federal government ordered NIRSAL to stand alone as a Public Limited Company (PLC) fully funded by the CBN.
NIRSAL is the brain-child of three bodies; Central Bank of Nigeria, Bankers Committee (a committee that has all the Managing Directors of Commercial banks as its member) and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) in 2011 before it was incorporated in 2013.
Mr. Osanebi simplified NIRSAL operation to farmers present at the seminar using the 5 pillars of NIRSAL. These pillars are:
• Risk Sharing
• Insurance
• Technical Assistance
• Bank rating
• Bank Incentives
“Most commercial banks do not like financing agricultural sector because of the perceived risk associated with agricultural practices. However, NIRSAL through its risk sharing models is de-risking agriculture and facilitating agribusiness”, He added.
While explaining the insurance pattern adopted by NIRSAL, Mr. Osanebi said NIRSAL is not an insurance company but NIRSAL work continually with insurance companies to develop insurance products that is favorable to farmers. An example of such product is the NIRSAL Comprehensive Index Insurance (NCII).
NCII is an insurance product developed by NIRSAL and six (6) insurance companies in Nigeria. The NCII covers the Price Index, the Yield Index and Life Insurance.
He also emphasized that NIRSAL provides technical assistance to farmers through capacity building sessions.
He concluded that NIRSAL has launched a National Microfinance Bank in order to loan funds to farmers and other business owners with interest that ranges between 12 – 18% per annum. The NIRSAL microfinance bank is intended to be located at every post office in all local governments in Nigeria. Meanwhile, the NIRSAL Microfinance bank has commenced operation already at the Ibadan North West Post Office, Dugbe.
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