Nigeria has set aside N15 billion ($92 million) to aid farmers in the 2013 farming season through the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) at single digit interest rate.

Speaking at the close of the 19th Nigerian Economic Summit on Thursday, Nigeria’s Vice President, Namadi Sambo said this is in line with the government’s agriculture transformation plan.

He stated that Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Jonathan has given the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) a go ahead to provide cheaper funds for agriculture and also to allow other investors to participate fully in the sector, adding that the country’s Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is also working on establishing the Nigeria Development Bank to allow for access to long-term funding for infrastructure development at low interest rates in the country.

Sambo also noted that the approval for the privatisation of the Commodities Exchange had been given by the President.

The revival of the commodities exchange would help to ensure that farmers had a market for their produce for sustainability of agricultural production, the Vice President said.

On the growth of agriculture in the country, Sambo noted that the government has succeeded in ending decades of corruption in agriculture as over 3.5 million small scale farmers across the country had received fertilizers and seeds this year via an innovative mobile phone technology.

“The face of agriculture has changed in this country, and it is refreshing. Agriculture is no longer a development programme. Agriculture is now a business.”

He however promised that all bottlenecks will be addressed to allow for the growth and development of agriculture, adding that the government would continue to accelerate the construction and rehabilitation of roads and railways to ease the movement of farm produce from the rural to urban areas.