NAN-HE-16
Partnership
By Lucy Nwachukwu
Abuja, April 25, 2017 (NAN) The Association of Non-Bank Micro Finance Institutions of Nigeria (ANMFIN) said it was partnering with the Federal Government to increase income and enhance food security for its members.
Mr Godbless Safugha, Executive Secretary, ANMFIN, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday that the support to its members would be achieved through the Climate-Change Adaptation and Agribusiness Support Programme (CASP).
CASP is a Lead Programme Agency of the government under the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.
The CASP programme is a concessionary loan package by the Federal Government from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Rome, Italy.
Safugha said the objective of the CASP was to increase income, enhance food security and reduce vulnerability for smallholder farmers, particularly women and youths in the participating states.
He said the programme would ensure an accelerated economic growth on a sustainable basis.
Safugha said the programme would be carried out in seven states of the federation, covering 104 local government areas and 727 Villages.
He said ANMFIN’s collaboration with the CASP would enable the association to implement its Guarantee Fund, thereby providing wholesale resources for on lending purposes to Financial Service Associations.
“It will enable ANMFIN set up a Data Centre that will serve as the information hub for Financial Service Associations (FSA) and Rural Finance and also provide capacity building needs.
“It will also facilitate financial literacy and literacy training for FSAs, among others,’’ he said.
He said that both parties had promised to collaborate to ensure a successful implementation of the programme.
Safugha said that ANMFIN was established primarily to provide technical support services facilitation as might be necessary to its members, to contribute to meaningful improvement of policy implementation.
He said the association would continue to ensure that it met its mandate and also contributed its quota to the growth and development of the country.(NAN)
LCN/JPE/IA
Edited by Joseph Edeh/Idris Abdulrahman
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