World Bank plans to boost Fadama III

World Bank plans to boost Fadama III

The Fadama III task team leader, Dr Bola Adubi, has said that the World Bank plans to introduce a micro credit scheme as a component of the ongoing programme.

Adubi disclosed this on Friday, while speaking with newsmen in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital.
 
Credit scheme

He said that the scheme, which will operate as a cooperative society, was aimed at ensuring the sustainability of the programme after its official closure date in 2017 and to enable beneficiaries to sustain and enhance their income as well as their investment profile.
 
“Since the inception of the Fadama III programme, we have asked the beneficiaries to make savings from the income being generated from their gains; this will serve as part of the fund to start the scheme,’’ he said.

Adubi said that the World Bank would source for more financial support from the Rockefeller Foundation, among others, to kick-start the scheme.

Federating user

He said that an “enduring” strategy had been worked out to federate all the Fadama Users Groups with a view to transforming them into a micro credit cooperative society.
 
He argued that federating the users would enable them to pool resources, leverage on credit and negotiate to market their products to achieve the desired results.

Programme so far

On the achievements recorded by the programme, the official said that Fadama III had improved the living standard of the beneficiaries by increasing their income, making them more cohesive and ensuring sustainability of the agricultural sector.
 
“Fadama III has opened up so many rural roads, linked farmers to markets, increased their productivity and income. It has also improved food security and reduced poverty on an economically and environmentally sustainable basis,’’ he said.

He expressed the hope that with the progress recorded so far, the country would record less of post-harvest losses while the problem of lack of storage facility would soon be solved.

NAN/Williams