SEIFAC/CBN ANCHOR BORROWERS PROGRAMME

The central bank of Nigeria in line with its mission of fostering national growth and development established the anchor borrowers program on November 17, 2015, to help boost the nation’s agricultural sector.

The program introduced under the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration is intended to help create a link between anchor companies and smallholders farmers (SHF’s) of key agricultural commodities by providing loans, agricultural equipment, and blueprints on how to tackle farming challenge.

Since the establishment of the anchor borrowers program, several scheme and incentives have been set up by the CBN, and one of those which have stood out is the SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program.

SEIFAC, an acronym for smallholders economic interest farmers agricultural co-operative, is an anchor company in conjunction with the central bank of Nigeria that provides smallholders farmers, which are its members with loans, to start, grow or sustain their farm business.

The purpose of the SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program is to encourage and support small scale farmers through the provision of employment in exchange for growing key farm products that are needed by the nation populace.

The strategy is aimed to cut on the importation of farm produce that can be locally grown, thereby improving national revenue and development.

SEIFAC, like most anchor companies, has an agricultural product cluster (agro-PC) model that lists the farm products its members must select from in order to access its loans.

Some of these required farm produce includes cereals (maize, wheat, rice, e.t.c.), root and tubers (yam, cassava, potatoes, ginger, e.t.c.), cotton, tree crops (rubber, oil palm, cocoa, e.t.c.), sugarcane, tomato, legumes (cowpea, sesame, soybean, e.t.c.) e.t.c.

These products are considered key products, and according to the central bank of Nigeria, growing them locally will help boost local consumption, decrease their heavy importation and encourage a closed spending cycle.

Hence any new farmer hoping to benefit from the SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program must be willing to grow any of the product in its agricultural product cluster (agro-PC) model.

WHO CAN APPLY FOR THE SEIFAC/CBN ANCHOR BORROWERS PROGRAMME

While SEIFAC specifies that only members are eligible for its loans, pretty much anyone with interest in farming can access its loans as becoming a member and registering into any of the required product in its agricultural product cluster (agro-PC) is completely free.

There is, however, an age limit for application as applicants not up to 18 years of age cannot apply and gain access to loans.

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE SEIFAC/CBN ANCHOR BORROWERS PROGRAMME

Since its introduction, the SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program has provided its members with loans yearly, with the most recent being that of the 2021/2022 wet cropping season loan program, with data collection currently going on.

As stated before, anyone can apply for this program and stand a chance to receive loans as long as they are members. Hence, in four easy to follow comprehensive step, we shall explain how to get a SEIFAC membership account as a new applicant and successfully apply for both the ongoing 2021/2022 batch and subsequent batches.

Step 1: CREATE A SEFIAC/CBN ANCHOR BORROWERS PROGRAMME ACCOUNT

As already stated, SEIFAC only grants loans to its registered members. As a beginner, it is imperative to first create a SEIFAC profile account that will enable you to register as a new member of the program. With a SEIFAC account, you will be able to register as a member of SEIFAC and apply for the SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program and every other service or program offered by SEIFAC.

After creating the account, you will be assigned a personal username and password, which you can use to log into your profile and access your data in the future.

STEP 2: REGISTER AS A SEIFAC MEMBER

To register as a member, you will have to select one of the enterprise crops out of the different options available in the SEIFAC agricultural product cluster model (agro-PC).

You will have to provide some biodata to complete the SEIFAC smallholder farms membership registration. The categories of information to be supplied includes personal details, address information, parent data, next of kin data, documents data, disability data, and physical features.

STEP 3: APPLYING FOR THE LOAN

While the first two steps above were for beginners who are not yet registered SEIFAC members, this step and subsequent ones are for all registered members who seek to apply for the loan.

To apply:

1. Log in to your profile and apply for the SEIFAC/CBN ABP for the 2021/2022 wet cropping season.
2. Select the preferred crop production enterprise of interest.
3. Note that the choice of selected crop enterprise should be made with consideration to geographical location, competitive advantage, soil suitability, and planting season.

STEP 4: PROJECT ACCOUNT

After successfully applying for the loan, the next step will be to create a SEIFAC project account. This is the account the loan request, if approved, will be sent to. It is recommended to open the project account with SEIFAC approved banks. The authorized banks will be sent to the email address provided during registration and posted on the SEIFAC official website.

With all of these steps carried out, you will have successfully applied for the SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program.

Note that It is essential that all information supplied during application are accurate and crosschecked before submission to avoid mix up that could mar the receiving of the loan. It is also important to regularly visit the SEIFAC official site in case of any updates or deadline submissions.

Finally, you can apply for the 2021/2022 SEIFAC/CBN anchor borrowers program by visiting https://seifac.org/register

PAYMENT OF LOAN

According to the central bank of Nigeria concerning the anchor borrowers program, loans granted to smallholder farmers will be repaid with harvested produce,

which will be mandatorily delivered to the anchor’s designated locations in line with any provisional agreement reached.

This mode of loan payment stands with SEIFAC except otherwise stated. Also, the interest to be paid alongside the loaned capital is usually communicated on loan approval.