600,000 Farmers to Get Loan from FCMB
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has partnered with Mercy Corps, an international aid organisation, to provide farming-friendly and demand-driven financial services to vulnerable people and smallholder farmers in Nigeria’s North-East region. This partnership, supported by the USAID-funded Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, is a landmark intervention that will provide funding and capacity-building support to people living in the conflict-affected states of Adamawa, Borno, Gombe, and Yobe.
The Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity aims to facilitate economic recovery and growth in vulnerable, conflict-affected areas and sustainably move people out of chronic poverty through expanded opportunities. This partnership will deliver agricultural inputs, financial services, and literacy programs to smallholder farmers and micro-enterprises working in the agricultural and non-agricultural sectors, with a particular interest in young people and women.
Speaking during the MoU signing ceremony on August 25, 2021, in Lagos, the Managing Director of FCMB, Mrs. Yemisi Edun, expressed appreciation to Mercy Corps and other partners for their confidence in the bank’s capability to drive the initiative successfully. According to her, this partnership will significantly improve the living standards of farmers and other vulnerable people by boosting food sufficiency and reducing poverty. It will also de-escalate insecurity in the North-East, which aligns with FCMB’s commitment to creating opportunities for individuals and businesses to attain their growth potential.
The Country Director of Mercy Corps Nigeria, Mr. Ndubisi Anyanwu, said that they are extremely proud to be supporting initiatives that drive recovery and increase investment in North-East Nigeria. Mercy Corps has been working in the region, implementing several programs that aim to sustainably transition people in conflict-affected areas out of humanitarian assistance to recovery through development.
The Chief of Party, Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, Mrs. Margarita Aswani, expressed her delight that this partnership would enable FCMB to adapt its loan products and offerings to fit the context in North-East Nigeria. The partnership will empower farmers, small ruminant producers, and microenterprise owners to grow their businesses and increase yields. The Activity aims to facilitate access to national and international technical expertise to support FCMB’s strategies for expanding to new and emerging agricultural markets in North-East Nigeria.
The FCMB and Mercy Corps intervention targets maize, cowpea, groundnuts, rice production, and animal husbandry. The beneficiaries will have access to financial services, agricultural inputs, and literacy programs. This intervention will support the economic growth of smallholder farmers and micro-enterprises and sustainably move people out of chronic vulnerability and poverty through expanded opportunities.
This partnership is a bold and landmark intervention that will have a positive impact on the lives of vulnerable people in Nigeria’s North-East region. By providing farming-friendly and demand-driven financial services, this initiative will improve food sufficiency and reduce poverty, which will ultimately de-escalate insecurity in the region. The partnership aligns with FCMB’s commitment to creating opportunities for individuals and businesses to attain their growth potential and with Mercy Corps’ efforts to sustainably transition people in conflict-affected areas out of humanitarian assistance to recovery through development.