The Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) now-suspended Anchor Borrowers' Programme (ABP) has been declared a failure by the National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Kabir Kebram, who said the scheme lacked the structural integrity to support smallholder farmers and agribusinesses.
According to Kebram, AFAN distanced itself from the intervention from inception, having assessed that it would not deliver sustainable value to farmers or small-scale agricultural entrepreneurs. "As AFAN, we did not participate in the programme because our initial analysis showed us that the scheme was going to fail. It was not going to work," he stated.
Introduced in 2015 by the CBN under former Governor Godwin Emefiele, the ABP was designed to boost local food production by providing credit and input support to smallholder farmers. While official data shows more than four million farmers across 21 commodities were reached, industry stakeholders have continued to raise concerns about poor loan recovery, lack of accountability, and the exclusion of genuine farmers.
The scheme, which was supposed to strengthen agri-SMEs through guaranteed off-take agreements and improved market access, reportedly disbursed over N1 trillion. However, with a loan repayment rate of just 40%, and a default rate nearing 60%, it failed to meet its core goals of sustainability, empowerment, and sector-wide productivity.
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Kebram noted that the programme's failure was compounded by political interference and mismanagement, including the legal troubles faced by Emefiele. "He [Emefiele] is in jail because of this and still has problems because of the money that was used there," he remarked.
The CBN, now under Governor Yemi Cardoso, has halted all intervention programmes including the ABP, citing the need for a more accountable and market-aligned approach to development finance.
The collapse of the ABP has reignited calls for SME-focused agricultural financing models that prioritize transparency, inclusiveness, and strong value chain linkages — critical elements for job creation, food security, and rural economic development.
