Despite numerous government programs to support the local banks in lending to the agriculture sector, availability of credit to local producers remains highly constrained. Furthermore, when credit is rarely made available to Nigerian farmers and processors, the cost of debt finance is prohibitive. Indigenous owned agricultural production is suffering, and now large-scale foreign firms with low cost international financing are expanding operations at the expense of locals. These large-scale farms have a much lower level of social and economic impact then the equivalent production from smallholder farms.
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'...The Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said the major challenge inhibiting the desired development of the country’s agricultural sector was poor access to finance.'