NAN-AE-1
RUFIN
Abuja, Aug.29, 2017 (NAN) Some beneficiaries of the Rural Finance Institution-Building Programme (RUFIN), have appealed to the Federal Government to re-introduce and adopt it nationally to boost efforts toward poverty reduction.
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) executed RUFIN in 12 pilot states from 2010 to May.
The programme was funded through a 27.2 million dollars loan agreement between IFAD and the Federal Government.
The aim of the programme was to develop and strengthen micro-finance banks and similar institutions to enhance credit access to rural dwellers.
The objective was to expand and improve agricultural productivity and Micro-Small Rural Enterprises toward reducing poverty, especially among youths and women.
It lays the foundation for the long-term development of a sustainable rural financial system that will eventually operate throughout the country.
The beneficiary states were Adamawa, Bauchi, Katsina, Zamfara, Benue, Nasarawa, Lagos, Oyo, Imo, Anambra, Edo and Akwa Ibom.
In interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, the beneficiaries said RUFIN had impacted positively on their social and economic wellbeing.
Mr Omoseyinde Johnson said RUFIN made positive impacts on the lives of beneficiaries and communities and needed to be sustained.
Johnson, a member of Lofi Men and Women Cooperative Society in Ejirin, Epe, Lagos State, said the programme empowered women and vulnerable persons economically.
He said the programme should be extended it to states that did not benefit from the pilot stage, adding that its continuity would re-engender public trust in government activities.
Johnson said RUFIN could be redesigned and better funded to strengthen better coordination between government and implementers.
“If adopted and extended to every part of the country, it will uplift the rural people living below the poverty line by 2020 and serve as a weapon to fight poverty,’’ he said.
Hajia Aminat Shabi, the President of Lagos State Council of Tradesmen and Artisans and Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd, said the group recorded huge success through RUFIN.
Shabi listed some achievements of members of the group through RUFIN in the last five years.
“My members have expanded their farms, sales outlets and workshops because we had the opportunity to access loans through the programme.
“We have been finding it easy to repay the loan because the repayment term is convenient and no pressure like other banks,’’ she said.
Mrs Roselyn Apebe, a member, Able Farmers’ Cooperative Society in Agbowa-Ikosi, Lagos State, said the RUFIN narrative proved bookmakers wrong.
According to her, one of the lessons from RUFIN has been that development programme, if well-structured and planned, will achieve the desired success.
“RUFIN’s intervention and achievements in only three Local Government Areas in the state set the tone for replication in other areas in Nigeria,’’ she said.
Apebe said the continuation of the programme would further bridge the supply gap for rural finance services in the implementation of agricultural programmes.
Mr Boniface Uranta, a beneficiary of RUFIN in Anambra, said the programme provided solutions and innovations for poor rural households to have more access to financial services.
Mrs Bimpe Ogunleye, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Bowen Mfb, Lagos, said the programme had achieved its objective of developing and strengthening Microfinance Institutions (MFIs).
She said it had also established linkage between MFIs and formal finance institutions and created a viable and sustainable rural finance system.
Dr Steve Ogidan, RUFIN Consultant, said RUFIN-mentored groups had grown in size and number since 2015.
He said that the 2014 mission report declared that RUFIN particularly promoted the formation of groups among women.
Ogidan said that RUFIN had enabled women’s groups to boost their internal savings and credit facilities, instead of relying on the external credit approach.
“The 2015 report also said that RUFIN has consolidated on the success stories of women’s groups, they have increased as a result of their faster rate of adapting to the savings-led approach. (NAN)
FHO/DUA/JCE
Edited by Dada Ahmed/Chukwudi Ekezie