Managing Director of Mainstreet Bank, Faith Tuedor-Matthews has lauded the Federal Government’s Agricultural Transformation Agenda in introducing the Growth Enhancement Support Scheme (GESS). She acknowledged that GESS has offered an effective framework for supporting small farmers who are the ultimate drivers of food production and agricultural development in Nigeria.

Relieving Mainstreet Bank’s success story during the GESS breakout session at the just concluded Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) held at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja, the GMD noted that Mainstreet Bank’s successful intervention in the procurement and distribution of fertilizer has impacted about one million real farmers in Nigeria.

Mainstreet Bank, she maintained, has so far committed N10 billion naira to the funding of fertilizer distribution through agro dealers in Nigeria; a feat acknowledged by beneficiaries and stakeholders as the highest funding intervention by any bank  participating in the scheme.

She further stated that following from the success achieved in the GESS scheme, Mainstreet Bank is developing a project initiative in partnership with willing state governments to support funding of primary production activities in some key crops like: rice, sorghum, cassava, cotton, soya beans, and Maize.  The target beneficiaries for this product shall be small farmers who have major buyers or Agro processors.

Responding to questions on how to strengthen the seed production chain in other to boost the success of GESS, and by extension agricultural yield, Faith Tuedor-Matthews emphasized four critical steps that should be embraced by stakeholders:  the need for greater investment in Research and Development (R&D) in the seeds sector, quality control of the seeds to ensure standards, deliberate branding of the seeds to achieve market differentiation as well as  investing greater effort on general awareness.