Nigeria has secured a $500 million World Bank loan to scale agricultural investment, strengthen value chains and accelerate food security outcomes nationwide.
The federal government says the facility will support agribusiness expansion, improve farmer-market linkages, and reinforce President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, a policy drive centred on food self-sufficiency, job creation, and rural economic growth.
The minister of agriculture and food security, Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this during a meeting with a World Bank delegation led by Hardwick Ichale, Head of the Agriculture Value Chains for Growth (AGROW) Project, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
Kyari said the funding aligns with the World Bank’s wider $14 billion, six-year Agri-Connect initiative, which targets systemic gaps in smallholder farming and promotes stronger collaboration between farmers, processors, financial institutions and consumer markets.
“This facility will support farmer aggregation, expand market linkages and integrate micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) into key agricultural value chains,” he said.
“We expect stronger value chains, higher agro-processing capacity and improved rural livelihoods.”
The minister noted that the loan complements existing government programmes, including the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), a major initiative aimed at attracting private sector investment and accelerating youth and women’s participation in commercial agriculture.
He also emphasised the importance of accountability and structured farmer participation, noting that transparency mechanisms will be crucial in ensuring a measurable impact.
Ichale confirmed that the AGROW intervention will prioritise high-growth value chains, such as rice, maize, soybeans, and cassava, with a focus on boosting productivity, economic inclusion, and commercial-scale output.
“The key purpose is to enable farmers to see farming as a business,” Ichale said,
Source: Business Day
Image Credit: 21st Century Chronicles
