The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) has reaffirmed its commitment to partnering with the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF) to expand credit access for smallholders, strengthen national food sovereignty, and drive economic diversification. 

Speaking during a courtesy visit by the newly reconstituted ACGSF Board in Abuja, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, pledged that the federal government will continue providing enabling policies and capital windows to integrate rural producers into formal financial structures.

The strategic collaboration focuses directly on bridging a persistent funding gap in Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which employs nearly two-thirds of the country’s labour force but historically receives less than five per cent of total commercial bank credit. 

To ensure that government-backed financial interventions target actual farmers rather than “ghost” beneficiaries, Senator Kyari announced plans to deploy a credible national farmer registry. 

This verified digital registry will serve as the primary screening tool to connect genuine smallholders and agribusiness entrepreneurs with guaranteed commercial loans and farm inputs.

The structural importance of agricultural de-risking was echoed by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Aliyu Abdullahi. 

He emphasised that a highly secure, technology-driven financing framework is essential to increase smallholder productivity and protect rural livelihoods from market volatility.

Under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, the government is to restructure the ACGSF, which is fully subscribed by the Federal Government (60 per cent) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (40 per cent), from a basic loan program into a dynamic, data-driven developmental tool.

To solidify the partnership, the ACGSF Board Chairman, Dr Olusegun Oshin, disclosed plans to introduce a specialised Trust Fund Model alongside a Joint Technical Working Committee to oversee the scheme’s nationwide expansion. 

Operating with an expanded share capital of ₦50 billion, the ACGSF provides up to a 75 per cent guarantee on loans granted by participating commercial and microfinance banks for agricultural production, processing, and marketing. 

Dr Oshin noted that by introducing these models and utilising digital reporting tools, the scheme will successfully reach vulnerable, underbanked peasant communities at the grassroots level, transforming subsistence farming into a highly profitable industrial value chain.

Source: FCHN HQ