Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture has said that the Federal Government obtained a loan of $134 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to boost wheat production.
The Minister was speaking in Abuja, while briefing State House correspondents on the implementation of the presidential mandate given to the ministry.
The wheat is to be cultivated in Jigawa, Kebbi, Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe, Plateau, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, and Taraba States.
The minister noted that with 250,000 farmers cultivating 250,000 hectares in the 2022 dry season, the initiative would raise wheat production to 750,000 metric tonnes.
According to the Minister, the FG had deployed 5,000 agro rangers drawn from the Nigeria Security & Civil Defence Corps to protect farmers facing security challenges.
On 18th July, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group approved a $134 million for the National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro pocket program in Nigeria to scale up food production and boost livelihood resilience.
The program according to AfDB will support fast-tracking of the implementation of key policy and institutional reforms and boost private sector participation in agriculture. This will help increase cereals and oil grains production by 7 million tonnes to 35 million tonnes. It will also increase average cereal yields from 1.42 tonnes to 2 tonnes per hectare during the September 2022-December 2023 implementation period.
The program aligns with the Bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility and will support Nigeria’s efforts to mitigate the impacts of the war in Ukraine.
Lamin Barrow, Director General of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, said the program would prioritize support for five strategic crops: maize, rice, wheat, soya beans and sorghum, with a particular focus on wheat value chains.
He said National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket program is anchored in the National Agriculture Technology and Innovation Policy (2022-27) which aims to modernize Nigeria’s agriculture sector in line with changing global food systems and supply chains. The program will complement Bank-supported operations in the country, particularly the Special Agricultural Special Zones.
Lamin Barrow, Director General of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, said the program would prioritize support for five strategic crops: maize, rice, wheat, soya beans and sorghum, with a particular focus on wheat value chains.
He said National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket program is anchored in the National Agriculture Technology and Innovation Policy (2022-27) which aims to modernize Nigeria’s agriculture sector in line with changing global food systems and supply chains. The program will complement Bank-supported operations in the country, particularly the Special Agricultural Special Zones.
The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs) is an integrated development initiative aimed at concentrating agro-processing activities within areas of high agricultural potential to boost productivity and integrate the production, processing and marketing of selected commodities.
The AfDB granted Nigeria a loan of $540 million for the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, which is envisioned to unleash the potential of food and agribusiness for Nigeria and Africa.
The Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones will be located in 7 States – Kano, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Imo, Cross River and the FCT.
Nnamdi Maduakor is a Writer, Investor and Entrepreneur
