The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) on Friday launched the Nigeria AgriConnect Compact, a World Bank-funded initiative aimed at transforming Nigeria into a leading regional food basket.

The initiative focuses on boosting agricultural productivity, expanding processing, improving market access, and mobilising private-sector investment across key value chains, including rice, maize, and cassava.

It also targets the creation of 2.56 million jobs by 2030, unlocking Nigeria’s significant agricultural potential and contributing to the country’s food and economic transformation agenda.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said Nigeria was not suffering from a shortage of agricultural programmes, projects or investment.

Mr Kyari said that substantial resources were already being committed to irrigation, roads, imports, localisation, livestock, finance, land restoration, processing and market access across the country.

“The greater challenge is ensuring that these investments reinforce one another.

“Agriculture is a system, and when one part of that system is disconnected, the value of the investment elsewhere is diminished.

“The Nigeria AgriConnect Compact gives us a practical framework for doing precisely that. It aligns investments already underway and guides those that come next in line to share national outcomes.

“Its purpose is not to assemble projects under one name, but to make deliberate connections between them, close the gaps between interventions, and ensure that public resources, development finance and private capital produce greater results together,” he said.

According to him, the ministry is poised to transform agriculture and strengthen food security in Nigeria.

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, identified the turning of agricultural potential into affordable food, productive jobs, stronger rural economies and competitive businesses as priorities that must be pursued.

Mr Makinde said Nigeria was not lagging behind in agricultural activities.

He stated, “We have hardworking farmers, respected research institutions, and within perhaps a 15-to-20-kilometre radius of here, at least six or seven research institutes.

“We also have innovative young people, fertile land and a large domestic market. Yet, many farmers remain poor, food remains expensive, and too much of what we produce is lost before it reaches consumers. This basically tells us that production alone is not enough.

“Agriculture must be treated as a complete economic system. Production must connect to security, research, extension services, finance, rural roads, storage, processing, standards, logistics and markets.

“If one part of that chain fails, the farmer earns less, the processor operates below capacity, and the consumer pays more.

“This is the solution that AgriConnect is about to bring to the table. Its value will not lie in creating another layer of programmes.

“The value of AgriConnect will lie in bringing government, research institutions, finance providers, development partners, farmers and private enterprises together around a common delivery plan.”

The Nigeria AgriConnect Compact is a framework for coordinating the implementation of existing projects and guiding pipeline development over the next five years, in alignment with sector development.

It seeks to raise smallholder farmers’ productivity, modernise agricultural policies to attract greater private investment, and establish a financial system that improves access to credit for both smallholder farmers and agribusinesses.

The proposed target, within the next five to 10 years, is to increase efforts to coordinate and improve funding for projects aligning with food and nutrition for nearly 3 million people.

This is in addition to creating about 2.5 million new and better jobs through strengthening value chains and helping smallholder farmers increase their productivity and access to markets.

It is expected that value-chain development efforts would focus on staple crops, cash crops and livestock. 

(NAN)