FG, BOA target 25m tonnes annual grain output with financing scheme

The federal government, in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), has launched the Renewed Hope Smallholder Agricultural Financing Programme to increase Nigeria’s annual grain production from 11 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes as part of efforts to boost food security and curb rising food prices.

Speaking at the launch of the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund in Zaria, Kaduna State on Friday, the Managing Director of BOA, Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin, said the initiative would provide affordable financing, improved seeds, fertilisers and other critical farm inputs to millions of smallholder farmers nationwide.

The programme is being implemented in collaboration with Arzikin Noma Africa and selected private-sector aggregators.

Sotinrin said the intervention was expected to benefit 500,000 farmers during the current wet season, expand to two million farmers next year and eventually reach five million farmers across the country.

According to him, if each participating farmer cultivates one hectare and harvests an average of five tonnes, Nigeria’s annual grain output could rise to about 25 million tonnes, creating opportunities for food sufficiency, exports and job creation.

He stressed that the farm inputs were not grants but financed through BOA’s single-digit loan facility at 9 per cent interest, describing the revolving financing model as critical to the programme’s sustainability.

Sotinrin said only 20 farm aggregators were selected from more than 1,240 applicants after meeting the bank’s technical and operational requirements for the pilot phase.

He also disclosed plans to introduce irrigation financing and irrigation-as-a-service to promote year-round farming, reduce dependence on rain-fed agriculture and improve farmers’ productivity and incomes.

He urged beneficiaries to use the inputs strictly for farming, comply with extension services and repay the loans after harvest to enable more farmers benefit from subsequent phases.

Also speaking, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the federal government’s strategy for addressing food inflation was to increase domestic agricultural production rather than rely on food imports.

He noted that nearly 90 per cent of Nigerian farmers cultivated less than one hectare of land but accounted for about 85 per cent of the country’s food production, underscoring the importance of supporting smallholder farmers.

Kyari said participating farmers would receive quality farm inputs, extension services, weather advisories and a Guaranteed Minimum Price mechanism to protect them from post-harvest price fluctuations.

In his remarks, the Group Managing Director of Arzikin Noma Africa, Mr Adeoluwa Michael Adeshola, described the private sector as essential to the long-term success of the initiative, saying government should provide an enabling environment while private firms drive implementation.

He said the financing model allowed farmers to repay after harvest, enabling the funds to revolve and support additional beneficiaries in subsequent farming seasons.

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