Nigeria Agricultural Growth Scheme (NAGS) – Agro Pocket Programme Attracts $134M Loan from African Development Bank

Sequel to the request of the Nigerian government for the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Agricultural Reform Agenda tagged, “Nigeria Agricultural Growth Scheme (NAGS) Agro Pocket Programme, the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group on Friday 15th July, 2022 approved a $134 million loan for the National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket programme in Nigeria to scale up food production and boost livelihood resilience.

 The Government of Nigeria had made the request through the office of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. (Mrs) Zainab Ahmed on 5th July, 2022. The Minister had quoted in the item 11 of the request, “the Federal Government of Nigeria is highly committed to the agricultural reform agenda and requests the African Development Bank’s financial support through a Sector Budget Support operation to accelerate the implementation of the Medium Term National Development Plan 2021 – 2025 (MTNDP) and National Agriculture Technology and Innovation policy 2022 – 2027 (NATIP)”. The Minister had also quoted that the war in Ukraine had amplified the urgency for accelerating the implementation of NATIP explaining that the effect of the war had taken a toll on the fertilizer market.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, is projected to hit 402 million by 2050 from 206 million people in 2020, making it the third-most populous country globally. The bulk of its rural population, representing 48% of the populace, produces up to 90% of the national output. However, inadequate support for the farmers has confined them to traditional agronomic techniques, resulting in low productivity and limited opportunities for value addition. In 2020, the harvested cereals area and yields declined by 2.75% and 1.5%, respectively.

The Agro-Pocket programme 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 to December 2023 implementation period.

The programme 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. Food prices have been rising rapidly due to higher volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, aggravated by the war. The program also aligns with the Bank’s Ten-Year Strategy as it promotes climate-resilient agriculture and targets the vulnerable population, including youth and women.

Lamin Barrow, Director General of the Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, said the programme would prioritize support for five strategic crops: maize, rice, wheat, soya beans and sorghum, with a particular focus on wheat value chains. He said the National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket programmeis anchored in the NATIP 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 Bank will support the Federal Government to put in place a robust institutional framework, including operationalization of the National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket program Secretariat as the administrative vehicle to oversee the implementation of the Agro-Pocket Scheme, whose precursor is the highly successful e-wallet scheme that was rolled out in Nigeria between 2012 and 2015,” he said.

The National Agriculture Growth Scheme – Agro Pocket programme would help build the resilience of farming livelihoods, enhance farmers’ access to improved seeds, and strengthen the capacity of industry stakeholders. Barrow stressed.

Beth Dunford, the Bank’s Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development, said, “Cushioning the poor from the effects of higher food, and energy costs, requires urgent and sustainable policy, such as increased public expenditure on agriculture.”

The African Development Bank led the mobilization of $538 million for the flagship Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones programme to develop value chains for strategic agriculture commodities in Nigeria and transform rural areas into zones of economic prosperity.