The Federal Government has directed a speedy disbursement of ₦250 billion credit support for smallholder farmers at a single-digit interest rate.
Vice President, Kashim Shettima, gave the matching order to the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit on Thursday during the 6th meeting of the PFSCU Steering Committee, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He urged the PFSCU to develop an implementation roadmap for the disbursement of the funds without further delay.
“On the Bank of Agriculture ₦250 billion facility, we need to sit down with all stakeholders and come up with a robust roadmap that ensures these funds reach the intended farmers and translate into real productivity gains,” the VP said.
Shettima, according to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to The President on Media & Communications, Office of The Vice President, Stanley Nkwocha, commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for granting the PFSCU the political backing to act boldly on priority reforms, notably, the fertilizer raw material liberalization and the Presidential Seed Fund.
“I want to place it on record, our deep appreciation for Mr. President’s leadership and guidance. His clear directives on fertilizer liberalization and the seed fund have empowered the PFSCU to fast-track delivery in ways that directly support farmers and strengthen our food systems,” he stated.
Commending the PFSCU for the achievements recorded so far, the VP noted that the output of the unit has demonstrated that “when Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the private sector and development partners align, we can move swiftly from intent to delivery.”
Senator Shettima also called for improved collaboration among stakeholders to revitalize the seed sector and expand the strategic grain reserve through the ongoing reform initiative of the Federal Government.
The statement said while also speaking, the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, stressed the need to establish a structure to ensure that the N250 billion credit support earmarked for smallholder farmers by the Tinubu administration through the Bank of Agriculture reaches the farmers.
He also called for financial support for the PFSCU, pledging that his state was ready to provide financial assistance to them on a monthly basis.
According to the statement, the Governor of Jigawa State, Malam Umar A. Namadi, also commended the efforts of the Bank of Agriculture, emphasizing however that there is a need to provide subsidies for local Nigerian farmers.
Also, the Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu agreed on credit issuance, advising however that local farmers be encouraged with incentives through subsidies.
The statement quoted the PFSCU Coordinator, Ms. Marion Moon, to have underscored the urgency of protecting Nigeria’s fragile food security gains, with 30.8 million Nigerians still food insecure.
She said the unit had recorded significant progress in strengthening coordination and collaboration with MDAs across all three tiers of government.
Since the last SteerCo meeting in April, the PFSCU through respective MDAs has achieved major milestones: 250,000 farmers insured under the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism (NAPM); Phase I of the Harvesting Hope Caravan launched across eight states in collaboration with state and local governments; approval of the ₦50 billion Seed Fund; and progress on the World Bank–supported $500 million AGROW program.
