The International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, has announced its commitment to supporting Nigeria to reach at least 450,000 rural households by 2029, as the Federal Government of Nigeria and IFAD opened the 2025 Second Annual Review of the Country Strategic Opportunities Programme, COSOP. The review brought together development partners, government ministries, private sector actors and farmer organisations, with calls for faster and more coordinated action to strengthen Nigeria’s agrifood systems.
The COSOP is a five-year cooperation framework covering 2024 to 2029. It was jointly developed by IFAD, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Federal Ministry of Finance, and key development partners. Now in its second year of implementation, the annual review is designed to assess progress made so far and to realign strategies toward meeting agreed targets by 2029.
In her opening remarks, IFAD Country Director, Mrs. Dede Ekoue, said the programme had recorded important achievements across several areas. She noted that progress had been strong in the development of processing and storage facilities, support to rural producers, and improved access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses.
“The portfolio is demonstrating strong overall progress toward achieving the 2029 COSOP targets. We have overachieved in the development of processing and storage facilities, and we continue to strengthen rural producers’ organizations and their participation in markets,” Ekoue stated.
However, she cautioned that some areas were still lagging behind expectations. According to her, water infrastructure and land brought under climate resilience remain major challenges that need urgent attention. “With regards to water infrastructure and land brought under climate resilience, these two are still a challenge, so we need to scale up and accelerate implementation,” she warned.
Ekoue explained that the annual review was an opportunity for all partners to take stock of what was working and what needed to change. She said the discussions would help stakeholders “identify ways to enhance these results in 2026,” while adding that Nigeria’s digital agriculture agenda and youth inclusion strategy remain critical to driving long-term transformation in the agrifood sector.
Speaking further on the purpose of the review, Ekoue stressed the need for honesty and collective effort. “It is important to review what progress was made, what challenges we need to address, and how to accelerate impact. We cannot just say everything is fine. The challenges in the agrifood system require that we mobilize everyone to scale up the impact of our cooperation,” she said.
She also reaffirmed IFAD’s long-term commitment to Nigeria, stating clearly that the organisation remains focused on supporting the country to reach at least 450,000 rural households by the end of the COSOP period in 2029.
Representing the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Assistant Director, International Economic Relations, IER, Department, Mrs. Munet Sadiku, said the Federal Government remains fully committed to its partnership with IFAD. She noted that efforts had been made over the past year to improve funding predictability for IFAD-supported projects across the country.
“Over the past year, the Ministry of Finance has worked diligently to improve the predictability and timeliness of Federal counterpart funding. We remain fully committed to ensuring that financing mechanisms support, do not hinder, the achievement of project results,” Sadiku said.
She emphasized the importance of accountability and strong financial practices, describing them as central to successful development outcomes. “Effective stewardship of public resources is not only a requirement, it is a collective responsibility that underpins the credibility of our development efforts,” she added.
Sadiku also outlined key priorities for 2026 from the Ministry’s perspective. These include digital financial reporting, climate-smart investments, gender-responsive budgeting, and stronger coordination with States and Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, to ensure better delivery of results.
Delivering remarks on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mrs. Adebola Iruromi, Director of the Department of Development Partners Projects, commended the progress recorded under the COSOP so far. She, however, called for the scaling up of successful innovations across more states to deepen impact.
“This review is more than a technical exercise. It is a strategic moment to reflect on our joint progress and strengthen the pathways that will shape Nigeria’s agrifood system transformation,” Iruromi said.
She highlighted several models that have shown promise, including the Gender Action Learning System, the Commodity Alliance Forum, youth agripreneur networks, climate-resilience initiatives, and ICT4D solutions. According to her, “These models are essential to achieving national targets under the National Food Systems Transformation pathways.”
Despite these gains, Iruromi pointed out that issues such as inflation, insecurity, climate shocks, and uneven implementation at the state level continue to slow progress. She said these challenges require stronger monitoring systems, better use of digital tools, and deeper accountability among stakeholders.
Discussions at the review also focused on the growing role of digital innovation in agriculture. The Country Lead of Digital Green Nigeria, Mr. David Edimu, said technology is helping to close the extension service gap faced by farmers.
“As the name implies, we digitize extension, we want to put extension in the hands of every farmer. Because even when we have extension agents, it’s about one to eight thousand farmers. This is why we must leverage digital solutions,” Edimu explained.
He said the AI-supported platform enables farmers to ask questions in their local languages, diagnose crop problems using images, and receive timely agronomic advice. “We are digitizing extension in Africa,” he added.
The Microcredit Manager for Development Exchange Centre, Emily Stephen, said digital finance initiatives are also improving access to credit for farmers, even though challenges still exist. “Even rural farmers are doing well in accessing their credit through digital forms, but many farmers do not have phones. So, as an institution, we have developed a phone-loan product so that they can communicate with financial institutions for seamless operations,” she said.
Also speaking, the National Coordinator of the National Committee for Family Farming, Mr. Raymond Enoch, described the COSOP as critical to strengthening Nigeria’s food system. “The COSOP is intended to sustainably improve the capacities of rural farmers. Family farmers expect continued opportunities and policies that improve the food system in the country,” he said.
Enoch added that stakeholders are expected to agree on clear action points to address implementation gaps, expand successful models, and ensure that the COSOP delivers stronger and more visible impact in 2026 and beyond.
