The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) has announced a new national food price stabilisation programme that will allow the government to buy excess crops directly from farmers whenever market prices fall below approved levels.
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The initiative is expected to reduce post-harvest losses, protect smallholder farmers from sudden market crashes and improve food supply stability across Nigeria.
Managing Director of BOA, Ayodeji Sotinrin, disclosed the plan during an interview, describing it as part of the Federal Government’s broader agricultural reform agenda under President Bola Tinubu.
According to him, the programme will operate through a Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) system designed to ensure that farmers do not sell produce below sustainable production costs.
Under the arrangement, the government will set minimum prices for staple crops including maize, rice, soybeans and cassava. BOA will then purchase surplus produce from farmers whenever market prices drop below the approved threshold.
The commodities will be stored in the country’s 33 silos and released strategically to stabilise prices and prevent food shortages.
Sotinrin said the move is aimed at addressing long-standing problems affecting Nigerian farmers, especially exploitation by middlemen and sharp price fluctuations during harvest seasons.
“Under the arrangement, the government will set a price floor for staple crops such as maize, rice, soybeans and cassava,” he said.
He explained that the intervention is also expected to encourage higher agricultural production because farmers will have greater confidence that their produce can be sold at fair prices.
Beyond crop purchases, BOA is also restructuring how financial support is delivered to farmers.
The bank said it is moving away from direct micro-credit distribution to a digital ecosystem supported by farmer aggregation companies.
According to Sotinrin, BOA now uses digital verification systems including BVN and NIN to open accounts for farmers within minutes, helping the bank reach genuine producers directly instead of middlemen.
Mechanisation also remains a major focus of the programme.
Sotinrin noted that Nigeria currently has one of the lowest tractor densities globally at 0.27 tractors per 100 square kilometres.
To improve farming capacity, BOA has deployed 2,000 tractors sourced from Belarus to service providers who can mechanise at least 600 hectares each.
The bank said the intervention is expected to support over 1.2 million farmers during the current wet farming season.
BOA also announced a ginger revival programme following the fungal disease outbreak that affected ginger production in 2023.
The programme will introduce tissue culture technology to replace traditional replanting methods, with the government targeting growth of Nigeria’s ginger industry from about $300 million to $3 billion by 2028.
The Federal Government has also directed the creation of a permanent National Farmer Data Registry to improve farmer tracking and support systems including crop insurance and healthcare access.
The development comes as the Federal Government pushes stronger investment into mechanisation, digital agriculture and food security initiatives following the N1.5 trillion recapitalisation of BOA.
