Senator Abubakar Kyari, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, has announced that the $500 million loan facility from the World Bank will accelerate development in Nigeria’s agricultural ecosystem in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for the agricultural sector.
The Minister made this statement when he received a World Bank delegation led by Hardwick Ichale, Head of Agriculture Value Chains for Growth (AGROW Project), during a courtesy visit to the Ministry in Abuja.
Senator Kyari explained that the World Bank’s $14 billion six-year Agri-Connect initiative would address long-standing gaps in smallholder farming by improving connectivity across the entire agricultural value chain. He said the initiative aims to strengthen links between farmers, processors, markets, and financial systems, ensuring stronger value chains, expanded agro-processing capacity, and improved rural livelihoods.
He noted that the programme would support farmer aggregation, market linkages, and the integration of micro, small, and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs) into key agricultural value chains. According to him, “the success of this programme depends on organised farmer participation, transparency, and effective oversight to ensure accountability and maximise impact.”
The Minister reaffirmed that the intervention aligns with President Tinubu’s strategic priorities, especially under the national drive for food security, rural industrialisation, and job creation. He added that Agri-Connect would complement existing Federal Government programmes such as the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZs), which aim to boost rural agro-industrial growth and create more opportunities for youth and women in agribusiness.
In his remarks, Hardwick Ichale said the AGROW Project would unlock Nigeria’s agribusiness potential through job creation, inclusivity, and increased productivity. He stated that “the project will focus on specific value chains such as rice, maize, soybean, and cassava,” adding that “the key purpose is to enable farmers to see farming as a business.”
