…to reach 456,000 smallholder farmers

By Gabriel Ewepu

ABUJA- IN the quest to transform the lives of Nigerians, the Federal Government, International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, and French Development Agency, AFD, Wednesday, under the Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria, VCN, resolved to reduce poverty, boost nutrition, and ensure better resilience of rural and most vulnerable populations in nine northern states with $183.1 million.

This was made known during the validation workshop organised by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in collaboration with the IFAD, AFD, and the Investment Centre of the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, in Abuja.

Meanwhile, the nine states include; Borno, Bauchi , Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoko, Yobe, and Zamfara. The programme is expected to be signed in August 2025, thereafter it would commence implementation as it was also made known that the VCN is yet to start and be launched.

Basically, when the project is launched, it will directly reach an estimated 456,000 smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs among with 40 per cent women, 60 per cent youth, 10 per cent People With Disabilities, PWD, and five per cent Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, returnees.

Meanwhile, the project will indirectly support 3.1 million household members, and also it is gender transformative and youth responsive. In addition, it will mainstream nutrition, and environment and climate change.

The complementary studies, conducted by the FAO Investment Centre with financing support of IFAD and AFD, sought to provide a better in-depth understanding of the context in which the VCN project will be implemented and identify the leverage points as well as the challenges.

On funding, IFAD will fund the project to the tune of $86.7 million; the AFD will fund with $78.2 million, while the Federal Government will provide $12 million, which also the nine benefiting states will provide a support of $8 million.

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen Abubakar Kyari who was represented by the Director, Project Coordinating Unit, Bukar Musa, expressed optimism that the VCN Project will impact positively and greatly in the lives of people in northern Nigeria, particularly, in the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones of the country, and maintained that the Tinubu-led administration is not relenting to end insecurity in these parts of the north, following the ongoing clearance operations in the north on terrorists, and also to ensure farmers gain access to their farmers and those displace are back to their homes, including boosting the rural economy and nutrition for the people.

Kyari also expressed confidence that with the VCN programme the effort of the government will translate into a holistic transformation of the agricultural sector, which the people’s livelihood is serious connected with in no distant time based on the commitment of IFAD and AFD who are strong development partners that focuses on ensuring the lives of the people in the benefiting States are transformed for better.

Meanwhile, he acknowledged the efforts of IFAD, AFD and FAO to advance the programme’s design, while speaking on the complementary studies, therefore, said they really refined the approach in four key areas, which include; Production and marketing of priority value chains; Nutrition; Supporting farmers’ organizations; and Rural finance.

He said: “This workshop is a pivotal moment as we focus on turning challenges into opportunities for millions of smallholder farmers.

“The VCN programme aligns with the Federal Government’s commitment to address food security through climate-resilient practices and sustainable agricultural growth, as outlined in the Presidential Emergency Declaration on Food Security.

“We commend them for their active role and input during the complementary studies, which aim to strengthen the programme’s strategies and ensure they are tailored to the region’s needs.

“This project will impact very much on the lives of especially where the project will be resided, in the extreme North-East and North-Western parts of Nigeria. It is a natural fact that those areas are highly vulnerable and devastated as a result of the insurgency, the banditry, as well as the effect of the climate change that affected their production.

“So, this project, the value chain in northern Nigeria is going to work in that direction to build resilience, as well as to work with the people that have been displaced, that are now coming back to their ancestral homes, to give them support, to give them all other necessary areas for them to settle, and then improve their production and productivity, their income, and then thereby their livelihood.”

The Country Director, IFAD Nigeria, Dede Ekoue, disclosed that the VCN project funding has been approved, and with this implementation will soon commence.

“This validation workshop that is organized by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in collaboration with IFAD, FAO, and AFD, aims to fast-track the implementation of the value chain development program in northern Nigeria, once the program will be signed.

“We are having this activity because we want to support the efforts of the Federal Government of Nigeria and the state government in promoting sustainable and inclusive development in the northeast and northwest, and the value chain north program is important because it aims to support at least half a million smallholder farmers across nine states in northeast and northwest.

“So this activity will help us fine-tune implementation strategies for the VCN, which is already approved by the federal government and funded by IFAD and AFD, the French Development Agency.

“The studies that we will see here are being presented cover at least four areas, value chain, rural finance, farmer organization, because the farmer organizations are there all the time.

“They are key for the resilience of the fragile and vulnerable area. And then the last area of analysis of these complementary studies is nutrition.

“Food security and nutrition is a priority for the federal government, and we are here, IFAD, French Development Agency and FAO together to support this agenda.

“So in terms of women, the idea is to empower them so that they can better support their own activities, not just as workers, but also as leaders. For example, farmer organizations will be encouraged to promote women leadership in their organization. So the target is to have at least 40 percent of the leadership made of women.

“In fact, we are front-loading the work that needs to be done after signing of the program documents as we understand the urgency in launching the implementation of the VCN Program in support of government ongoing efforts for sustainable and inclusive development in the North.

“These complementary studies were financed by IFAD and AFD with contribution from FAO investment Centre. This collaborative and systematic approach with development partners and UN agencies fosters the scaling up and efficiency on investment in support of national priorities for agri-food systems transformation and sustainable development along the Humanitarian, Development Peace Nexus in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNDSDCF) and AFD Nigeria Country Intervention Strategy.”

Also, the representative of the Country Director AFD Nigeria, Project Manager, AFD Nigeria, Sally Ibrahim, said, “We have a programme that is supposed to work on improving the conditions in northern states, improving the income for the vulnerable population, especially the farmers in the rural areas while boosting food and nutritional security.

“The programme’s focus on value chain development and rural finance, among others, is expected to have a positive impact on the lives of rural populations in Northern Nigeria.”

Also speaking on the sidelines of the Workshop, representative of the Country Representative of FAO, Operations Officer, FAO Nigeria, Braimah Tofiq, acknowledged that the VCN project is in line with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s food security agenda led by the President Bola Tinubu administration.

“I think the VCN project is critical, if you look at the landscape of agriculture system in the country, and also the recent declaration of His Excellency the President of emergency on food security, and also looking at how Nigeria is positioning itself in the food system transformation globally, I think it is timely that interventions like this are critical to transforming the agriculture landscape in the country.

“With extensive stakeholder engagement and field assessments, the programme is set to drive economic growth, empower youth and women, and contribute significantly to national food security”, Tofiq added.