The Federal Government has finalised a $500 million loan agreement with the World Bank aimed at accelerating growth across Nigeria’s agricultural value chains in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda for food security and rural industrialisation.
The announcement was made on Tuesday in a statement by the Head of the Department of Information at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ezeaja Ikemefuna.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed that the facility would serve as a catalyst for the transformation of Nigeria’s agricultural ecosystem. He made this known during a courtesy visit by a World Bank delegation led by the Head of the Agriculture Value Chains for Growth (AGROW) Project, Hardwick Ichale, at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
Kyari explained that the initiative—part of the World Bank’s $14 billion, six-year Agri-Connect programme—aims to enhance connectivity across the agricultural landscape by linking farmers, processors, markets, and financial systems. The project is expected to strengthen value chains, expand agro-processing capacity, and improve livelihoods in rural communities.
“The World Bank’s support will strengthen our agricultural base by improving connectivity across production, processing, and marketing systems,” Kyari said. “This is about transforming smallholder farming into profitable, sustainable agribusiness.”
He further noted that the intervention would promote market linkages, aggregation, and the integration of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises into key value chains, ensuring transparency and accountability to maximise its impact.
Kyari reaffirmed the government’s commitment to aligning the initiative with the administration’s priorities—particularly food security, job creation, and rural industrialisation. He also stated that the Agri-Connect project complements existing government programmes such as the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, designed to boost youth and women participation in agribusiness.
Speaking on behalf of the World Bank, Ichale said the Agriculture Value Chains for Growth Project would unlock Nigeria’s agribusiness potential by enhancing productivity, creating jobs, and promoting inclusivity across critical crop sectors such as rice, maize, soybean, and cassava.
“The key purpose is to enable farmers to see farming as a business,” Ichale added.
