The African Development Bank (AfDB) said it has approved a 134-million-U.S.-dollar loan for the National Agriculture Growth Scheme — Agro Pocket program in Nigeria to scale up food production and boost livelihood resilience.
The program will help speed up the implementation of key policy and institutional reforms, as well as increase private sector participation in agriculture, said the bank in a statement reaching Xinhua on Monday.
“Inadequate support for the farmers has confined them to traditional agronomic techniques, resulting in low productivity and limited opportunities for value addition,” said the statement.
During the program’s implementation from September 2022 to December 2023, cereal production will be increased by accelerating average yields from 1.42 tonnes to 2 tonnes per hectare.
The program aligns with the bank’s African Emergency Food Production Facility and will support Nigeria’s efforts in mitigating the impact of the conflict in Ukraine, which has driven up prices of imported food items in Africa.
Lamin Barrow, director general of the bank’s Nigeria country department, said the program would prioritize support for five strategic crops: maize, rice, wheat, soya beans and sorghum, focusing on wheat value chains.
The program would help build the resilience of farming livelihoods, enhance farmers’ access to improved seeds, and strengthen the capacity of industry stakeholders, stressed Barrow. Enditem
