• Awaits $4.5bn funding for Green Imperatives Programme
• 255 out of 2000 tractors from Belarus already in Nigeria
From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) will be finalised by the end of the first quarter of 2025.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, made this disclosure on Tuesday while briefing State House Correspondents in Abuja. He stated, “The recapitalisation of the bank will be concluded before the end of the first quarter of 2025.”
He explained that the initiative aims to enhance funding for smallholder farming, addressing long-standing issues of inadequate financial support in commercial agriculture. Between 2014 and 2021, agricultural loans from commercial banks peaked at just N1.04 trillion in 2020, representing a mere 5.15% of total loans during that period.
Kyari stressed that the recapitalisation is crucial for combating food inflation, which currently stands at approximately 34%.
The Bank of Agriculture (BOA), with its extensive network of 109 branches, is poised to play a crucial role in enhancing agricultural financing in Nigeria. Finance Minister Wale Edun is spearheading a committee focused on restructuring the bank and developing funding strategies to ensure its effectiveness in supporting the agricultural sector. This initiative aligns with the government’s broader efforts to boost domestic agricultural production and reduce reliance on food imports, addressing critical challenges faced by farmers across the nation. The committee’s work aims to revitalise the BOA’s capacity to serve Nigeria’s agricultural needs effectively.
Kyari noted that the bank, with about 109 branches, has the potential to aid funding for the agricultural sector.
The National Council of Privatisation (NCP), chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima, had in 2024 inaugurated a committee headed by Wale Edun, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, to work out modalities for the resuscitation of the bank.
Kyari further explained that the move is part of the government’s response to escalating food insecurity, as part of strategic interventions aimed at mitigating the crisis.
He announced that with the recapitalisation, “It is hoped that farmers will get the needed financing to upscale their businesses, as loans to farmers from conventional commercial banks have been poor in recent times.”
Kyari revealed the timeline for the merger, saying, “Something that I also missed out is the reorganisation and recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture. It’s in the process, and very soon, within the first quarter of this year, you will see a report outlining the reorganisation and the recapitalisation of the Bank of Agriculture.
“Bank of Agriculture has branches in all 109 senatorial districts and can reach out quickly to those farmers. What we are saying is that you need to support smallholder farmers who lack capital.
“So we have written to some banks. We are also reorganising the Bank of Agriculture to support what the government is doing in the sense of public financing in the budgets and what have you.”
According to Kyari, these initiatives are supported by commercial banks, development partners, and public finance channels, all of which work together to improve agricultural initiatives nationwide. He mentioned fruitful collaborations with the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a United Nations agency.
In 2024, the positive outcomes of IFAD-funded projects—such as the Livelihood Improvement of Family Enterprise for the Niger Delta—led to an additional grant of $32 million, along with an extension of the project’s timeline, he revealed.
A two-year extension was also granted to the Value Chain Development Nigeria programme. Kyari stated that these events demonstrate the trust development partners have in the administration’s continuous agricultural reforms.
Additionally, Kyari revealed that the government has begun receiving the 2,000 tractors it purchased from Belarus. He added that so far, 255 of the tractors have arrived in the country, and other equipment has started arriving in batches.
According to him, the government is working to bring down the nation’s food commodity prices, which is why new policies have been adopted to make farming easier. He added that a bountiful harvest, abundant rains, and efficient government initiatives are behind the recent decline in food costs.
“The 2024 farming season was very successful, with farmers across the country recording high yields.
“The government is working to sustain this progress by supporting wheat farming in highland areas like Taraba State and providing modern farming tools to farmers,” Kyari stated.
In order to increase food production, the minister stated that advanced technologies, including the use of drones, would also be implemented during the upcoming growing season.
“We have started taking delivery of the 2,000 tractors we ordered from Belarus, which will be distributed to farmers. The government will also be focusing on increasing tomato farming in the South-East and South-West, with harvests expected by May.
“For the dry season, we are planning to cultivate at least 400,000 more hectares of farmland and fertiliser supplies are being improved to help farmers boost their output.
“The government is committed to supporting farmers with the resources they need to produce more food and reduce the cost of living,” he added.
In addition, Kyari stated that Nigeria’s agricultural industry is becoming more robust and will keep getting better in 2025. He stated that development partners are becoming more optimistic about Nigeria’s agriculture industry.
“With improved farming practices, better tools, and increased production, Nigeria is becoming a stronger player in agriculture, attracting more support and partnerships from global organisations.
“The government will continue to build on this momentum to further boost the sector and strengthen food security in the country,” he stressed.
Kyari added that cold storage and better logistics are two ways the government is tackling post-harvest losses. He highlighted the government’s commitment to security in the 2025 budget, even if he acknowledged that the 2024 budget faced conflicting headlines across the country.
He pointed out that newly available farmlands in areas that had previously been hampered by instability were responsible for a large portion of the agricultural improvements observed in 2024.
“We have seen, and we know, that some of the successes that we received in 2024 were a result of some of those inaccessible lands due to insecurity that opened up. Case in point is Borno State, where the terrorism was very high.
“My local government before now was not even accessible to farmers, but there is one place where, along the river as long as 18 kilometres, they did a bumper harvest of rice in the dry season last year.
“In many other areas, Katsina State has reported an improvement of almost 70 per cent in security that has opened up farmland for our farmers,” he noted.