Agriculture: Stakeholders Commit $8.06m For Rice And Cassava Farming

The sum of $8.06m has been committed to improve agricultural output along the rice and cassava value chain through a partnership between the Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing for Agricultural Lending, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the United Nations Development Program.

Speaking over the weekend at the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the implementation of the pact, the Managing Director, NIRSAL, Mr Aliyu Abdulhameed confirmed that the program would be carried out through the Nigerian Agribusiness Supplier Development Project.

According to him, NIRSAL would provide the sum of$1,558,500 for funding requirement to implement the project hence NASDP was an agency with the responsibility to eliminate supply chain bottlenecks in the rice and cassava value chains through improved linkage between production and processing actors.

Out of NIRSAL’s contribution, the MD said the sum of $558,500 would be utilized under NIRSAL’s technical assistance pillar for capacity building of the beneficiaries.
He also noted that $1m would be used as non-expendable credit to be used under the Central Bank of Nigeria Anchor Borrowers’ Programme and other financing interventions.

When the program is implemented, Abdulhameed confirmed that there would be an increase in the supply of agricultural products by farmers particularly in the rice and cassava value chains. “This project will directly impact over 10,000 small holder farmers, and over 50,000 lives annually and consolidate capacity of processors across Nigeria through a better and structured logistics arrangement with primary producers,” he said.

Speaking at the event, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Hassan Bukar said the implementation of the program was part of the focus of the current administration to diversify the economy through agriculture.