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The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has joined Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), the World Bank Group (WBG) and other development partners to launch the Nigeria AgriConnect Compact, a five-year framework designed to transform priority agricultural value chains, create jobs and strengthen food and nutrition security.
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The Compact is expected to mobilise an estimated US$5 billion over five years from government, development partners and the private sector, with the ambition of improving food and nutrition security for nearly three million people and creating more than 2.5 million jobs.
The initiative comes as Nigeria confronts persistent food insecurity, low agricultural productivity and underutilisation of its arable land, while seeking to attract greater private-sector investment into agriculture and agribusiness.
AgriConnect Targets Smallholder Farmers and Priority Value Chains
AgriConnect is a World Bank Group initiative designed to help smallholder farmers transition from subsistence production to commercially viable surplus production.
The framework focuses on strengthening agricultural ecosystems through stronger farmer organisations, improved market linkages, greater access to finance and digital solutions, and increased private-sector participation across food systems.
In Nigeria, the Compact is aligned with the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP).
It will target selected crop and livestock value chains considered to have significant potential for productivity improvements and job creation, while strengthening the links between farmers, markets, financial institutions and agribusinesses.
$5 Billion Financing Push for Nigerian Agriculture
A central component of the AgriConnect Compact is its proposed mobilisation of about US$5 billion over the next five years.
The funding is expected to come from government, development partners and private-sector investors and will support efforts to build stronger foundations for smallholder productivity and advance agricultural policy reforms.
The Compact will also seek to expand farmers’ and agribusinesses’ access to affordable credit, insurance and blended finance, addressing some of the financing constraints that have historically limited agricultural investment and commercial expansion.
By improving access to finance alongside markets, technology and stronger value chains, the initiative seeks to move agricultural development beyond production alone towards a more integrated food-system model.
IFAD Focuses on the “First Mile” of Nigeria’s Food System
IFAD said its participation in AgriConnect would build on its longstanding engagement with Nigeria’s smallholder farmers and rural communities.
“As the only international financial institution exclusively focused on rural transformation, IFAD brings a distinct contribution to AgriConnect by working with smallholder farmers at the first mile of food systems to strengthen farmer collectives, improve post-harvest management and build the commercial linkages needed to connect producers to reliable markets,” said Mohamed El-Ghazaly, IFAD Country Director for Nigeria.
“AgriConnect presents an important opportunity for IFAD to build on our long-standing partnership with the Federal Republic of Nigeria and deepen support to smallholder farmers across the country,” he added.
The emphasis on the “first mile” reflects the importance of addressing challenges at the farmer and producer level, including organisation, post-harvest management and reliable access to markets.
Nigeria’s Food Security Challenge Raises the Stakes
Agriculture remains a major component of Nigeria’s economy, contributing about 26 per cent of GDP and employing approximately 30 per cent of the workforce, according to the information provided for the initiative.
However, agricultural productivity remains below that of regional peers, while about half of Nigeria’s estimated 37 million hectares of arable land is described as underutilised.
The country is also facing significant food-security pressures, with more than 31 million Nigerians experiencing acute food insecurity. Inflation, insecurity and climate-related shocks have added pressure to food production, availability and affordability.
Against this backdrop, AgriConnect is being positioned as an intervention capable of simultaneously increasing agricultural output, strengthening rural livelihoods and attracting private capital into Nigeria’s food system.
From Farming to Competitive Value Chains
The Compact’s approach goes beyond increasing farm-level production. Its broader objective is to develop agricultural value chains in which farmers can connect more efficiently with markets, financial institutions, processors and other participants in the food system.
Stronger farmer organisations are expected to improve collective access to markets and services, while better post-harvest management could help address losses between production and consumption.
Digital solutions and improved financial access are also central to the framework, potentially giving farmers and agribusinesses better tools for accessing finance, managing operations and connecting with markets.
The combination of these interventions is intended to strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to produce food at scale while creating commercially sustainable opportunities across agriculture and related industries.
IFAD’s Existing Nigeria Portfolio
The AgriConnect partnership also builds on IFAD’s existing investments in Nigeria.
IFAD’s current portfolio includes the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP), the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta (LIFE-ND) and the forthcoming Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria (VCN).
Together, these programmes represent an IFAD financing commitment of close to US$392 million.
The organisation’s involvement in AgriConnect therefore provides a platform to build on existing experience supporting smallholder farmers, rural enterprises and agricultural value chains across different parts of Nigeria.
A New Test for Nigeria’s Agricultural Transformation
With its combination of public financing, development assistance and private-sector capital, the Nigeria AgriConnect Compact represents an effort to address several interconnected challenges facing the country’s agricultural economy.
Its stated targets—nearly three million people benefiting from improved food and nutrition security and more than 2.5 million jobs created over five years—will ultimately depend on how effectively financing is translated into productive farms, functioning value chains, reliable markets and commercially sustainable rural enterprises.
For Nigeria, the larger objective is to turn its substantial agricultural potential into greater food production, stronger rural incomes, new employment opportunities and a more resilient food system.
