The federal government Wednesday signed a financing agreement for the Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria (VCN), aime day revolutionalising the nation’s agriculture sector
With the signing of the agreement, the implementation of the $158.15 million VCN project begins immediately to support agriculture value chain development and value addition for farmers in nine states of the northern part of the country.
The initiative is co-funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the French Development Agency (AFD), and the government of Nigeria.
The eight-year initiative, validated on March 21, 2024, was conceived following Vice President Kashim Shettima’s request during UNFSS stocktaking in Rome on July 24, 2023, that IFAD should scale-up its portfolio in Nigeria and mobilise additional partners and donors to support the agri-food transformation and food security of the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Shettima in a statement issued Wednesday y his Senior Special Assistant on Media & Communications, Stanley Nkwocha said it expected to sustainably reduce poverty, enhance nutrition and better resilience of rural and most vulnerable populations in the nine northern states, which include Borno, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoko, Yobe and Zamfara.
He described the initiative as a product of critical thinking about the economic reality of the northern region.
Shettima noted: “It is a fulfilment of the promise made by the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reduce poverty in Nigeria, restore dignity to the nation’s farmers, and ensure food security.
“It is a declaration of faith in the North—not as a region of deficits, but as a place of abundance. It also invites us to play our part in fulfilling the promise to reduce poverty, nourish our people, and restore dignity to farming families across Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano, Yobe, and Zamfara.
“What has brought us together today is an investment of $158.15 million, co-financed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the Federal Government of Nigeria, and other stakeholders.”