The grassroots economic emancipation initiative led by President Bola Tinubu, the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme, has received support from a farmers’ group, the Crop, Aquaculture, Livestock Farmers and Value Chain Economic Actors Association of Nigeria.
 
During a meeting with the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Abubakar Bagudu, in Abuja yesterday, the group offered to collaborate with the Federal Government to accelerate the programme’s implementation.
 
Unveiled last year by the President, the programme aims to reset development planning by boosting economic activities at the ward level through collaboration among the federal, state, and local councils.
 
Welcoming the delegation led by Mr Aliyu Adulraheem, the minister emphasised the importance of dialogue between government institutions and organised stakeholders in advancing Nigeria’s development agenda.
 
He noted that the ministry remains willing to collaborate with professional associations, civil society organisations, and private-sector actors to carry out its mandate more effectively.
 
According to the minister, the Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme is a significant effort to overhaul Nigeria’s development framework by promoting stronger cooperation among the federal, state, and local councils, while also involving citizens and development partners in a “whole-of-society” approach to national progress.
 
He explained that Nigeria’s constitutional framework assigns development responsibilities to the three tiers of government, but in practice these roles have not always been well coordinated, leading to duplication, inefficiencies, and interruptions in development initiatives.
 
“The Renewed Hope Ward Development Programme aims to address this by concentrating development planning at the ward level, which is the lowest administrative unit in Nigeria’s governance structure,” the minister said.
 
He stated that Nigeria has 8,809 wards, each with unique economic prospects that can be accessed through targeted interventions.

He highlighted CALFAN’s extensive grassroots structure, including Ward-Level Extension Service Offices (WESOs) and a digital platform that supports real-time beneficiary identification, community mobilisation, data collection, and monitoring of development activities.
 
The presentation states that the proposed platform will facilitate economic mapping of rural communities, infrastructure assessments, digital surveys, and real-time data collection to support evidence-based policy decisions and programme monitoring. CALFAN highlighted its inclusive approach that encompasses the entire agricultural value chain, including farmers, input suppliers, processors, transporters, traders, and service providers.