The Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) has unveiled a five-year (2023-2027) strategic plan for Nigeria with the aim of strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of local actors to enhance food system transformation in the country.
The strategy will focus on enhancing climate-smart technologies and practices for sustainable farming, strengthening small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and enhancing the country’s capability to design policies, strategies, and flagships for execution and monitoring.
The Country Manager for AGRA Nigeria, Kehinde Makinde, while speaking, emphasised their goal of strengthening the resilience and competitiveness of local actors to enhance food system transformation in the country.
He stated that AGRA is at a critical junction and are currently working with the government and other stakeholders in the landscape to confront the challenges and make sure they don’t suffer a reversal.
The goal is to expand to five other states and work with the government to scale up these investments, involving private sector engagement, public sector financing, and the involvement of farmers and youth.
The Vice President of Policy and State Capability for AGRA, Apollos Nwafor, described the strategic plan as part of AGRA’s overall agenda to achieve food security and food system transformation in Africa.
He said: “The launch of today’s strategy is about our contribution to supporting the Nigeria’s agenda to achieve a food system transformation and an inclusive agricultural transformation in the country.
“Further emphasising that getting it right in Nigeria is crucial for getting it right in Africa, as more than 50 per cent of Nigeria’s population needs to be food secure.
“Ensuring food security and achieving inclusive agricultural transformation in Nigeria, at least 25 per cent of Africa’s population can escape poverty, while another 25 per cent can experience economic growth.
The Strategic Plan includes investments in driving climate-smart agriculture; the initial phase will start with Kaduna and Niger State, aiming to demonstrate the use of climate-smart technologies to promote agriculture in Nigeria.
The goal is to expand to five other states and work with the government to scale up these investments, involving private sector engagement, public sector financing, and the involvement of farmers and youth.
The CEO of Agrolay Ventures and representative of the AGRA Board, Ms Ada Osakwe, described the launch as a crucial step forward in Nigeria’s food system development agenda.
She highlighted the importance of the policy and an enabling environment to work for the agriculture sector, noting the strategy is a very bold and specifically enhance collaboration with the ministry of agriculture and development to continue working together in a very successful partnership.
