The Bank of Agriculture has rolled out a a strategic roadmap aimed at modernising the bank’s operations, expanding grassroots financial inclusion, and supporting Nigeria’s agricultural transformation.

The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BOA Mr. Ayodeji Oludare Sotinrin revealed that the bank wals rolling out the operational upgrades and high-level partnerships to optimize the delivery of agricultural intervention programmes and empower smallholder farmers across the country.

He stated that, being the apex agricultural development finance institution, BOA plays the statutory role in safeguarding and deploying subsidized government funds, adding that through the provision of single-digit interest loans, the Bank has ensured that smallholder farmers are shielded from commercial lending rates, thereby significantly reducing the cost of production.

To scale this mandate, Sotinrin said BOA was expanding its collaborative network with state-level delivery platforms, licensed input suppliers, and international development partners, especially with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

He said the MoU was to integrate the Bank’s revitalisation agenda with the UNDP’s Integrated Smart States Programme (ISSP) in transitioning Nigeria’s agricultural landscape into an investment-ready system capable of mobilizing large-scale blended and climate finance.

He said that the collaboration is anchored on the One Million Hectare Tree Crop Initiative, a presidential priority focused on advancing commercial agriculture, creating jobs, and strengthening export diversification.

“Our vision for the Bank of Agriculture is to deploy capital in an intelligent, smart, and highly efficient way to reposition the institution as a catalyst for food security and rural prosperity. We are bringing everyone into the financial net, especially the youthful population of farmers in our hinterlands, to create a new, resilient food system for Nigeria”, he stated.

The MD also disclosed that to eradicate the systemic issue of “portfolio farmers” and middlemen diverting inputs meant for genuine agriculturalists, BOA has overhauled its verification framework, through the institution of stringent, data-driven credit profiling process that incorporates thorough BVN verification, Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols, and GPS farm-mapping.

He said “These necessary digital safeguards guarantee that public funds and inputs reach genuine, actively practicing farmers and cooperatives. For the BOA, ensuring transparency and accountability in the disbursement process is paramount.”

“The National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Muhammad Magaji, applauded the bank’s role shielding farmers from exorbitant commercial interest rates and urged the bank to ensure disbursement cycles match planting seasons,

He said,in  “We stand with the BOA on the need for strict verification. It is the only way to ensure that these interventions reach the genuine smallholder farmers who actually till the soil, rather than ‘political farmers.’ We remain committed to working closely with the BOA management to fine-tune this delivery framework.”.

The MD also disclosed that to ensure rural communities have seamless access to these interventions, the BOA is aggressively modernizing its nationwide footprint and driving financial inclusion in the hinterlands.

He said that BOA has accelerated its digital transformation with support from the UNDP, deployed CT infrastructure, solar power across its 110 branches, digital farmer platforms, and agency banking to expand financial and extension services to farmers in remote communities.

The bank also reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the National Agri-food System Investment Plan (NASIP) through stronger collaboration with commodity associations, cooperative societies, and other agricultural stakeholders to identify genuine beneficiaries and promote food security.