The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has invested over $1.5 billion to support small holder rural farmers in Nigeria since 1978.
The Associate Vice President of IFAD, Dr. Donal Brown, revealed this during a media briefing at the end his five-day official visit to Nigeria, saying that IFAD financed 12 projects for a total of $ 1,586.14 million, including $ 546.59 million from IFAD’s own resources, directly benefiting nearly 3,912,180 million Nigerian rural households.
The IFAD VP said: “We have been around since 1978. We have spent $1.5 billion in Nigeria. Our current portfolio is about $400 million, and we invest between $100 and $110 million every three years. We are also looking forward to new investment.
“We are not a humanitarian agency; we work with poor rural communities and smallholder farmers to improve food security, agriculture, and our project has been doing a lot on that.
“I am impressed with the seriousness of the new government and its commitment to do things well. Nigeria is facing many challenges with inflation, food insecurity, and with the President’s declaration of emergency on food security.”
I think IFAD can make a difference in that context.”Brown noted that the new government will be a strong partner, as IFAD has the expertise to support the government on the food security situation, promising that the organisation would also try to come up with longer term solutions.
