AfDB, IFAD, BOI and ISB to boost Nigeria’s agricultural sector with $800m funding
The African Development Bank (AfDB), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Bank of Industry (BoI) and Islamic Development Bank (ISB) are jointly injecting a total sum of $800million to boost agriculture and food production and reduce hunger in Nigeria.
According to the AfDB, the organization is injecting about $500 million towards the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) in the country to raise productivity and competitiveness of the agriculture sector.
According to the technical Adviser to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Richard-Mark Mbaram , the Development Bank of Brazil has signed a fresh $1.2 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government for agriculture modernisation, adding efforts are on to use the fund to boost mechanisation and set up modern agro centers across the country.
Speaking regarding the Feed Nigeria Summit to hold in August, Mr. Mbaram said “The theme of this year’s Feed Nigeria Summit resonates with current realities we face globally from the prism of the food system, heavily occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic. From Nigeria’s perspective, there is so much at stake. With this Summit, we are looking to x-ray these realities,”
The Feed Nigeria Summit (FNS) is Nigeria’s flagship agricultural sector convocation, which provides a unique platform for stakeholders in the sector to track and support the efforts of governments at all levels in a bid to reinforce Nigeria’s march towards self- sufficiency in agricultural production. This piggybacks on the enormous input of the private sector as the pivotal force behind the country’s contemporary agricultural attainment
The Feed Nigeria Summit is organized by AgroNigeria and supported by various stakeholders in Nigeria’s agricultural sector including the BOI, AfDB, FMARD, UK Department for International Trade, AFEX Nigeria, the Islamic Development Bank (ISB), Flour Mills of Nigeria, NABDA, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, amongst other
The theme for this year’s summit is Post-Covid19: Leveraging the Resilience of Nigeria’s Agro Economy. It is scheduled for August 23 and 24, at the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja
“For us, if we can repair the country’s food system, then certainly our economic-revamp efforts will be on the right track. The Summit will achieve this critical objective with the support of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD), also keen on advancing the course of its agricultural policy – NATIP”, Mr. Mbaram Concluded.
