19/07/2026
FG targets 25 million tonnes annual grain output
The Federal Government has unveiled a new agricultural financing programme aimed at increasing Nigeria’s annual grain output from 11 million tonnes to 25 million tonnes as part of efforts to strengthen food security, reduce food inflation and boost agricultural productivity.
The initiative, known as the Renewed Hope Smallholder Agricultural Financing Programme, is being implemented by the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to provide smallholder farmers with affordable access to improved farm inputs, including subsidised fertilisers, certified hybrid seeds, and other essential agricultural materials. Speaking at the unveiling of the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund organised by Arzikin Noma Africa in Zaria, the Managing Director of BOA, Ayodele Sotinrin, said the programme was designed to improve crop yields and increase national food production.
Sotinrin explained that the farm inputs would be financed through BOA’s single-digit lending facility at an interest rate of nine per cent, stressing that they were not grants but loans intended to ensure the sustainability of the intervention while remaining affordable for farmers. He disclosed that the bank selected 20 farm aggregators from more than 1,240 applicants for the pilot phase after assessing their technical and operational capacity to support farmers across participating states.
According to him, the first phase of the programme will benefit about 500,000 farmers during the current farming season before expanding to two million farmers next year and eventually reaching five million farmers nationwide. Sotinrin said the projected increase in food production is achievable if five million farmers cultivate one hectare each and harvest at least five tonnes per hectare. “That would result in about 25 million tonnes of food annually, sufficient to meet domestic demand, reduce dependence on food imports and create opportunities for agricultural exports,” he said.
He added that the bank also plans to support year-round farming through irrigation financing and irrigation-as-a-service initiatives to improve productivity and farmers’ incomes beyond the rainy season.
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