The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to involving farmers directly in policy formulation as part of efforts to boost agricultural productivity and strengthen national food security.
The Data Manager, Research and Impact Assessment at the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit in the Office of the Vice President, Mr Eniola Akindele, made this known on Tuesday at the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth workshop held in Kano.
Akindele said the administration of President Bola Tinubu is prioritising farmer-driven, market-oriented and results-based agricultural interventions, noting that policies must be guided by realities on the ground rather than a top-down approach.
He explained that the Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth initiative, known as AGROW, focuses on strategic value chains such as rice, wheat, tomato, sesame and sorghum, which are critical to Nigeria’s food security and economic development.
According to him, AGROW is a $500 million homegrown programme led by Nigeria and co-created across the three tiers of government in partnership with the private sector and development partners, with technical support from the World Bank.
Akindele said previous agricultural programmes were constrained by fragmented public spending, blanket input subsidies, government-driven implementation models, opaque land administration systems and multiple informal trade levies.
He noted that the AGROW framework introduces a new approach centred on state-level agricultural support, financial incentives linked to market outcomes and targeted public investment. Other pillars of the programme, he added, include institutionalised private sector engagement, transparent and secure land administration, and efficient and predictable interstate agricultural trade.
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The PFSCU official further explained that the programme is built on three core components: strengthening private sector linkages with smallholder farmers, modernising on-farm production systems, and effective project coordination, monitoring and evaluation.
He also outlined eligibility criteria for states seeking to participate in AGROW, which include sustainable land-based investment processes, establishment of digital farmer registries, improved transparency in fees and levies for interstate trade, reduced dependence on input subsidies and stronger support for agricultural cooperatives.
The workshop, themed Sustaining Growth, Strengthening Value Chains, brought together key stakeholders in the agricultural sector.