The National Agricultural Development Fund has signed a partnership agreement with German climate fintech firm YAPU Solutions GmbH to improve climate-risk management and financing for smallholder farmers in Nigeria.
The agreement was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding signed by NADF Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed Ibrahim, and YAPU Solutions Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Christoph Jungfleisch.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the NADF said the partnership would establish a framework for expanding climate-resilient agricultural financing and strengthening the use of data in lending decisions.
The agreement provides “a framework for collaboration on adaptation and resilience finance, climate-risk assessment and the use of data to strengthen agricultural lending.”
The fund said the collaboration would allow both organisations to explore “financial mechanisms that can help smallholder farmers adapt to climate-related risks.”
It added that the arrangement would strengthen its ability to “assess and manage climate risks across its agricultural finance portfolio.”
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Under the partnership, the organisations will work across several areas, including climate-risk analytics, data infrastructure, operational framework development, capacity building and pilot programmes.
YAPU is expected to contribute “technical expertise and digital tools,” while the NADF will support relevant operational activities and take part in mutually agreed pilot projects.
The partnership will also facilitate efforts to create “new or improved financial products for smallholder farmers,” particularly products designed to respond to “the growing risks posed by climate change to agricultural production.”
The NADF said combining YAPU’s technical capabilities with climate-risk data and agricultural financing would help improve farmers’ capacity to withstand climate-related pressures.
It said the collaboration would further expand the application of climate-risk assessments and data-driven approaches in agricultural lending, while supporting the design of financing solutions suited to the evolving risks faced by smallholder farmers.
The fund added that pilot initiatives and capacity-building activities under the agreement would also contribute to strengthening its overall approach to identifying and managing climate risks within its agricultural finance portfolio.