FG receives N56bn AfDB loan for wheat production

• To create 3.6m jobs from $1.1bn Agric funding

The Federal Government yesterday  said the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB) have approved $134m (N56 billion) to scale up food production in Nigeria. 

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mohammed Mahmood, said this at the 45th session of the Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the State House, Abuja. 

He said the loan facility will be used to fund part of the implementation of the National Strategy for Wheat Self-Sufficiency. 

He added that with 250,000 farmers cultivating 250,000 hectares in the 2022 dry season, the initiative will intensify wheat production in 14 states: Jigawa, Kebbi, Kano, Bauchi, Katsina, Kaduna, Sokoto, Zamfara, Gombe, Plateau, Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Taraba. 

“The expected production is 750,000MT of wheat,” he said.

On job creation, the minister said the federal government had created 3.6 million indirect jobs from $1.113bn (about N461.9bn) worth of externally funded projects being implemented.

He said $538 million was approved for special agricultural processing zones to support inclusive and sustainable agricultural development in Nigeria. 

According to him, another project worth $575m is being implemented to improve rural access and agricultural marketing in participating states while strengthening the financing institutional base for effective development, maintenance and management of rural roads network. 

The participating states include: Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, Kogi, Kwara, Kebbi, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Plateau and Sokoto.

The minister said government was also implementing the Value Chain Development Programme Additional Financing 2020-2024 to sustainably enhance incomes and food security of poor rural households engaged in the production, processing and marketing of rice and cassava.

He added that the project is currently being implemented in nine states including Niger, Benue, Ogun, Ebonyi, Taraba and Anambra, Nasarawa, Kogi and Enugu “to scale up the achievement recorded in the original VCDP states.”

Mahmood also said about $35million dollars is being expected from the Mexican government from export of hibiscus flower used in zobo production.

He further said the inaccessibility of farmlands in the terrorised regions of the Northeast, Northwest and Northcentral had not affected food production significantly.