FG to commence implementation of $500m AGROW programme
By Taiwo Scholarstica
The Federal Government is set to commence the implementation of the $500 million World Bank-supported Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains for Growth Programme (AGROW).
The milestone was reached on Tuesday at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, where Vice President Kashim Shettima officially received the final report from the National Technical Working Group (NTWG).
Describing the document as “the conclusion of a design process that restores the farmer to the centre of our national economic reasoning, where he has always belonged,” Vice President Shettima emphasized that the initiative is structured to bridge the historic distance between rural farmers and central economic policy decisions.
He stated that the administration is committed to developing a framework rooted in the realities of agricultural workers, designed to be delivered through state governments and capable of attracting the private investment required to move agriculture from subsistence to scale.
Highlighting that agriculture accounts for 23% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product and sustains 34% of its workforce, the Vice President warned against treating the sector with complacency.
“When yields rise, food prices ease, rural incomes recover, industries receive raw materials, and the pressure on our cities and foreign reserves begins to relax. When yields fall, the entire economy discovers the price of hunger,” Shettima stated, adding that “what we do to the farm, we do to the nation.”
Outlining the financial architecture of the project, Shettima revealed that 500 million financing envelope will be executed directly through participating state governments.
He noted that the active participation of 32 states during the design phase reflects the urgent appetite for agricultural transformation across the country.
“This rightly places State Governments at the centre of delivery because agriculture ultimately takes place within our communities, Local Government Areas, and States,” the Vice President said.
However, Shettima acknowledged that the $500 million envelope alone cannot cover the infrastructural and extension service deficits accumulated over decades.
Following the presentation, Vice President Shettima formally accepted the report and approved the dissolution of the National Technical Working Group, transferring operational control to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
The briefing drew key stakeholders, including Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule, Kaduna State Deputy Governor Hadiza Balarabe, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Taiwo Oyedele, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Senator Abubakar Kyari, and World Bank Programme Leader Bertine Kamphuis