New Telegraph-Admin 
The allocation of N132 billion in the 2025 Budget of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration to support Nigerian farmers, with the laudable aims and objectives to boost modern farming practices, increase yields and strengthen the value chain in the agricultural sector could not have come at a better time.
With the increasing threats of insecurity, freaky climate change and having several rural farmers still battling with obsolete food production practices, some experts in the sector have praised the initiative as the right step forward.
That is more so towards achieving sustainability with regards to food security. Yet, some others have received the piece of news with cautious optimism. But first, let us take a look at how it has all evolved. Considered as one of the legacies of the previous administration led by former President Muhammadu Buhari, the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) was established by the Act 34 of 2022 as signed into law by Buhari. The Fund’s mandate encapsulates the financing of agricultural practices, providing on-lending opportunities to farmers through microfinance banks and cooperatives.
Others include supplying resources such as improved seedlings, fertilizers, irrigation systems and market access for their products. In specific terms Section 8 of the NADF Act outlines key objectives such as improving crop production, that of livestock, fisheries, agroforestry all in the bold bid to guarantee food security.
All these are noble initiatives that would solve poor credit access, inadequate infrastructure as well as combat climate challenge. With the engagement of Integrated Farm Estates across the country to engage the youths and the focus on small scale farmers this should be the right way to get out of hunger and joblessness.
But some experts in the agricultural sector have their reasons in their call for cautious optimism for the programme. In fact, their doubts so far raised on the initiative raises some burning questions. For instance, was the N132 bil- lion arrived at based on empirical evidence on ground concerning the number of farmers to benefit from it and their priority needs?
Above all, will there be accountability, transparency and timely disbursement of the much-needed funds? Or, will it be politicised and couched with fraud…
Have the different parts of the country identified their areas of core competence on what to focus the funds on-be it livestock production, crops production, or the needs for roads to connect the rural areas of production to the cities for value addition through processing, preservation, packaging, marketing and export?
Above all, will there be accountability, transparency and timely disbursement of the much-needed funds? Or, will it be politicised and couched with fraud, in addition to being skewed in favour of a particular part of the country at the expense of the others, as alleged in the disbursement of funds by the Anchor Borrowers programme, as carried out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under the previous administration?
These indeed are the burning questions deserving credible answers. To fashion the best way forward out of the challenges of hunger and poverty in the land, that had Nigeria ranked 110 out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report in 2024 a holis- tic restruc- turing of the country has become a ne- cessity.
Given the impactful initiatives tak- en by the current state governors of Niger, Adamawa and Kogi to boost food production, initia- tives such as that being driven by NADF would make a greater impact at the state or regional level. That was what transpired during the First Republic with the Northern Region boast- ing of cotton, sorghum, maize, hides and skin and the popular groundnut pyramids.
While the Eastern Region had much to gain from palm oil, rubber and the root crops such as yam, cocoyam and cassava the then Western Region was notable for the massive production of cocoa, coffee, and cassava. What was lacking back then in the 60s was the application of processing, preservation and packaging techniques to increase the revenue yields from exports. Some other significant factors to be considered in taking the agricultural initiative to greater heights include that of pragmatic and purposeful partnerships.
That should be done with the private sector, especially with more funds channelled to infrastructure, funding of research, value addition and export promotion. With an objective analysis into the N132 billion meant to boost food security in the country the motive is laudable.
The method should however, be closely carried out with transparency, probity and timelines for it to succeed. In fact, if Tanzania with a population of 68.56 million people as at 2024 and a land mass of 945,203 square kilometres, compared to Nigeria’s 232.679 million people and a land mass of 923, 768 square kilometres could transform into the food basket of the African continent within a short span of five years, we can do much more.
And that includes being assisted with high yielding, early maturing and dis- ease resistant hybrid seedlings. These, in addition to the knowl- edge of organic farming will act as capable catalysts to drive the nation. But of necessity also, is the need for the federal and state governments to engage the mass media, in promoting their agri- cultural policies, down to the ru- ral areas using local languages. The revolution in the agricultur- al sector has started and now is the time for most of the citizens to key into it.
