Actionaid, NADF Collaborates On Effective Utilization Of Agricultural Fund

ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) says it is partnering with the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) to ensure effective and proper implementation of the fund.

Azubike Nwoke, Agriculture Systems Specialist, AAN said this at the National Stakeholders Meeting on NADF on Thursday in Abuja.

NADF is statutorily mandated to promote the development of agriculture and management of related natural resources in an environmental friendly manner.

It desires to utilise these funds to procure goods and services in different parts of the country.

Azubike said the meeting was organised to enable stakeholders understand the fund more, its challenges and as well reflect on how best it could be supported to enhance agricultural productivity of youth and women farmers.

“NADF is a darly fund design to provide more resources to the agricultural sector, so it is a fund that is suppose to support communities.

“We are having this conversation so that we can all understand the fund more and also reflect on how best we can support it.

“Our agriculture sector is faced with challenges of low allocation, little releases and most time lack of proper capital releases.

“Some of us are afraid that NADF will face same situation and the earlier we start conversations on how best to navigate this challenges the better for us,”he said.

Azubike said stakeholders target is to ensure Nigeria meet 10 per cent fund commitment to the sector.

He recommended that the fund should prioritise key areas like access to credit, reducing post-harvest losses through provision of processing and storage facilities, market access, facilitating transportation, extension services and labour saving technologies.

The specialist further emphasised that there was need to support irrigation “so that we can have a better output for the agricultural sector in terms of exploring rural economic growth.

Azubike who said there were number of policies that have not been implemented however emphasised that collaborating with NADF and other stakeholders was to identify the challenges bedeviling the fund and chart a way forward.

“So we will work together as stakeholders and see how best the fund performs for the agricultural sector.

“There are already donors that are supporting the fund in terms of capacity building and other support, so this meeting is an avenue for those stakeholders to also reflect and understand how better to support the fund,”he said.

The Executive Secretary of NADF, Mohammed Ibrahim said NADF remain committed to fostering collaboration, building strategic partnerships and supporting policies that enhance agribusiness financing and drive technological innovation for a more prosperous Nigeria.

Ibrahim represented by Ernest Ihedigbo, General Manager, Technical Services, NADF said the fund is currently advancing a seed enhancement project, focusing on four priority crops.

He identified the crops as cassava, maize, rice, and cowpeas as well as millet and oil palm.

Ibrahim said the continued efforts align with the organisations’s vision of enhancing food security and improving agricultural productivity.

“We plan to pay particular attention to smallholder women farmers as well as youth who are keen to develop the agribusiness space.

“We believe in the power of agricultural development to drive socio-economic transformation.

“Our mission is to provide sustainable and inclusive financing that bridges critical gaps in Nigerian agriculture, fostering long-term stability and prosperity. We aspire to be the leading development fund championing agricultural sustainability and economic progress in Nigeria.

“To achieve this, NADF has implemented several initiatives like the Ginger Recovery Advancement and Transformation for Economic Empowerment (GRATE) programme which played a crucial role in mitigating the devastating effects of the ginger blight epidemic,”he said.

Ibrahim said the organisation in its commitment to strengthening agricultural sector conducted a Baseline and Needs Assessment Survey in conjunction with Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN).

The assessment according to him covers16 agricultural research institutes and 17 colleges of agriculture across the country.

He says “the survey aim is to identify strengths, gaps, opportunities and constraints in our agricultural research and training ecosystem.

“Key findings are infrastructure deficiencies, obsolete equipment and funding constraints.

“Infrastructure development is the major component of the fund,”.

NAN / Foluke Ibitomi