The Nigerian Government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) have officially commenced the 2nd Joint Supervision Mission of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme.
The inception workshop, held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, gathered senior government officials, development partners, state programme teams, and private sector actors to accelerate agro-industrialisation across Nigeria.
IFAD Country Director for Nigeria, Ms Dede Ekoue, opened the session by celebrating the “strategic moment of reflection, recalibration, and renewed commitment” to transforming Nigeria’s food systems.
She reaffirmed IFAD’s alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, applauding the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS) for its leadership.
“The SAPZ programme is not just supporting farmers, it is structurally transforming rural economies, driving youth agribusiness opportunities, and strengthening Nigeria’s resilience,” Ekoue said.
Major Strides
The workshop highlighted major strides recorded since the last supervision mission. According to IFAD:
•41,204 farmers and value chain actors have now been digitally profiled across Kano and Ogun States, forming a data-driven foundation for accurate targeting.
• Women represent 50% of all profiled actors in Ogun.
• Youth account for nearly 25% of those profiled in Kano.
• 15,664 beneficiaries have already received training, inputs, and nutrition services, representing 15.8% of the programme’s 100,000 Life-of-Project target.
• 14,655 farmers benefited from digital climate services, input distribution and capacity-building in 2025 alone.
Ekoue emphasised that SAPZ implementation has “moved beyond planning into concrete delivery,” noting that digital systems ranging from profiling to climate information dissemination remain at the heart of programme accountability and modernisation.
MoUs Signed
One of the standout achievements is the activation of the Multistakeholder Agribusiness Forum (MAF) and the signing of 24 Memoranda of Understanding, linking producers of cassava, rice, tomato, and groundnut to guaranteed buyers and agro-processors.
These partnerships deploy IFAD’s 4P Model—Public–Private–Producer Partnership, which reduces risk, strengthens market systems, and safeguards farmers’ incomes.
Representing the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Mrs Adebola Iluromi, Director of the Department of Development Partners Projects, underscored SAPZ as a flagship initiative to move Nigeria from “merely producing commodities to processing them competitively for domestic and export markets”.
She described the supervision mission as a “strategic opportunity to strengthen delivery and accountability”, urging participants to approach the exercise with technical rigour and openness.
“Our farmers and communities are waiting for fully functional agro-industrial zones that will add real value to the crops they produce,” Iluromi stated.
Financial Progress
Overall disbursement across funding sources indicates growing momentum, with IFAD disbursement hitting 25.09% and federal and state government contributions also progressing.
However, the mission will focus on accelerating utilisation across components such as civil works and grants, which currently reflect lower expenditure rates.
Strengthening Partnerships
The SAPZ continues to deepen collaboration with government agencies, research institutions, insurers, and private sector actors, including NAIC, NIMET, ICRISAT, NiHORT, IFDC, KNARDA, OGADEP, Sasakawa, and civil society organisations such as CS-SUNN.
A Call to Action
In her closing remarks, Ms. Ekoue called on stakeholders to “harmonise state and federal priorities, reinforce market linkage agreements, and maintain an unwavering focus on inclusion, especially for women, youth, and Persons with Disabilities.”
The workshop sets the stage for a week of field assessments, technical meetings, and strategic reviews aimed at fast-tracking results before the close of 2025.
Confidence Okwuchi