Nigeria has announced the operationalisation of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) as part of efforts to strengthen agricultural financing, research and innovation.
The announcement was made during Nigeria’s Country Session at the 9th Africa Agricultural Science Week (9AASW) in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, said the NADF marks a strategic shift in agricultural financing and will help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and commercial application.
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“A landmark achievement in this regard is the operationalisation of the National Agricultural Development Fund.”
“The Fund provides a more sustainable mechanism to support research, technology development, enterprise creation, value-chain modernisation and private-sector participation,” he said.
Senator Kyari noted that under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, agriculture has been placed at the centre of Nigeria’s economic renewal and food security agenda.
According to him, key areas of investment include digital agriculture, mechanisation, climate-smart production systems, seed systems, value chain-based extension services, livestock development, irrigation, value addition, and the marine and blue economy.
“As Africa’s largest economy and one of its leading agricultural producers, Nigeria recognises that future food security depends not only on expanding cultivated land but on expanding knowledge,” he stated.
The Minister emphasised that agricultural research is no longer viewed as a supporting function but as a strategic national investment capable of driving productivity, resilience, competitiveness and long-term prosperity.
He outlined five strategic priorities for the sector, including strengthening scientific excellence, accelerating digital transformation through artificial intelligence, remote sensing, geographic information systems (GIS) and data analytics, as well as promoting commercialisation of research outcomes.
Kyari said the government is also strengthening digital advisory services to ensure that research outputs reach farmers more quickly through stronger partnerships among researchers, extension professionals and agribusinesses.
He further explained that the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) and National Agricultural Research Institutes are being repositioned through investments in modern laboratories, digital data systems, scientific equipment and institutional governance.
Looking ahead, the Minister said Nigeria will focus on artificial intelligence, biotechnology, robotics, remote sensing, genomics and other digital technologies to build a globally competitive, digitally enabled, climate-smart and commercially driven agricultural research system.
“The future belongs to nations that invest in knowledge as deliberately as they invest in infrastructure.
“Nigeria has made that choice. We choose science as the foundation of food security, innovation as the driver of prosperity and partnership as the pathway to sustainable agricultural transformation,” Kyari added.
