Kaduna maize farmers to get N1.5bn to raise productivity

The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has launched the National Agricultural Development Programme (NADP-1) to provide a 1.5 billion financial facility to help 1,500 maize farmers in Kaduna State increase their output. The agency will execute this in partnership with the Flour Mill Nigeria Agro and the Nova Bank, beginning this wet season. Speaking at […]

The National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has launched the National Agricultural Development Programme (NADP-1) to provide a 1.5 billion financial facility to help 1,500 maize farmers in Kaduna State increase their output.

The agency will execute this in partnership with the Flour Mill Nigeria Agro and the Nova Bank, beginning this wet season.

Speaking at a press conference to mark the launch of the project yesterday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Fund, Mr Mohammed Abu Ibrahim, said the partnership was designed to increase the productivity of farmers along major crops of national importance.

Giving the breakdown of the project, Mr Olalekan Alabi, Head of Investment, NADF, said the objective is to make funds available at a concessionary rate so that financing will be affordable, inputs that farmers need are accessible, and the markets for their produce are also available.

“In terms of the number of farmers for this particular facility, the amount involved is N1.5 billion. The target is 1,500 farmers, with plans to scale up to 10,000 before the end of this wet season, and then from there we move forward,” he said.

The Managing Director of Flour Mill Nigeria Agro, Dr Sadiq Usman, who spoke on the target crop and location, said they have chosen to kick-start the initiative with a focus on maize in Kaduna State, which produces about 20% of the country’s output.

“To give you context as to why we chose this crop and chose this state, we are the single largest buyers of maize, soybeans, sorghum and wheat in Nigeria. We use maize for our animal feed businesses. We use maize for our food milling business.

“So we’re very much interested in that yield equation for the farmer. Because if farmers improve their yield or guarantee their yield, that ensures that our supply chain continues to be fed and continues to be consistent. So you see where all this linkage is related to,” he said.

Dr Usman said the flour miller will focus on three critical elements important to the farmers’ productivity: the seed, fertiliser, and the extension services, adding that “every farmer needs to get these three critical elements to be productive, profitable and resilient.”

Speaking about the bank’s participation, Mr Esosa Igbineweka, Head of Value Chain Banking at Nova Bank, stated that NADF had selected the bank for the initiative in order to collaborate with Flour Mill Nigeria Agro to reach the farmers.

“This project cultivates about 1,500 hectares of farmland with the Economy of Production (EOP) of about N1,040,000 per hectare,” he said.