Nigeria Launches $5 Billion AgriConnect Plan to Back Farmers and Create 2.5m Jobs

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) joined the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the World Bank Group and other development partners on Friday to launch the Nigeria AgriConnect Compact.

Nigeria has launched an agricultural framework expected to mobilize US$5 billion over five years, with support focused on helping smallholder farmers produce more food, reach reliable buyers and build businesses that generate jobs. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) joined the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the World Bank Group and other development partners on Friday to launch the Nigeria AgriConnect Compact. Its five-year targets include improving food and nutrition security for nearly three million people and creating more than 2.5 million jobs through stronger crop and livestock value chains and better connections between producers and markets.

Helping farmers produce beyond their household needs

AgriConnect is a World Bank Group initiative designed to help smallholder farmers worldwide move from growing mainly enough to feed their families to producing a surplus they can sell. The approach recognizes that increasing harvests requires more than better farming methods: farmers also need effective producer organizations, access to finance, useful digital services and dependable routes to market. Stronger private sector participation across food systems is part of that effort, helping connect agricultural production with the businesses that buy, handle and sell food.

Nigeria's Compact aligns with the Renewed Hope Agenda and the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy, known as NATIP, and gives priority to crop and livestock value chains with strong potential to raise productivity and create employment. For farming households, the practical importance lies in making production more commercially rewarding, with better market integration giving farmers a clearer route from their fields to paying customers. The Compact links those opportunities to broader food and nutrition needs, placing rural livelihoods and the country's food supply within the same framework.

A $5 billion response to pressures on food production

Agriculture contributes 26 per cent of Nigeria's gross domestic product and employs about 30 per cent of its workforce, making the sector central to household incomes and the wider economy. Productivity remains well below that of regional peers, and about half of the country's 37 million hectares of arable land is underutilized. More than 31 million Nigerians face acute food insecurity driven by inflation, insecurity and climate shocks, underscoring the need for investment that helps farmers increase production and makes agricultural businesses better equipped to withstand disruption.

The estimated US$5 billion would come from government, development partners and private investors over five years, financing stronger foundations for smallholder productivity, policy reforms and wider access to affordable credit, insurance and blended finance. These commitments address the financial constraints facing farmers and agribusinesses, whose ability to invest depends partly on securing funding and managing risk. The Compact also seeks to attract private investment and strengthen Nigeria's position as a regional food basket.

IFAD brings its rural investment experience to the Compact

IFAD Country Director for Nigeria Mohamed El-Ghazaly described the institution's contribution as starting with smallholder farmers at the first mile of food systems, where stronger farmer collectives, better post-harvest management and commercial relationships can help producers reach reliable markets. As the only international financial institution exclusively focused on rural transformation, IFAD sees AgriConnect as an opportunity to build on its longstanding partnership with Nigeria and deepen support for smallholders across the country.

That contribution draws on a Nigerian portfolio representing close to US$392 million in combined IFAD financing commitments, covering the Value Chain Development Programme, the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprises Project in the Niger Delta and the forthcoming Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria. These programmes provide a foundation for IFAD's participation in a national effort connecting farmers' production needs with the finance, business relationships and market access needed to turn larger harvests into stronger livelihoods.