NADF, Jigawa State to Invest $30 Million in De-Risking Agricultural Finance

News in Brief:

-NADF and Jigawa State are designing a de-risking framework to attract private sector finance for farmers.

-The model aims to promote inclusive, climate-smart agriculture and could serve as a national template for boosting Nigeria’s food security.

The National Agriculture Development Fund (NADF) has joined forces with the Jigawa State Government to develop a pioneering agricultural lending de-risking framework aimed at expanding access to finance for farmers and agribusinesses across the state.

Speaking during a workshop on the model, the Executive Secretary of NADF, Mr Ibrahim Mohamed, explained that the new framework will create state-led financial risk management systems to make lending to farmers safer and more attractive to investors.

Mohamed noted that while national financial institutions have made commendable progress, localised, state-driven initiatives are often more effective because they directly address unique challenges within specific agricultural ecosystems.

“Our role is to bridge finance ecosystems and facilitate engagements across the entire agriculture sector,” he said. “With the technical support of Propcom+, a UKAid-funded programme, we are committed to ensuring this initiative succeeds.”

Jigawa’s ₦3.4 Trillion Agricultural Economy

The Director General of the Jigawa Agricultural Transformation Agency, Dr Saifullahi Umar, reaffirmed the state’s commitment to agricultural transformation through innovation, partnerships, and private sector involvement.

He disclosed that Jigawa has invested nearly $30 million in agriculture over the past two and a half years, including $17 million in mechanisation and $7 million in input financing for rice production. Despite these efforts, he stressed that the state’s agriculture sector, valued at ₦3.4 trillion, still faces significant financing gaps.

“Government alone cannot meet the capital needs of agriculture,” Umar said. “We must attract private investors and financial institutions into every link of the value chain, from input supply and production to processing, marketing, and distribution.”

Strengthening Food Security Through Smart Financing

Jigawa State farmers cultivate 2.4 million hectares of arable land and hold over 3.6 million cattle, 6 million sheep and goats. It produces about 2 million metric tons of rice annually and targets doubling that figure to 4 million tons by 2030. Umar emphasised that achieving this goal depends on sustainable financing structures and policies that foster private investment.

The Head of International Partnerships at NADF, Naona Usoroh, added that the framework is being co-designed with Propcom+ to align with global best practices and climate-smart agriculture principles.

“Our mission is to drive inclusive and commercially viable agriculture across Nigeria,” Usoroh stated. “This model will focus on framework development, financial innovation, policy alignment, and institutional capacity building.”

Experts believe the framework could become a national template for improving agricultural financing, strengthening food security, and accelerating rural development across Nigeria.