FG seeks release of IFAD’s $5m grant to smallholder farmers

The Federal Government has appealed to the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to release the $5 million adaptation grant for the Smallholder Agriculture Programme (ASAP) under the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP).

The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, made the appeal while on a courtesy visit to the Associate Vice President of IFAD, Dr Donal Brown.

The programme; ASAP was launched in 2021 to channel climate finance to smallholder farmers.

Kyari sought the approval of Nigeria’s requested two-year extension to enable the programme to improve on its disbursement status.

While commending IFAD for its faithfulness to due diligence in the existing operations of Nigerian IFAD portfolios, he noted that the smooth implementation of the Livelihood Improvement Family Enterprise – Niger Delta (LIFE-ND), Value Chain Development Program (VCDP) Additional Financing (AF) and Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) Programme underscored the unique quality of the strategic partnership between Nigeria and IFAD.

The minister said: “It is my strong belief that some of the next steps in the implementation of LIFE-AND which include the approval of a one-year extension, request for $20m additional Financing (AF) and preparation of LIFE-ND phase two will be given accelerated attention.”

He further promised that Nigeria was committed to IFAD’s future trajectory, especially on leveraging innovation for agri-food system transformation.

BEB