President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has unveiled a robust agricultural transformation agenda targeting Northern Nigeria, aimed at boosting productivity, ensuring food security, and safeguarding farmlands. The initiative includes a combination of financing support, mechanisation, and enhanced security to revitalise agriculture in the region under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
As part of this effort, the Federal Government secured $158 million in funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the French Development Agency (AFD) to implement the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) in nine Northern states. Additionally, through the Agro-Climatic Resilience in Semi-Arid Landscapes (ACReSAL) project, over ₦12 billion has been disbursed to reclaim 178,000 hectares of degraded farmland and support nearly 10,000 farmers with training, tools, and improved infrastructure.
To enhance protection for farmers and their produce, the government deployed 10,000 Agro-Rangers in collaboration with the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC). These personnel are tasked with securing farming communities, resolving conflicts, and preventing criminal activities that often disrupt agricultural activity across 19 northern states and the FCT.
Further driving agricultural innovation, President Tinubu also launched the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme with the deployment of 2,000 tractors and implements imported from Belarus. These efforts reflect a bold move to modernize Nigeria’s agricultural sector and reposition Northern Nigeria as a stronghold of national food production and rural development.
