In a major step toward boosting food security and empowering smallholder farmers, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has launched a ₦19.5 billion pilot agricultural programme tagged “AgGrow”, aimed at supporting 50,000 farmers across Nigeria with 50 percent subsidised quality inputs.
The initiative, rolled out under the Renewed Hope Agenda, is designed to ease farmers’ access to critical inputs like fertiliser, high quality seeds, and agrochemicals, and to improve the entire value chain from cultivation to processing. Under the scheme, farmers will receive fully financed inputs, while processors will repay 50 percent of the cost upon harvest, ensuring accountability and shared responsibility.
The programme will target four major staple crops, rice, maize, cassava, and soybeans, across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. At least 40 percent of beneficiaries will be women and 20 percent will be youth, aligning with President Tinubu’s commitment to inclusive economic empowerment.
Speaking at the launch, Mr. Lanre Wilton Wadell, Special Technical Assistant to the Managing Director of the Nigeria Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), said the project would bridge the long standing gap between farmers and processors while leveraging digital innovation for tracking and transparency.
Farmers will be registered using geospatial and biometric data, and the programme will utilise a real time digital monitoring and evaluation platform to track input distribution, land usage, and crop performance.
Wilton Wadell emphasised that the AgGrow programme is not just about increasing yields but also about building a more resilient, tech driven, and inclusive agriculture system, a vision that sits at the heart of President Tinubu’s development strategy.
This new initiative comes amid rising global concerns about food inflation and insecurity, positioning Nigeria as a proactive leader in agricultural resilience in Africa.
With President Tinubu’s backing, the AgGrow pilot has already been hailed as a model of sustainable farmer support, one that combines innovation, accountability, and strategic empowerment to deliver long term impact for Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
