FG has urged expanding USAID’s ‘Feed the Future’ initiative, which has supported over two million farmers and facilitated 67 billion naira in funding.
Abubakar Kyari, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, has called for the expansion of USAID’s ‘Feed the Future’ Initiative, which has empowered over two million farmers across seven states.
Specifically, speaking at a National Agricultural Extension Service Impact-Sharing Workshop in Abuja on 23rd October 2024, Kyari, represented by Deola Tayo Lordbanjou, the Director of the Federal Department of Agricultural Extension Service, emphasised the need to extend the initiative’s benefits to a broader agricultural community.
Kyari stated: “It is critical to scale the success of this initiative to more agricultural stakeholders,” and highlighted the effective collaboration between the public and private sectors.
Furthermore, the five-year, $16.8 million initiative focuses on empowering farmers in key value chains, including maize, rice, cowpea, soybean, and aquaculture.
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Notably, it has facilitated over 67 billion naira in funding to smallholder farmers, with MSMEs playing a crucial role in providing affordable financing.
Jean Pierre-Rousseau, the project director for USAID’s Feed the Future Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services Activity, noted that the collaboration has led to enhanced productivity and income for farmers.
He stressed the transformative impact of the initiative on livelihoods, stating, “The MSME-led extension model represents the future of agricultural extension services in Nigeria.”
In addition, Lordbanjou remarked that the workshop aimed to showcase the successes of this partnership and explore avenues for national scaling.
“Our collaboration with USAID has empowered MSMEs to deliver impactful agricultural practices, enhancing productivity and income for smallholder farmers across Nigeria,” he said.
