The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) has rolled out an ambitious agricultural reform framework aimed at stabilising food prices, protecting farmers from market volatility and expanding agricultural productivity, as part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s broader food security agenda.
Managing Director of BOA, Ayodeji Sotinrin, disclosed the strategy during an interview on Moneyline with Nancy on AIT, where he outlined a series of interventions designed to strengthen farmer incomes, improve access to finance and modernise Nigeria’s agricultural value chain.
Sotinrin said the reforms align with the Tinubu administration’s drive to build a resilient food system capable of guaranteeing food availability while ensuring farmers receive fair value for their produce.
According to him, one of the centrepieces of the initiative is the introduction of a Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) mechanism aimed at shielding farmers from sharp fluctuations in commodity prices and discouraging exploitative middlemen practices.
Under the arrangement, government will establish price floors for key staple crops including maize, rice, soybeans and cassava to ensure farmers recover production costs and maintain sustainable earnings.
To support the programme, BOA will purchase surplus produce directly from farmers and store the commodities in the country’s 33 silos for future market intervention and price stabilisation.
Sotinrin described the initiative as a major national food stabilisation programme that would be backed by extensive public sensitisation campaigns across media platforms.
He also revealed that the bank is restructuring its lending model by moving away from traditional direct micro-credit systems to a digitally driven agricultural financing ecosystem anchored on farmer aggregation companies.
The BOA chief explained that the bank now deploys digital verification tools such as the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identification Number (NIN) to onboard farmers and open bank accounts within minutes, a move aimed at ensuring financial support reaches genuine farmers rather than intermediaries.
According to him, mechanisation remains a critical priority, noting that Nigeria currently has one of the lowest tractor densities globally, estimated at 0.27 tractors per 100 square kilometres.
To bridge the gap, BOA has deployed 2,000 high-capacity tractors sourced from Belarus to service providers who must demonstrate the ability to mechanise at least 600 hectares each.
The intervention, he said, is expected to support more than 1.2 million farmers during the ongoing wet planting season.
Sotinrin further announced the launch of a ginger revival initiative following the devastating fungal disease outbreak that affected ginger farms across the country in 2023.
He explained that the programme would introduce tissue culture technology to replace the traditional replanting method, with the goal of expanding Nigeria’s ginger industry from a $300 million sector into a $3 billion export industry by 2028.
As part of broader reforms in the sector, the Federal Government has also directed the creation of a permanent National Farmer Data Registry to provide accurate data for planning, insurance coverage, credit access and targeted interventions for farmers nationwide.
The Tinubu administration has in recent months intensified efforts to reposition agriculture as a major economic growth driver through large-scale financing, mechanisation and technology adoption initiatives.
Central to the reforms is the Federal Government’s ₦1.5 trillion recapitalisation of BOA, aimed at transforming the institution into a fully-fledged development finance bank capable of delivering affordable credit, innovation support and capacity development for farmers and agribusinesses, especially youths and women.
The administration has also expanded international agricultural partnerships, including strategic cooperation with Brazil, to facilitate the deployment of modern farming equipment, training programmes and agricultural service centres across Nigeria.
The collaboration is expected to deepen mechanised farming, attract investment and accelerate the country’s transition from subsistence agriculture to large-scale commercial production.
The reforms represent one of the most significant operational shifts in BOA’s history and come as the institution marks one year under its current leadership.
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