By Obaike Odihue
The Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, has directed the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU) to expedite action on the disbursement of Federal Government’s ₦250 billion credit support for smallholder farmers at a single-digit interest rate.
Accordingly, he told the PFSCU to come up with an implementation roadmap for the disbursement of the funds, saying it was necessary to avoid further delays and ensure that the target beneficiaries of the initiative were reached.
Senator Shettima gave the directive on Thursday during the 6th meeting of the PFSCU Steering Committee, held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“On the Bank of Agriculture ₦250 billion facility, we need to sit down with all stakeholders and come up with a robust roadmap that ensures these funds reach the intended farmers and translate into real productivity gains,” the Vice President said.
VP Shettima commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for granting the PFSCU the political backing to act boldly on priority reforms, notably, the fertilizer raw material liberalization and the Presidential Seed Fund.
“I want to place it on record, our deep appreciation for Mr. President’s leadership and guidance. His clear directives on fertilizer liberalization and the seed fund have empowered the PFSCU to fast-track delivery in ways that directly support farmers and strengthen our food systems,” he stated.
Commending the PFSCU for the achievements recorded so far, the VP noted that the output of the unit has demonstrated that “when Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the private sector and development partners align, we can move swiftly from intent to delivery.”
Senator Shettima also called for improved collaboration among stakeholders to revitalize the seed sector and expand the strategic grain reserve through the ongoing reform initiative of the Federal Government.
On his part, the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Biodun Oyebanji, stressed the need to establish a structure to ensure that the N250 billion credit support earmarked for smallholder farmers by the Tinubu administration through the Bank of Agriculture reaches the farmers.
He also called for financial support for the PFSCU, pledging that his state was ready to provide financial assistance to them on a monthly basis.
Also, the Governor of Jigawa State, Malam Umar A. Namadi, commended the efforts of the Bank of Agriculture, emphasizing however that there is a need to provide subsidies for local Nigerian farmers.
For his part, Cross River State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu agreed on credit issuance, advising however that local farmers be encouraged with incentives through subsidies.
Earlier in her presentation, PFSCU Coordinator, Ms. Marion Moon underscored the urgency of protecting Nigeria’s fragile food security gains, with 30.8 million Nigerians still food insecure.
She said the unit had recorded significant progress in strengthening coordination and collaboration with MDAs across all three tiers of government.
Since the last SteerCo meeting in April, the PFSCU through respective MDAs has achieved major milestones: 250,000 farmers insured under the National Agribusiness Policy Mechanism (NAPM); Phase I of the Harvesting Hope Caravan launched across eight states in collaboration with state and local governments; approval of the ₦50 billion Seed Fund; and progress on the World Bank–supported $500 million AGROW programme .
Members commended the Harvesting Hope Caravan, currently engaging communities in collaboration with subnational governments.
The initiative underscores that agriculture is a shared responsibility—federal, state, local governments, private sector, and farmers must align in vision and purpose to sustain progress.
The meeting was attended by the Deputy Governors of Niger and Ebonyi States, the Ministers of Finance and Agriculture, Ministers of State for Finance and Agriculture, ALGON President, as well as representatives of the private sector and development partners.
