Agriculture
FG Vows to Establish Agricultural Hubs Nationwide

…Agricultural Hubs
By Ateed Yusuf, Abuja
The Federal Government has made a commitment to create agricultural hubs across the country through the implementation of the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) program and the Value Chain Development Program (VCDP).
This decision was announced in a communiqué issued at the conclusion of the Nigeria high-level event at the UN Food Systems Summit in Rome, Italy.
During the event, Vice President Kashim Shettima affirmed that the Federal Government would continue to focus on mobilizing innovative financing to address critical challenges related to food systems priorities.
This commitment aligns with the Nigeria Food Systems Transformation Pathways.“Considering the substantial food finance gap in Nigeria, at both regional and global levels, Nigeria is calling for the mobilization of key national and international stakeholders from formal sectors to build win-win partnerships. This will catalyze transformative and substantial funding for achieving sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems,” said Shettima.
Read Also: 10th Reps Rollout Six-Point Agenda, Vow to Prioritize Citizens’ Needs
President of IFAD, Alvaro Lario, emphasized the need for governments and development agencies to lead the way with their own investments to stimulate private investment. He stressed the importance of ensuring that these investments empower smallholder farmers, improve their access to markets, increase their production, and enhance their resilience.
Dr. Muhammad Al Jasser, President of the Islamic Development Bank, and Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, reconfirmed their commitment to supporting Nigeria in achieving its development aspirations. They were represented by Mrs. Hassatou N’Sele, Vice-President of AfDB.
These banks pledged to support the country in implementing its future national development plans.
Mr. Reji George, Vice-President of OLAM, a private partner of IFAD-supported VCDP, highlighted the partnership agreement between the organizations under the Commodity Alliance Forum (CAF), which offers smallholder rice farmers access to reliable and profitable markets. This collaboration fosters productive investments at the farm level.
Mrs. Ejim Lovelyn, Vice President of CAF, representing farmers at the summit, praised CAF as an outstanding case of Public/Private/Producers Partnership (4Ps) of the VCDP. Through VCDP, smallholder farmers contribute to financing priority actions for food system transformation while benefiting from value chain financing provided by the private sector, which leads to increased sales and productivity.
The communiqué presented two case studies with a high-level panel discussion to showcase innovative finance models aimed at transforming Nigeria’s food system.
The first case study was the SAPZ program, launched in 2022, with a budget of US$521.00 million. The goal is to promote inclusive agribusiness development and rural transformation through the establishment of agricultural-specific economic zones. The program targets 100,000 direct beneficiaries, with 90% being smallholders and 10% small processors/traders/service providers.
The second case study focused on the VCDP launched in 2016, a US$329.00 million program of the Government of Nigeria funded by IFAD. It aims to improve the income and food security of poor rural households engaged in the production, processing, and marketing of rice and cassava on a sustainable basis. The program targets approximately 135,000 direct beneficiaries, consisting of 121,000 smallholder farmers and 14,000 processors/marketers.
The communiqué recommended that governments develop visions with the right policies, strategies, and enabling environment to stimulate innovative food investments by all actors. It emphasized the need for accelerated and coordinated implementation of the National Pathways for Food System Transformation.
Furthermore, it called on the private sector to scale up its innovative investments to support the country’s food systems priorities. It also highlighted the importance of integrating social, environmental, and health costs into funding decisions and fostering Public-Private Partnerships among international development partners.
Agriculture
Tiv Monarchs Give Herders Ten Days Ultimatum To Vacate Tiv Kingdom

By David Torough, Abuja
The Tiv Area Traditional Council during its emergency meeting held yesterday in the palace of the Tor Tiv in Gboko requested the Governor Hyacinth Alia led administration to create an enabling environment to allow herders’ peaceful exit of farmlands in Tiv Kingdom to facilitate resumption of farming activities.
Consequently, the Council directs political and traditional rulers in each local government area of Tiv Kingdom to peacefully engage the herders to ensure their exit from the local government areas to allow farming resumes.
The Council which was chaired by the Tor Tiv himself, HRM Prof James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse CFR equally appealed to all herders in Tiv Kingdom in Benue State to vacate all Tiv lands before the end of May 2025 to allow farmers return and cultivate their farms in order to avoid the looming hunger in Nigeria.
According to a Communique signed by the Secretary of the Council Mr Shinyi Tyozua which deliberated particularly on the security situation in Tiv Kingdom the Council enumerated the communities worst affected to include those in Kwande, Katsina Ala, Logo, Ukum, Guma, Makurdi, Gwer West Gwer East and Buruku Local Government Areas.
The Council lamented that farming activities in the kingdom have ceased due to the occupation of farmlands by herders for grazing and attacks and killings of farmers who fled stressing that if the situation continues it will ultimately result to hunger in Tiv Kingdom and Nigeria as a whole.
Agriculture
Ondo Govt. Destroys 200kg Seized Cocoa Adulterants

The Ondo State Government, on Thursday, destroyed 200kg adulterants used for adulteration of cocoa beans, seized from a merchant in Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Segun Odusanya, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (Forestry and produce sub section), supervised the destruction of the 200kg bags of seized adulterants.
Odusanya explained that the destruction was part of government efforts to ensure that the state maintained quality cocoa production in the country.
“Mr governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, has reiterated the commitment to ensure the state remains the highest producing state with good cocoa quality
“Anyone caught engaging in illegal activities will be prosecuted accordingly.
“Moreover, this action was embarked on to warn cocoa merchants, who intend to engage in illegal activities, to rethink before getting into it.
“We are going to seal any store caught in such illegal activities, the products will be burnt while the merchant will be prosecuted according to the laws of the land.
“If we are saying we are the highest cocoa producing state and we continue to encounter this scenario, it will give us a bad publicity.
“The bad publicity will be in the country and extend to the international market, and we don’t want that,” he said.
The permanent secretary, therefore, commended Aiyedatiwa for graciously approving the recruitment of 60 new staff to checkmate the activities of cocoa merchants in the state.
“Mr governor has supported us, he has said we should recruit more people to guide against any adulteration and ensure we have a good quality cocoa beans.
“I must commended our task force committee for ensuring that the state holds its position in the country and the international market,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Tunji Akinnadeju, a Director of Produce (DP3) in the Grading and Allied Department of the ministry, said the adulterants were intercepted at Ondo West Local Government Area of the state.
Akinnadeju said that the owner of the adulterants took to his heels at the time of arrest.
“As we all know that cocoa is being sold in weight and after adding all these things, it will be sold at high prices, which is not good enough.
“So, doing that will bring a lot of damage to the image of the state and the country at large in the international market,” he said.
Also, Mr Sunday Adegbola, a Director of Produce Licensing in the ministry, said the merchants’ actions could affect people during consumption of the cocoa products, if care was not taken.
Adegbola, who pledged that the ministry would not rest until the state was free from adulterated cocoa beans, said the nefarious action could be attributed to the price tag at the international market.
“It is the price at the international market and the price is better for the farmers, not for the people who use adulterants.
“With this action, many people will drink cocoa as a chocolate powder and other materials from cocoa beans which has been adulterated.
“The consumption of these chemical products will also affect humans,” he said. (NAN)
Agriculture
NNPC Foundation Empowers Vulnerable Farmers in Oyo, Osun

No fewer than 500 farmers on Tuesday benefited from the NNPC Foundation agricultural training initiative for vulnerable farmers in Osun and Oyo States.
The training, marking the flag-off in the South-West zone of Nigeria, was held at the Ilora Baptist Grammar School, Ilora, Oyo State.
The foundation manages the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of NNPC Limited, focusing on education, health, environment and energy access to communities nationwide.
The Managing Director of the foundation, Mrs Emmanuella Arukwe, said the initiative demonstrated the commitment to food security and economic empowerment for Nigerian farmers.
Arukwe, who was represented by Dr Bala David, the foundation’s Executive Director, Programme Development, said the project aimed to build resilience, boost productivity and promote sustainable agriculture.
“We are training 6,000 farmers across six zones in climate-smart practices, modern techniques, quality inputs, and market access,” she said.
She, therefore, urged farmers to participate actively and embrace the opportunity to help secure Nigeria’s food and economic future.
Mr Olasunkanmi Olaleye, Oyo State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, commended NNPC Foundation for the training and empowerment programme.
Olaleye, who was represented by Mr Olusegun Ezekiel, the ministry’s Director of Regulation and Enforcement, said empowering vulnerable farmers was crucial in addressing national food security challenges.
He added that the initiative aligned with Oyo State’s agricultural transformation agenda of Gov. Seyi Makinde.
“We remain committed to supporting initiatives that uplift farmers and improve productivity and livelihoods,” Olaleye said.
He encouraged participants to make the most of the training opportunity to improve their practices.
He also called for future collaboration between the foundation and the ministry to achieve greater impact.
The training consultant, Prof. Daniel Ozok, described vulnerable farmers as smallholders with an under-five-hectare farm size, mainly made up of women, youth, and the elderly.
“These farmers are most affected by climate shocks, hence the need for focused training,” Ozok said.
According to him, training equips them with modern techniques and strategies for improved productivity and market access.
Some of the participants expressed gratitude to NNPC Foundation and promised to apply the knowledge gained from the training.
NAN reports that a medical screening exercise was organised by the foundation for participants on the sidelines of the training.
Training initiative would later be held for farmers in Ekiti and Ondo States on a date different from that of Ogun and Lagos States. (NAN)