AfDB Releases $134m to Nigeria to Cultivate Rice, Maize, Others

The African Development Bank (AfDB) provides Nigeria with $134 million in support for the cultivation of essential crops such as rice, maize, cassava, and soybeans, aiming to enhance food production.

Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, the bank’s president, announced on Saturday that $134 million is being allocated to support this initiative, following his visit to the Centre for Dryland Agriculture (CDA) at Bayero University, Kano.

Adesina informed newsmen that the bank is set to back Nigeria in cultivating 300,000 hectares of both rice and maize, alongside 150,000 hectares of cassava and 50,000 hectares of soybeans for the planting season of 2024.

“This March, the AfDB is supporting Nigeria to cultivate 118,000 hectares of heat-tolerant varieties of wheat and another 150,000 hectares of maize.

“We live in an era of climate change and yet only three per cent of African agriculture is under irrigation. We have to make sure we help our farmers with information that is timely and appropriate.

“We have no alternative but to adapt to climate change; adopt better ways of using water, particularly in the cultivation of dry land crops that are more resilient and tolerant,’’ Adesina said.

Additionally, Adesina mentioned that the AfDB would offer grants to the CDA and work in collaboration with it to develop a center focused on weather pattern predictions and information collection, enabling farmers to plant more effectively.

“We will work with the center to become one of the centers of excellence in technology.

“We will also support youths to develop their business ideas into reality with our 20,000-dollar grant on Agri Pitch’ and Agri Hacking’,’’ he said.

Nigeria currently grapples with an unprecedented food inflation which stands at 35.41% according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics.

As a result, the prices of food items have quadruple, leading to food crisis and a nationwide protest by the organized labour over the persistent hunger in the country.

Meanwhile, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a generous donation of 25,000 tons of wheat from the Government of Ukraine that will help provide emergency food assistance to 1.3 million crisis-affected people in Nigeria.

The shipment was made possible following a collaborative effort from the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Republic of Korea and Sweden, which helped cover the costs of transporting the wheat from Ukraine to Nigeria and its distribution to the families who so urgently need it.

According to WFP, deadly conflicts have displaced millions of households from their homes and farmlands which negatively affected food production and supply.