By Faridat Salifu, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and other key stakeholders, has convened a two-day workshop to assess and revise the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) Project, aiming to strengthen Nigeria’s food sovereignty.
Speaking at the event in Abuja, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, expressed optimism that the review would identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities to make the programme more efficient, effective, and impactful.
He said the initiative forms part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which declared an emergency on food and nutrition security to ensure accessibility, availability, and affordability of staple foods.
The minister noted that NAGS-AP focuses on six priority crops wheat, rice, maize, sorghum, soybean, and cassava and reported that over four farming seasons, the programme produced 2,536,184 metric tons of staple foods valued at N2.31 trillion.
He said these outputs have contributed to stabilizing food prices and improving national food availability.
Sen. Abdullahi added that the project will soon commence implementation of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) programme and NAGS 2.0, targeting rice, maize, soybean, cassava, and wheat production.
He said the 2025/2026 dry season will focus on rice, maize, and cassava across all 36 states and the FCT.
The minister explained that the workshop is designed to present new concepts and innovations for consideration, ensuring the revised NAGS-AP framework aligns with presidential directives and involves all stakeholders in producing verifiable results.
He encouraged public feedback to enhance the project’s impact.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi, represented by Director of Planning and Policy Coordination, Mr. Ibrahim Tanimu, emphasised the need to examine past bottlenecks in implementation to develop strategies that address gaps and sustain project outcomes.
National Project Coordinator, NAGS-AP, Mr. Ishaku Ado Buba, stated that the project will continue providing critical farm inputs, agricultural advisory services through extension agents, and quality control oversight to ensure high-quality production and sustainability of staple food outputs.
The workshop brought together representatives from the Federal Ministries of Finance, Environment, Water Resources, Livestock Development, security agencies, BOA, AFAN, AfDB, JICA, and RIFAN, among others.
