News in brief: The USAID Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment initiative successfully attracted $244 million in agricultural investments for 18,000 small agriculture businesses in Nigeria over five years. It helped them facilitate access to finance and promote business expansion, contributing significantly to Nigeria’s agricultural development.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has announced that its recently concluded Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment initiative helped raise $244 million in agricultural investments for small agricultural businesses in Nigeria.
The five-year initiative supported over 18,000 small businesses across seven Nigerian states namely Benue, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Kaduna, Kebbi, and Niger. With the investments, they expanded their businesses, increased production, and created jobs.
The Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment initiative was a public-private partnership between USAID and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA). It focused on improving the ease of doing business in the agricultural sector, broadening access to finance by mitigating the credit risks of agribusinesses and promoting investment opportunities for agribusinesses to expand and scale up operations.
USAID Mission Director to Nigeria Anne Patterson said that the Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment activity has made a significant contribution to the development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
CNFA President and CEO Elizabeth Whitman said that the initiative has had a positive impact on the lives of thousands of Nigerians and expressed pride at having being a partner on such an important mission. Furthermore, she stated that it has helped to create a more prosperous and sustainable future for Nigerian farmers and agribusinesses.
USAID/Nigeria Economic Growth and Environment Office Director Michelle Corzine called for even more collaorations between public and private-sector actors in improving business for farmers as this initiative already showed the possible improvements that it could bring to the agricultural sector.
The Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment activity is an example of USAID’s commitment to supporting the development of Nigeria’s agricultural sector. It is also working to improve access to markets, strengthen agricultural research and extension services, and support the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices, per its mission.
