The Federal Government has entered into a strategic partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to connect vulnerable Nigerians to agricultural financing, productive assets and sustainable livelihood opportunities as part of efforts to reduce poverty and strengthen economic resilience.
According to a statement issued by the Federal ministry of Humanitarian and poverty reduction on Thursday, the partnership was formalised through a three-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and the Bank of Agriculture.
Speaking at the signing on Wednesday, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, said the agreement would help bridge the gap between humanitarian assistance and long-term economic empowerment.
Doro said the Ministry and BOA possessed complementary resources and expertise that could be deployed to improve the productive capacity and livelihoods of vulnerable Nigerians.
“We have something to bring to this partnership, and you too have something definitely to bring,” the minister said.
He identified the National Social Register as one of the Ministry’s major assets, noting that it contains information on about 20 million vulnerable households, representing approximately 80 million individuals.
According to him, more than 10 million people captured in the register have so far been validated through their National Identification Numbers (NINs).
Read Also:
- Babangida’s Son rejects Tinubu’s appointment as Bank of Agriculture Chairman
- Tinubu appoints IBB’s, son as chairman of Bank of Agriculture
- World Bank approves $500 million loan For Nigeria’s agriculture
Doro stressed that inclusion in the register follows a rigorous process involving vulnerability assessments, community-based targeting, data collection, verification and analysis.
He explained that community participation was particularly important because the nature and experience of poverty differ across communities and regions.
The minister said the combination of community-based identification and NIN validation had strengthened the credibility of the database and provided government with a platform for better-targeted interventions.
He said the partnership was also part of ongoing reforms by the ministry to improve coordination, eliminate duplication, reduce leakages and ensure that resources devoted to humanitarian and poverty-reduction programmes produce greater impact.
Doro said the ministry’s One Humanitarian, One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS) initiative was designed to promote a more coordinated approach to humanitarian assistance and poverty reduction.
He added that the collaboration with BOA would provide a practical avenue for translating the reforms into economic opportunities by connecting verified vulnerable Nigerians with agricultural financing, productive inputs, enterprise opportunities and livelihood programmes.
Under the agreement, both institutions will collaborate on poverty reduction, agricultural financing, humanitarian interventions, social investment, livelihood restoration, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, youth development, climate resilience, skills acquisition, rural development and food security.
Other areas include digital financial services, agricultural value-chain development and enterprise development.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Agriculture, Ayodeji Oludare, said the bank was committed to supporting vulnerable Nigerians in ways that would increase their productivity and income-generating capacity.
He said interventions could include agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and seeds, alongside appropriate financing and other forms of support.
Oludare explained that BOA could develop profiles for participating farmers to understand their economic activities and establish appropriate credit-scoring mechanisms that could improve access to finance.
He said the bank would continue to explore funding opportunities and expand the partnership beyond a single intervention to make the initiative sustainable.
Under the MoU, the Ministry will facilitate access to eligible beneficiaries, coordinate relevant humanitarian and social protection programmes, engage government institutions and stakeholders, and provide policy guidance and implementation support.
BOA, on its part, will develop suitable financing interventions, agricultural and value-chain financing solutions, financial inclusion initiatives and products tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups.
The bank will also provide financial advisory and technical expertise while participating in programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation where necessary.
A major benefit of the partnership is the planned use of verified beneficiary data to improve the targeting of agricultural and livelihood interventions.
Rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all model, beneficiaries can be profiled according to their circumstances, economic activities and specific needs, allowing support to be matched more effectively with individual livelihood opportunities.
The agreement also creates opportunities for the mobilisation of resources from development partners, donor agencies, private-sector organisations and multilateral institutions to scale successful programmes.
The partnership is further linked to the proposed Nigeria Poverty Resilience Fund (NPRF), which seeks to connect verified vulnerable households on the National Social Register to productive opportunities, including agricultural inputs, affordable credit and structured value chains.
The Federal Government said the broader objective was to move vulnerable households beyond short-term assistance towards productive economic participation, income generation and greater resilience against poverty and economic shocks.
The MoU, which is valid for an initial period of three years and renewable by mutual agreement, provides an institutional framework for sustained collaboration between the Ministry and the Bank of Agriculture.
The Federal Government said the partnership represents a convergence of humanitarian response, social protection, agricultural financing, financial inclusion and economic empowerment aimed at improving livelihoods and building more resilient households and communities across Nigeria.
