Federal Govt, Germany Launch $2.2m Project To Support Nigeria’s Soil Health

The federal government and Germany yesterday launched a $2.2 million initiative aimed at improving soil health, boosting agricultural productivity and strengthening climate resilience across Nigeria.

The project, titled Global Programme Soil Matters, Supporting Soil Health Initiatives (SSHI) in Nigeria, is a three-year programme running from November 2025 to October 2028.

It is financed by the Gates Foundation, commissioned globally by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

Speaking at the launch in Abuja, the minister of state for agriculture and food security, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, described soil as the foundation of Nigeria’s food security, economy and climate resilience.

According to the minister, the initiative aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which aims to improve agricultural productivity, ensure food security, and transform Nigeria into a net food exporter.

Abdullahi said the government, in collaboration with GIZ and other development partners, had already rehabilitated about 166,000 hectares of degraded land and trained over 280,000 smallholder farmers in integrated soil fertility management across several states.

He said that the Nigerian Farmers’ Soil Health Scheme would expand soil testing and mapping across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, while plans were underway to establish 774 soil laboratories nationwide to provide farmers with access to soil testing services.

He further revealed that the government’s “Soil Doctors” programme would train 10,000 young extension agents in digital soil advisory services by 2027.

He said, “Soil is not merely the dirt beneath our feet, it serves as the cornerstone of our food security, economy, and climate resilience.

As climate shocks intensify, restoring soil organic matter is not a choice it is a necessity. A nation that destroys its soil destroys itself. Nigeria will not be that nation.”

Project manager at GIZ Nigeria, Alexis Brakhan, said the initiative was designed to support Nigeria’s ambition of building a coordinated, data-driven soil management system capable of translating policy into practical support for farmers.

Brakhan, who spoke on behalf of the project cluster coordinator, Andrea Ruediger, noted that the project would strengthen coordination among stakeholders, improve access to soil data and support the implementation of a Nigerian Soil Health Action Plan.

He added that more than 17 organisations, including government institutions, researchers and private sector players, were already participating in the “Coalition of the Willing” established to promote information sharing and evidence-based soil health management.

Brakhan said, “Healthy soils are the foundation of agricultural production and productivity of future generations of farmers.

The Supporting Soil Health Initiative Nigeria is designed to support this ambition in a practical way.”