Agric Fund, Stakeholders Strategise For Next Farming Season

National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF) has begun a review of the first phase of its farm input supply programme and pledged to address operational gaps and strengthen delivery ahead of the next farming season.

The review was the focus of a stakeholders’ roundtable that brought together representatives of farmers, agricultural processors, and policy experts to assess lessons from the pilot phase and recalibrate the programme for greater impact.

The engagement, tagged: “The NADF-farm Input Supply Programme Roundtable”, evaluated challenges encountered during implementation, including logistics constraints and climate-related disruptions, and identified practical solutions that can improve outcomes in the next phase.

It is a flagship intervention designed to enhance farmers’ access to high-quality inputs and increase productivity, particularly among smallholder farmers.

On behalf of the NADF executive secretary, Mohammed Ibrahim in Abuja, the general-manager, Nasir Ingawa, said the initiative was designed to tackle one of the most persistent bottlenecks in Nigerian agriculture: timely access to essential farm inputs.

“We are fully aware that this pilot intervention has not been without challenges. These challenges are real and underscore the complexity of implementing agricultural interventions of this nature.

“The NADF–farm input supply programme was designed as a strategic intervention to improve access to essential inputs, enhance yields and agricultural productivity, while strengthening rural livelihoods through outgrower systems,” Ingawa said.

According to him, key issues identified during the pilot phase included input supply logistics and weather-related factors linked to climate variability. He said future implementation would place stronger emphasis on quality assurance, improved logistics planning and the integration of climate-risk considerations to reduce disruptions.

The participants at the roundtable welcomed the engagement, describing it as timely and necessary for a programme still in its early stages.

Agricultural processor and consultant, Prof. Mukhtar Yusuf Abdullahi, said the programme’s objectives were relevant and capable of addressing long-standing challenges faced by farmers, but warned that policy inconsistencies, particularly around importation of inputs, had undermined early execution.

He also commended the introduction of subsidies, noting that the provision of inputs at a reduced cost marked a departure from previous arrangements where farmers bore the full burden.

Another participant, Abubakar Said Dansadau, said the roundtable underscored the importance of collective ownership and continuous improvement for government-led agricultural programmes. He said open dialogue was essential to ensuring sustainability and long-term impact.