World Bank Approves $500m Facility For Nigeria’s Agribusiness Growth

The World Bank has approved a $500 million International Development Association (IDA) credit for Nigeria under the Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth (AGROW) Project, a major financing package designed to stimulate private investment, boost productivity, and strengthen value chains across the country’s agriculture sector.

According to details published on the World Bank website, the intervention targets structural bottlenecks that have long limited Nigeria’s agricultural competitiveness, particularly among smallholder farmers who dominate the sector.

Despite agriculture remaining the country’s largest employer, low yields, weak market integration, and vulnerability to climate shocks have continued to constrain output and income growth.

World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mathew Verghis said the AGROW programme is structured to crowd in private capital through a results-based matching grant facility that incentivises agribusinesses to source directly from smallholder farmers.

According to him, the initiative will prioritise key staples such as rice, maize, cassava, and soybeans, while supporting aggregation, storage, processing and market access to reduce post-harvest losses and improve value addition.

The project will also strengthen institutional frameworks critical to sector growth, including agricultural research systems, extension services, and input supply chains.

It will also deploy a national digital farm and farmer registry, alongside advisory platforms offering real-time climate and weather intelligence to farmers, aimed at improving productivity and resilience.

The programme further seeks to enhance regulatory systems for seeds and fertilisers, expand access to high-quality inputs, and promote transparent land-based investments. With a strong emphasis on inclusion, the initiative is expected to create opportunities for women and youth while improving accountability through coordinated monitoring and citizen engagement mechanisms.

He said, “AGROW is a transformative step for Nigeria’s agriculture, empowering smallholder farmers, unlocking private sector-led growth, and strengthening food security in a sustainable way,” said Mathew Verghis.

This project is expected to benefit up to one million smallholder farmers, mobilize significant private investment and increase yields across targeted crops.

At the same time, it will help to ensure improved food and nutrition security and greater resilience to climate shocks among farmers in the participating states across Nigeria.

It aligns with broader efforts to transform smallholder farming from subsistence into a commercially viable agribusiness model.”