Nigeria Launches AgriConnect Compact With 2.56 Million Jobs Target as FG, World Bank Seek Stronger Farm-to-Market Links

By Simpson Global Media News Desk.

Nigeria has launched a new agricultural coordination framework designed to link smallholder farmers more closely with finance, research, processing, infrastructure and markets, with the initiative targeting improved food and nutrition security for about three million people and the creation of 2.56 million jobs.

The Nigeria AgriConnect Compact was launched in Ibadan, Oyo State, on Friday, September 25, bringing together the Federal Government, the World Bank, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, the Oyo State Government and other agricultural stakeholders.

The initiative is part of the wider World Bank Group AgriConnect programme, which aims to help 300 million smallholder and family farmers globally move from subsistence production towards commercially viable farming by 2030. The global programme focuses on improving infrastructure, policies, finance, digital services, farmer organisations and private-sector participation.

For Nigeria, the compact is intended to provide a framework for coordinating existing agricultural programmes and shaping future investments rather than creating another standalone agricultural project.

At the launch, Minister of Agriculture and Food Security Abubakar Kyari said the challenge facing Nigeria was not necessarily a shortage of agricultural programmes or investment, but the difficulty of making separate interventions reinforce one another.

He said the compact would help connect investments in areas including irrigation, roads, livestock, finance, land restoration, processing and market access so that they contribute to common agricultural outcomes.

The launch comes as Nigeria continues to face a difficult food-security environment in which farmers contend with high production costs, inadequate infrastructure, limited access to finance, climate variability, insecurity in some farming areas and weak connections to formal markets.

The World Bank's project appraisal for Nigeria's Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project says agriculture remains the country's largest employment sector, with roughly one-third of the working population relying on it for livelihoods. It estimates that primary agriculture employs about 21 million people, with another eight million working in off-farm activities.

From farming programmes to a connected system

The central idea behind the Nigerian compact is that agricultural production cannot be treated as an isolated activity.

A farmer may have land and labour but still struggle to make a sustainable income if there is no reliable access to seed, fertiliser, irrigation, finance, storage, roads, processors or buyers.

Similarly, a food processor may have machinery but struggle to operate at capacity if farmers cannot consistently supply the required quantity and quality of raw materials.

The result is a fragmented value chain in which farmers produce without guaranteed markets, processors operate below capacity and consumers face higher costs.

The World Bank's appraisal of the $500 million Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project, known as AGROW, identifies weak integration of smallholders into structured markets as one of the major constraints on the country's agricultural development.

The AgriConnect approach is intended to address that problem by looking at the entire agricultural ecosystem.

Its six broad areas include support for farmer groups and cooperatives, digital and agricultural technology, infrastructure, skills and research, finance and insurance, and targeted policy reforms.

In Nigeria, that approach is being translated into a national framework that combines existing projects with new investments and partnerships.

The objective is to make agricultural spending more coordinated and improve the movement of farmers from subsistence production into more commercial value chains.

A 2.56 million-job ambition

One of the most significant targets attached to Nigeria's AgriConnect Compact is the creation of 2.56 million jobs.

The World Bank's project appraisal document says the compact is designed to contribute to improved food and nutrition security for three million people and the creation of 2.56 million jobs through specific agricultural value chains and stronger market integration.

The target is broader than direct employment on farms.

Agricultural value chains create jobs in seed production, fertiliser distribution, mechanisation, aggregation, transportation, storage, processing, packaging, marketing, financial services and technology.

A stronger cassava industry, for example, does not only require cassava farmers.

It also requires aggregators, transporters, processors, equipment operators, quality-control specialists, warehouse operators, traders and businesses that convert cassava into flour, starch, ethanol, animal feed and other products.

The same principle applies to rice, maize, soybeans and livestock.

The compact therefore treats agriculture as an economic system rather than simply a means of producing crops.

The World Bank's wider AgriConnect initiative is based on the same premise: transforming smallholder farming can simultaneously support food security, job creation, rural incomes and private-sector growth.

Rice, maize and cassava at the centre

The Nigerian initiative will focus on agricultural value chains with large domestic markets and potential for greater processing.

The September 25 launch specifically identified rice, maize and cassava among the priority value chains.

These crops are already deeply embedded in Nigeria's food economy.

Rice is one of the country's most important staples and has also become a major area of domestic production and milling investment.

Maize supports both human consumption and the livestock and poultry industries.

Cassava has an even wider range of uses, from traditional foods such as garri and fufu to industrial starch, flour, ethanol and animal-feed applications.

The challenge is not simply increasing production.

Nigeria must also improve productivity, quality, aggregation, processing and distribution.

The World Bank's AGROW project specifically identifies rice, maize, cassava and soybeans as priority value chains and includes measures to strengthen research and extension, improve access to climate-resilient seeds and develop market connections.

That means the new compact is closely connected to an already approved six-year agricultural investment programme.

The AGROW project is scheduled to run from 2026 to 2032 and has a total financing structure of $720 million, comprising a $500 million World Bank IDA credit and $220 million in expected commercial financing.

The World Bank expects the project to mobilise an additional $220 million in private agribusiness investment.

Why the World Bank sees a need for coordination

The World Bank's assessment of Nigeria's agricultural sector identifies a combination of structural problems.

More than 80 per cent of farmers cultivate fewer than five hectares, according to the project appraisal document.

Many operate with limited inputs, low yields and weak connections to organised markets.

The document also says Nigeria imports approximately $10 billion worth of food annually, while private investment in agriculture remains relatively low.

These conditions create a difficult cycle.

Low productivity limits farmers' incomes.

Low incomes restrict farmers' ability to purchase better inputs.

Small production volumes make it difficult to supply industrial processors consistently.

Processors then struggle to justify investment in large-scale facilities.

Limited processing capacity reduces opportunities for value addition.

And when domestic supply is inadequate, consumers and industries become more dependent on imports.

AgriConnect is designed to address several parts of this cycle simultaneously.

Rather than concentrating only on farm inputs, it links production with infrastructure, markets, financing and private investment.

The minister's warning about disconnected investments

At the Ibadan launch, Kyari emphasised that Nigeria already has significant agricultural investments.

He cited government activity involving irrigation, roads, livestock, finance, land restoration, processing and market access.

His argument was that individual projects may have less impact when they are not connected.

For example, an irrigation project can increase production but may not deliver the expected economic benefits if farmers have no nearby storage or buyers.

A road can reduce transport costs but have a limited effect if farmers cannot obtain quality seed or affordable credit.

A processing factory can create jobs but may operate below capacity if it cannot secure dependable supplies from surrounding farms.

AgriConnect is intended to bring these pieces together.

The approach also reflects the World Bank's description of its global programme, which says country compacts are designed to create country-led frameworks that bring governments, development partners and the private sector around shared priorities.

Oyo becomes an important part of the conversation

The launch in Ibadan also placed Oyo State at the centre of the latest agricultural development.

Governor Seyi Makinde said Nigeria already possessed important agricultural assets, including farmers, research institutions, young people, fertile land and a large domestic market.

But he said production alone had not been enough to deliver affordable food and strong rural incomes.

According to the governor, agricultural production has to connect with security, research, extension services, finance, rural roads, storage, processing, standards, logistics and markets.

Oyo has a significant research and agricultural ecosystem.

The state is home to IITA in Ibadan as well as other research institutions and agricultural organisations.

IITA describes itself as a major agricultural research-for-development institution focused on innovations intended to improve productivity, food security and livelihoods across Africa.

Its presence in Oyo gives the state a particularly important role in linking agricultural science with farmers and commercial value chains.

Research must reach the farm

One of the recurring challenges in Nigerian agriculture is the distance between research and widespread adoption.

Researchers may develop improved varieties or production techniques, but farmers need access to planting materials, information, extension services and markets before those innovations can affect production at scale.

IITA's recent work in Oyo illustrates the potential of that connection.

In September, the institute reported on a yam farmer in Akinyele Local Government Area who had applied improved production practices after participating in IITA training and receiving planting materials through an outreach programme.

The institute has also been working with Oyo State and other partners on a three-year programme to revive cocoa production through improved planting materials, rehabilitation of aging farms, farmer training and digital traceability.

IITA said Oyo currently produces an estimated 33,000 metric tonnes of cocoa annually and that the restoration initiative aims to increase output substantially by improving farm productivity, expanding cultivated areas, strengthening seed systems and creating opportunities for investment and market access.

These initiatives demonstrate why the AgriConnect model puts research and farmer services alongside finance and markets.

A new variety has limited value if farmers cannot obtain it.

Training has limited impact if farmers cannot sell the resulting crop.

And market access has limited value if farmers lack the technology and inputs needed to meet quality requirements.

The financing problem

Access to finance is another central component of the new compact.

Agriculture is a seasonal business.

Farmers often spend money months before receiving revenue from a harvest.

That creates a financing gap.

Smallholders may need money for land preparation, seeds, fertiliser, pesticides, labour, irrigation and harvesting equipment before they have a product to sell.

Traditional lending can be difficult because many farmers lack conventional collateral, formal financial records or predictable cash flows.

The World Bank says AgriConnect aims to expand access to finance and insurance as part of the wider transformation of smallholder agriculture.

Nigeria's AGROW project includes an Agribusiness De-risking and Market Linkage Facility intended to reduce risks and transaction costs that prevent agribusinesses from sourcing reliably from smallholders.

The World Bank's project documents describe the facility as part of an effort to improve aggregation and strengthen connections between farmers and commercial buyers.

The financing model is therefore not simply about giving farmers loans.

It is also about reducing the risk faced by companies that want to invest in agricultural supply chains.

Private investment is a key part of the plan

The compact is explicitly designed to mobilise private-sector investment.

That is significant because government and development finance alone cannot provide all the capital required to transform a food system as large as Nigeria's.

Private companies are needed to invest in processing plants, storage, logistics, seed production, agricultural equipment, input distribution, digital services and commodity trading.

The World Bank's AGROW project expects $220 million in additional commercial financing alongside its $500 million IDA credit.

The broader AgriConnect initiative similarly places private capital mobilisation alongside infrastructure and policy reform.

The underlying idea is that public financing should help reduce barriers and risks so that private businesses can invest at greater scale.

This could be particularly important in processing.

Nigeria produces substantial volumes of agricultural commodities but frequently exports or consumes them with limited value addition.

Processing crops closer to their production areas can create additional income streams and employment.

It can also reduce transportation of bulky raw materials and potentially improve shelf life.

Digital agriculture enters the framework

The new agricultural system is also expected to make greater use of digital technology.

The World Bank's AgriConnect framework includes digital agricultural services, including weather information, advisory platforms, digital finance and trading applications.

It also supports digital public infrastructure such as farmer registries and open-data networks.

Nigeria's AGROW project includes plans for a national digital farm and farmer registry.

The system is intended to improve the government's ability to identify farmers, deliver services and provide digital advisory information, including localised weather and climate information.

Such a system could potentially improve targeting of agricultural support.

But its effectiveness will depend on accurate registration, farmer access to mobile services, reliable data management and the ability of government and private partners to use the information responsibly.

Digital tools cannot replace physical infrastructure.

A farmer may receive a weather warning on a mobile phone but still require irrigation when rainfall fails.

An online marketplace can connect a farmer with a buyer but cannot replace a road when crops need to be transported.

The compact's model therefore combines digital solutions with physical infrastructure.

Roads, storage and processing remain crucial

Makinde's comments at the launch highlighted a problem familiar to farmers across Nigeria: production can be undermined by what happens after harvest.

A crop that cannot reach the market on time may lose value.

Perishable products are particularly vulnerable.

Poor rural roads can raise transport costs.

Limited storage can force farmers to sell immediately after harvest, when prices may be lower.

Insufficient processing capacity can leave producers dependent on raw commodity markets.

AgriConnect's wider framework identifies roads, irrigation, storage and electricity as core physical foundations for agricultural value chains.

That means agricultural transformation cannot be separated from infrastructure policy.

A productive farm located far from reliable roads and markets can remain commercially marginal.

Similarly, an industrial processing facility requires dependable electricity, water, transport and a steady supply of raw materials.

Climate change adds another layer

Nigeria's agricultural sector is also increasingly exposed to climate variability.

Farmers face unpredictable rainfall, dry spells, flooding and rising temperatures.

The World Bank's Nigeria project identifies climate variability as one of the factors constraining domestic food production.

That is why the AGROW project includes climate-resilient seeds and digital weather and climate information.

The objective is not to eliminate climate risk.

Rather, farmers can potentially make better decisions when they have access to improved planting materials and more reliable information about weather conditions.

IITA has also documented the impact of unpredictable rainfall on farmers in Oyo State.

In one case, a maize farmer reported losing a three-acre crop after rainfall stopped unexpectedly following planting. IITA said the experience reflected a wider problem involving unpredictable rainfall, prolonged dry spells and extreme weather events.

Such experiences demonstrate why agricultural investment increasingly has to include resilience.

Women and young people

The compact also has implications for women and young people, who are important participants in Nigeria's agricultural economy but can face barriers to land, finance, technology and markets.

The World Bank says the AGROW project will place particular attention on women and youth.

Its broader design includes support for inclusive participation in agricultural value chains and investments that can create jobs beyond primary farming.

This is important because the future of Nigeria's agricultural workforce is tied to whether farming and agribusiness can provide viable economic opportunities for younger Nigerians.

A modern agricultural economy includes more than farm labour.

It needs agronomists, machinery operators, software developers, financial analysts, logistics managers, food scientists, quality-control specialists, marketers and entrepreneurs.

The expansion of processing and digital agriculture could therefore broaden the range of jobs associated with the sector.

The challenge of implementation

The launch of the compact does not automatically solve the problems identified by the government and development partners.

Implementation will be the next major test.

The World Bank project appraisal identifies substantial risks in areas including technical design, institutional capacity, fiduciary management, stakeholder engagement and environmental and social safeguards.

The project therefore includes formal implementation structures.

The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and participating states are responsible for implementation of AGROW.

The project documents provide for a National Steering Committee and a Federal Project Coordination Unit, alongside investment and monitoring structures.

These structures are intended to help coordinate implementation across federal and state levels.

That coordination will matter because agriculture is largely experienced at the local level.

Policies designed in Abuja ultimately have to work in farming communities.

State governments have responsibilities involving roads, land, extension services and local economic development.

Private businesses need predictable rules.

Farmers need practical access to services.

Research institutions need mechanisms for moving innovations from laboratories and experimental fields into commercial production.

Accountability will matter

A large agricultural investment programme also requires transparent monitoring.

The more programmes and institutions involved, the more difficult it can become to determine whether money has produced measurable results.

The World Bank's project framework includes monitoring and evaluation arrangements and citizen-engagement mechanisms.

The project also contains environmental and social safeguards covering areas including labour, community health and safety, biodiversity, land use and stakeholder engagement.

These requirements are relevant because agricultural projects can affect land, water resources and rural communities.

The success of an investment programme will therefore depend not only on the amount of money deployed but on whether it reaches productive uses and generates measurable improvements.

Why the three-million-person target matters

The compact's food and nutrition objective covers nearly three million people.

The target reflects a broader understanding of food security.

Food security is not simply the availability of crops.

It also involves affordability, access, nutrition, resilience and the ability of food systems to withstand shocks.

A country can produce substantial quantities of food and still have households unable to afford a nutritious diet.

That is why agricultural productivity must be connected to income, market efficiency and food prices.

The World Bank's project appraisal notes that food insecurity in Nigeria is affected by low productivity, climate variability, population growth, insecurity in food-producing areas and infrastructure deficits.

The compact's approach is therefore aimed at several parts of the food system at the same time.

Nigeria's place in the wider AgriConnect programme

Nigeria is joining a growing group of countries implementing country-level AgriConnect frameworks.

The World Bank says the programme is expected to expand to more than 40 countries and is supported by partners including the African Development Bank, IFAD, the Inter-American Development Bank, Google and Bayer.

Ghana launched its AgriConnect Compact in June, focusing on food security, jobs, value addition and investment across agricultural value chains.

The Ghana programme prioritises cocoa, oil palm, rice, maize and poultry among other sectors.

Angola launched its own compact in June, while Djibouti launched one in September.

The Djibouti framework focuses on livestock, horticulture and dates and is intended to improve food security, attract private investment and create jobs.

The Nigerian version is therefore part of a broader attempt to shift agricultural development from isolated projects towards coordinated national food-system strategies.

A different way of looking at agriculture

The significance of the Nigerian launch lies partly in the change of emphasis.

Agricultural policy has often focused on inputs, acreage and production targets.

The AgriConnect approach adds another question: what happens after production?

Can farmers find buyers?

Can processors obtain raw materials?

Can businesses access finance?

Can products reach markets?

Can farmers receive weather information?

Can improved seed varieties reach the field?

Can rural infrastructure support commercial production?

Can investment flow into storage and processing?

Can women and young people participate in the higher-value parts of the agricultural economy?

These questions shift the conversation from simply growing more crops to building a functioning agricultural economy.

The road ahead

The next phase will involve translating the compact into projects, financing arrangements and measurable activities across Nigeria.

That will require cooperation among federal ministries, state governments, farmers' organisations, financial institutions, development partners, research institutions and private companies.

The World Bank's AGROW project provides one of the principal financing vehicles already aligned with the compact.

Its four main components cover integration of smallholders into competitive value chains, modernisation of smallholder production, policy and enabling conditions for private investment in input markets, and project coordination, monitoring and evaluation.

The structure reflects the broader objective of connecting production with markets and investment.

It also means that success will have to be measured across multiple points in the chain.

Higher yields alone will not tell the whole story.

A successful intervention should also improve farmer incomes, market access, processing capacity, investment, employment and food availability.

Farmers will ultimately measure the result

For agricultural communities, the impact of AgriConnect will eventually be judged by practical changes.

A farmer will want to know whether quality seed is available.

Whether fertiliser is affordable.

Whether credit can be accessed.

Whether roads remain usable.

Whether crops can be stored.

Whether buyers arrive on time.

Whether prices provide enough income to continue farming.

Whether agricultural advice is relevant to local conditions.

Whether processing businesses create dependable demand.

And whether government programmes actually reach the communities they are intended to serve.

Those questions are more immediate than the language of development frameworks.

They are also the questions that will determine whether the new compact produces lasting change.

From potential to productivity

Nigeria possesses a large agricultural base, varied ecological zones, extensive cultivable land and a large domestic market.

The World Bank estimates that the country has more than 70 million hectares of cultivable land, with substantial potential for expanded production and irrigation.

But agricultural potential does not automatically translate into agricultural productivity.

Land must be combined with technology, finance, infrastructure, research, skilled labour, market access and effective institutions.

That is the gap the AgriConnect Compact is designed to address.

Its central premise is that the different parts of the agricultural system must work together.

If that coordination improves, Nigeria could potentially produce more food, create more value from existing crops and expand economic opportunities in rural communities.

If coordination remains weak, individual investments may continue to produce results that are smaller than their combined potential.

The significance of the Ibadan launch

The choice of Ibadan for the launch also underscored the importance of research and innovation in the agricultural transformation agenda.

The city is home to IITA and a network of agricultural research institutions.

That makes it a natural setting for a programme that seeks to bring farmers, scientists, financiers, government and private businesses into the same value-chain conversation.

The World Bank's global AgriConnect programme describes its purpose as moving smallholders from subsistence towards surplus by strengthening the ecosystem around them.

Nigeria's new compact now provides a national framework for pursuing that objective.

The challenge is to convert the framework into implementation at farm level.

What happens next

Over the coming years, attention will shift from the launch to execution.

Government agencies will need to align programmes.

Participating states will need to meet implementation requirements.

Development partners will need to coordinate financing.

Private investors will need to identify commercially viable opportunities.

Research institutions will need to move innovations into production.

Farmers and their organisations will need to participate in decisions affecting value chains.

And monitoring systems will need to track whether the promised benefits are being delivered.

The World Bank's AGROW project has a six-year implementation horizon, with an expected closing date in 2032.

That means the agricultural transformation envisaged by the compact is not a short-term intervention.

It is a multi-year programme requiring sustained investment and coordination.

A test for Nigeria's food-system strategy

The launch of the Nigeria AgriConnect Compact represents a new attempt to bring several strands of agricultural policy under a common framework.

Its targets are substantial: improved food and nutrition security for about three million people and 2.56 million jobs through agricultural value-chain development and stronger market integration.

Its financing architecture is also significant, with the World Bank's $500 million AGROW credit designed alongside an expected $220 million in commercial financing.

But the size of the targets will make implementation particularly important.

Nigeria's agricultural challenge is not simply a shortage of land or farmers.

It is the difficulty of connecting production with the infrastructure, technology, finance and markets needed to make farming commercially sustainable.

The new compact is designed around that connection.

For farmers, processors, investors and consumers, the coming years will show whether the framework can turn those connections into higher productivity, stronger value chains, more jobs and a more reliable food supply.

The launch in Ibadan has established the framework.

The next task is to make it work in the fields, farms, factories, markets and rural communities that form the backbone of Nigeria's food economy.