The World Agriculture Forum (WAF) has reiterated its commitment to implementing measures aimed at boosting growth in Nigeria’s agricultural sector.
The Nigeria Country Director of WAF, Mr Alexander Isong, disclosed this in an interview with reporters on Tuesday in Lagos.
Isong said the Forum is working to create enabling environments that will allow agriculture to thrive across all its subsectors.
“One of our key priorities is to institutionalize the ‘Hub-and-Spoke’ model across the 36 states of the federation.
“We will translate our proven Nasarawa and Cross River frameworks into operational reality in three strategic states, with a focus on cassava in Nasarawa, Cross River and Kogi states.
“This model will subsequently be cascaded to other states and expanded to additional value chains within Nigeria’s food system,” he said.
According to Isong, the strategy goes beyond dialogue by delivering demonstrable and bankable public-private partnerships that will link smallholder farmers to structured markets within 18 months.
He said the Forum plans to leverage the Nigerian Agricultural Standards and Certification Platform (NASCP), in collaboration with relevant regulatory bodies, to establish a unified digital certification system.
“This will provide blockchain-enabled traceability, grade standardization and export compliance, transforming Nigeria’s current certification challenges into a competitive advantage,” he said.
Isong also revealed plans to activate a ₦500 billion “First Mile to Port” financing facility to bridge the critical funding gap between the farm gate and export markets.
“We will mobilise development finance institutions (DFIs), commercial banks and impact investors around a dedicated facility that de-risks aggregation, provides working capital and insures transit.
“When implemented, these priorities will address the core challenges facing Nigerian agriculture, including fragmented production, weak standards enforcement and inadequate financing.
“Together, they will create a replicable template for systemic change in the sector,” he said.
