By Felicia Imohimi
The Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), Mohammed Ibrahim, has urged African countries to move beyond financing agricultural research and focus on building innovation ecosystems that connect research with industry and market demand.
Ibrahim made the call at the High-Level Ministerial Dialogue on Sustainable Financing for Agricultural Research, Development and Innovation (AR4D), held on the sidelines of the 9th Africa Agriculture Science Week (AASW9) in Abuja.
The dialogue, organised by NADF and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), was themed: “Financing Africa’s Agricultural Future: Mobilising Strategic Investments for Science, Innovation and Transformation.”
Ibrahim said Africa’s greatest challenge was not the availability of funding but creating an innovation ecosystem that links research with industry and market demand.
“Financing is not the major challenge. The real issue is building an ecosystem. Agricultural research should go beyond academic publications to produce innovations capable of attracting investment, commercialisation and large-scale adoption.
“An effective agricultural innovation system must rest on three interconnected pillars; government institutions that provide policy and funding, research institutions that generate knowledge, and industries that transform research into marketable solutions.
“Research financing naturally follows innovations that demonstrate economic value. We must ask whether many research projects across Africa are sufficiently demand-driven and aligned with market realities.
“As much as research requires funding, the market also requires research. Financing flows where there are returns,” he said.
Ibrahim said NADF receives statutory budgetary allocations, strategic funding from designated levies and natural resource development contributions, while also raising capital through investments and philanthropy.
According to him, the fund deploys its resources through three major asset classes; debt financing, grants and equity investments, with lending channelled through participating financial institutions.
Also speaking, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Abubakar Kyari, said the establishment of NADF was a strategic intervention aimed at reversing decades of underinvestment in Nigeria’s agricultural research system and improving the livelihoods of millions of rural farmers.
Kyari recalled supporting the establishment of the fund during his tenure in the National Assembly when the enabling bill was under consideration, having witnessed the impact of dedicated intervention agencies in other sectors.
He lamented that although agriculture contributes about one-quarter of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), rural communities, where most food is produced, had seen little improvement over several decades.
“About 85 per cent of the food we consume comes from smallholder farmers, yet their living conditions have remained virtually unchanged. That shows there is a structural imbalance in the agricultural economy,” he said.
Kyari attributed declining farm productivity to poor access to quality seeds, inadequate financing, shrinking arable land, climate change and the prolonged neglect of agricultural research institutions.
“Many farmers now resort to planting harvested grains as seeds because they cannot afford certified planting materials, resulting in lower yields and declining productivity.
“I commend NADF for conducting a comprehensive baseline assessment of Nigeria’s 16 agricultural research institutes and 17 colleges of agriculture. This exercise is a critical step towards revitalising the country’s research infrastructure.
“This ministerial dialogue forms part of broader efforts to develop sustainable financing models for AR4D across Africa,” he said. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
FUA/TAK
Edited by Tosin Kolade