By Felicia Imohimi
The Federal Government has unveiled the Youth Entrepreneurship for the Future of Food and Agriculture (YEFFA) programme to promote inclusive economic growth and expand opportunities for young Nigerians in agriculture.
Sen. Aliyu Abdullahi, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, said this at the unveiling of the programme on Thursday in Abuja.
Abdullahi said YEFFA aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritised youth as drivers of inclusive economic growth.
He said the programme would help young Nigerians take greater ownership of opportunities across the agricultural value chain.
The minister said access to finance remained one of the major challenges facing young people in agriculture, adding that ongoing reforms at the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) were aimed at addressing the constraint.
He said the National Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC) was also implementing programmes to strengthen farmers’ resilience and protect them against climate-related shocks.
On production, Abdullahi said research institutes had released about 137 improved crop varieties in 2026, including zinc-biofortified rice and varieties resistant to tomato diseases and stem borers.
He said agriculture remained central to national development, adding that food security had now been recognised as a constitutional priority.
“We are working very hard to see that we continue to produce what we eat and eat what we produce,” he said.
Abdullahi commended the Mastercard Foundation and Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) for convening the YEFFA Nigeria programme and pledged the ministry’s support.
He said BOA had indicated its commitment to matching funding under the programme.
Rosy Fynn, Country Director, Mastercard Foundation, said the foundation would work to improve young Nigerians’ access to finance and markets, describing youth as key to Nigeria’s food security.
Fynn said Nigeria was deliberately the last participating country to join the programme to enable it benefit from lessons learnt in other countries.
She said the programme was designed to address barriers facing young people, including limited access to finance and markets as well as post-harvest losses.
“We have put structures in place to make sure we eliminate a lot of these barriers,” she said.
Fynn said young agripreneurs would participate in governance structures, including steering committees, to promote accountability.
“They will hold us accountable. If things are not going the right way, they will voice it. And that is what true partnership is about,” she said.
She reaffirmed the foundation’s commitment to working with the private sector, government and development institutions to expand opportunities for young Nigerians.
Also, Ayotunde Sotinrin, Managing Director, BOA, said the bank would match funding under the programme and reform its financing model to better serve young people.
Sotinrin said the theme of the programme, “From Dialogue to Action”, reflected a commitment to move from discussions to concrete outcomes for young people and agricultural value-chain institutions.
He said BOA had financed farmers and rural enterprises, including youths, women and persons with disabilities, for about five decades.
“Young entrepreneurs remain constrained by limited collateral, informal records and distance from formal lenders. We are working to change this.
“Through the reform of our support and funding programme, we are linking finance to extension services, aggregation and guaranteed markets,” he said.
Sotinrin said the bank had financed more than 500,000 farmers and aggregated over 72,000 tonnes of grain under its guaranteed pricing programme, providing farmers with a floor price.
He said young entrepreneurs should be recognised not only as farmers but also as processors, aggregators, technology providers and employers across the agricultural value chain.
Sotinrin said with more than 70 per cent of Nigerians below 30 years, investment in young people was critical to the country’s economic future.
He said BOA was reforming its financing model to make public agricultural finance fairer and more accessible to young people. (NAN) www.nannews.ng
FUA/TAK
Edited by Tosin Kolade
Comments