FG, BOA Deepen Partnership on Agricultural Financing, Poverty Reduction
The Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to expand economic opportunities and create sustainable livelihood pathways for vulnerable Nigerians.
The partnership is aimed at connecting humanitarian and social protection interventions with agricultural financing, productive assets, enterprise opportunities and other livelihood support programmes.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr. Bernard M. Doro, said the collaboration was based on the complementary strengths and resources of both institutions.
“We have something to bring to this partnership, and you too have something definitely to bring,” Doro said.
The Minister identified the National Social Register as one of the Ministry’s key assets, noting that it contains information on about 20 million vulnerable households, representing approximately 80 million individuals.
He said more than 10 million individuals captured in the Register had so far been validated with their National Identification Numbers (NINs), describing the database as the largest of its kind in Africa.
Doro explained that inclusion in the Register follows a rigorous process involving vulnerability assessment, community-based targeting, data collection, verification and analysis.
According to him, community participation is essential because poverty manifests differently across communities, while NIN validation provides an additional layer of assurance that beneficiaries are real and identifiable persons.
The Minister said the database would enable government and its partners to better target interventions according to the circumstances and needs of different categories of vulnerable Nigerians.
He added that the MoU was part of the Ministry’s broader reform efforts to improve coordination, eliminate duplication, reduce wastage and leakages, and ensure that resources devoted to humanitarian assistance and poverty reduction achieve greater impact.
Doro said the Ministry’s flagship reform initiative, the One Humanitarian, One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), was designed to promote a more coordinated and seamless approach to humanitarian and poverty reduction interventions.
He said the partnership with BOA would help translate these reforms into practical economic opportunities by connecting verified vulnerable Nigerians with agricultural financing, productive inputs, enterprise opportunities and livelihood interventions.
Under the agreement, both institutions will collaborate on poverty reduction, agricultural financing, humanitarian interventions, social investment, livelihood restoration, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, youth development, climate resilience, skills acquisition, rural development, food security, digital financial services, value-chain development and enterprise development.
The initiative is designed to facilitate the transition of vulnerable households from short-term humanitarian assistance to sustainable economic participation by strengthening their productive capacity and livelihoods.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Agriculture, Mr. Ayodeji Oludare, said the Bank was committed to supporting vulnerable Nigerians in ways that would improve their productivity and livelihoods.
He said support could include agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and seeds, as well as appropriate financing and other interventions aimed at increasing productivity.
Oludare explained that BOA could develop profiles for participating farmers to assess their economic activities and establish appropriate credit-scoring mechanisms that could improve access to finance.
He stressed that the Bank’s commitment extended beyond a single intervention, adding that BOA would continue to explore additional funding opportunities and ways to expand the partnership.
Under the MoU, the Ministry will facilitate access to eligible beneficiaries, coordinate relevant humanitarian and social protection programmes, engage government institutions and stakeholders, provide policy guidance and support programme implementation.
BOA, on its part, will develop appropriate financing interventions, agricultural financing solutions, financial inclusion initiatives, value-chain financing and financial products tailored to vulnerable groups.
The Bank will also provide financial advisory and technical expertise and participate, where appropriate, in programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
A major benefit of the partnership will be the use of verified beneficiary data to improve the targeting of agricultural and livelihood interventions, ensuring that support is tailored to beneficiaries’ circumstances, economic activities and specific needs.
The collaboration will also provide opportunities to mobilise resources and engage development partners, donor agencies, private-sector organisations and multilateral institutions in scaling up agreed programmes.
The partnership is further linked to the proposed Nigeria Poverty Resilience Fund (NPRF), which seeks to connect verified vulnerable households on the National Social Register to productive opportunities, including agricultural inputs, affordable credit and structured value chains.
The broader objective is to enable vulnerable households to transition from receiving assistance to building productive capacity, generating income and strengthening their resilience to poverty and economic shocks.
The MoU, which is valid for an initial period of three years and renewable by mutual agreement, provides an institutional framework for sustained collaboration between the Ministry and the Bank of Agriculture.
Both institutions are expected to work within their respective mandates to develop and implement mutually agreed interventions capable of delivering measurable improvements in the livelihoods of vulnerable Nigerians.
