ABUJA– Nigeria on Monday began its long journey to end hunger and achieve food security by launching the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones [SAPZ], a programme initiated by the African Development Bank [AfDB].
According to the President of AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina “the Special Agro-industrial Processing Zones are new economic zones, located in rural areas, to be fully supported by infrastructure [power, water, roads, digital infrastructure, and logistics] that will allow food and agribusiness companies to locate within such zones. This will put them close to farmers in production catchment areas, provide market offtakes for farmers, support processing and value addition, reduce food losses, and allow the emergence of highly competitive food and agricultural value chains.”
The launch ceremony in the capital Abuja, kick-starts the implementation of phase one of the SAPZ program in eight states across the country. The AfDB is providing funding of US$ 210 million, with the Islamic Development Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development [IFAD] jointly providing US$ 310mln. The Nigerian government is contributing US$ 18.05mln.
Adesina, a former minister of agriculture of Nigeria and a World Food Prize Winner, said: “Hunger in Nigeria cannot be justified. Nigeria has the land, with 34mln hectares of arable land with rich and diverse agroecology. It has the water. It has the labor. It has great sunshine. Nigeria must achieve zero hunger. There is no reason for anyone to go hungry in Nigeria.”
To help Africa prevent a food crisis from the Russia-Ukraine war, the African Development Bank launched a US$1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Facility to support 20mln farmers to access climate resilient agricultural technologies and produce 38mln metric tons of food valued at US$ 12bln.
“The African Emergency Food Production Facility provided US$ 134mln to Nigeria, one of the highest levels of support across African countries. I would like to thank the Japanese International Development Agency [JICA] for co-financing this with an additional US$ 110mln. That means we collectively made available US$ 244mln for emergency food production in Nigeria,” the bank group head said.
The Associate Vice President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development Katherine Meighan, said her organisation is determined to contribute to the overall goal of the SAPZ programme by empowering 100,000 direct beneficiaries including smallholders, small processors, traders and service providers in Ogun and Kano State, with a strong focus on youth and women.
“Our empowerment strategy aims to equip farmers and smallholders to take advantage of the markets created by the SAPZ to sustainably enhance their income through income-generating activities, household food security and nutrition, and resilience to climate change,” said Meighan.
Noting that the latest Global Hunger Index [2022]ranks Nigeria at position 103 among 121 countries facing hunger crisis in the world, Adesina called for “greater action, responsiveness, and delivery to avert a food crisis in Nigeria”.
SAPZ will develop value chains for selected strategic crops in Nigeria, including maize, cassava, rice, soybean, cocoa, poultry, and livestock products. They will also create millions of quality jobs, especially for youth and women.
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