FG, Bank of Agriculture Partner to Create Sustainable Livelihoods for Vulnerable Nigerians

The Federal Government has entered into a strategic partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to expand economic opportunities for vulnerable Nigerians and promote sustainable livelihoods.

The partnership, formalised through a three year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and the Bank of Agriculture, seeks to link humanitarian and social protection interventions with agricultural financing, productive assets and enterprise opportunities.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Bernard Doro, said the collaboration was designed to leverage the strengths of both institutions to tackle poverty and vulnerability across the country.

Doro said the Ministry’s access to the National Social Register, which contains information on about 20 million vulnerable households representing approximately 80 million individuals, would provide a reliable platform for targeting beneficiaries.

He described the register as the largest in Africa, adding that more than 10 million individuals captured in the database had been validated with their National Identification Numbers (NIN).

The Minister explained that beneficiaries were identified through a rigorous process involving vulnerability assessments, community based targeting, data collection, verification and analysis.

According to him, the process was aimed at ensuring that government interventions reached genuine vulnerable households and were tailored to their specific needs.

Doro said the partnership was also part of the Ministry’s reforms aimed at improving coordination in humanitarian interventions and poverty reduction, eliminating duplication and reducing waste and leakages.

He noted that the Ministry’s flagship reform initiative, the One Humanitarian, One Poverty Response System (OHOPRS), was designed to promote a more coordinated approach to the delivery of humanitarian and poverty reduction interventions.

The Minister 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 other livelihood interventions.

Under the agreement, both institutions will collaborate in areas including poverty reduction, agricultural financing, humanitarian interventions, social investment, livelihood restoration, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, youth development and climate resilience.

Other areas covered by the partnership include skills acquisition, rural development, food security, digital financial services, value-chain development and enterprise development.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Agriculture, Ayodeji Oludare, said the bank was committed to supporting vulnerable Nigerians in ways that would improve their productivity and earning capacity.

He said the support could include agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and seeds, as well as appropriate financing and other interventions designed to increase productivity.

Oludare added that the bank could develop profiles for participating farmers to assess their economic activities and establish suitable credit-scoring mechanisms that would improve their access to finance.

He stressed that the bank’s commitment extended beyond a single intervention, noting that it would continue to explore additional funding opportunities and ways of expanding 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, and provide policy guidance and implementation support.

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 feature of the partnership is the use of verified beneficiary data to improve the targeting of agricultural and livelihood interventions.

The initiative is expected to move away from a one-size-fits-all approach by profiling beneficiaries according to their circumstances, economic activities and specific needs.

The collaboration will also create opportunities for the mobilisation of resources and engagement with development partners, donor agencies, private-sector organisations and multilateral institutions to scale up 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 support vulnerable households to transition from dependence on assistance to productive economic participation, income generation and greater 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 Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and the Bank of Agriculture.

The partnership is expected to strengthen the Federal Government’s efforts to integrate social protection, humanitarian response, agricultural financing and economic empowerment in a coordinated and data-driven approach aimed at improving the livelihoods of vulnerable Nigerians.