Farmers’ Association strengthens partnership with FG

The All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) says it is strengthening its working relationship with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAF) to enhance performance in 2026.

The General Secretary of the association, Mr Femi Oke, stated this in an interview our correspondent on Wednesday in Lagos.

He said the association was working closely with the government to create an enabling environment for local farmers and improve productivity in the agricultural sector.

“As the newly elected executives, we are fostering a closer relationship with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture. The Minister gave us a full reception about 2-3 weeks ago where we spoke to him on the policies that will benefit farmers.

“The ministry is ready to work with us and we are expecting more farm inputs from the government.

“Last year some of the inputs distributed didn’t get to the actual farmers but we believe this year the distribution modality will be better.

“We have also communicated with the ministry on the need to digitalise the Bank of Agriculture (BOA), so local farmers can access their services,” the AFAN scribe said.

“The BOA is the closest bank to the farmers and all along it has been in analog. So we want it to be digitalised so farmers will be able to access it from anywhere in the country.

“ We also want to appreciate the President Bola Tinubu’s administration and its Renewed Hope Agenda, where some of our farmer-members are being trained.

“Also, we have been able to benefit from the Nigeria Agricultural Development Fund (NADF), a bill which was passed during late President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

“NADF is like a pool fund when farmers can access funding for their sectors. It also includes export waivers for local agri-inputs.

“We have also been able to achieve enabling environments for logistics in the agric sector,” Oke said.

He said, “this has been achieved with the partnership of Federal Ministry of Agriculture and the World Bank through the Road Access Agricultural Management Project (RAMP), which is opening of roads in every rural area of the states and to the markets.

“We also want the government to provide cluster areas where farmers’ produce can be easily off-taken.

“In addition, there is a need for adequate storage facilities for farmers to reduce post-harvest losses in the sector.”

“For 2026, our projection is at least to make food available to every Nigerian. We still want government to work closely with us especially in the area of finance and funding,” he said.