Nigeria has launched a $500 million agriculture investment fund for the oil-producing Niger Delta, a bid to raise food output, attract private investment and strengthen food security, Vice President Kashim Shettima announced, according to CNBC Africa, which carried Reuters reporting from the launch in Abuja.
A Commercial Vehicle, Not a Handout
Speaking at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit, convened by his office with the Niger Delta Development Commission, Shettima said the fund would operate as a commercial, returns-driven vehicle spanning crops, livestock, fisheries, aquaculture, palm oil and marine resources, CNBC Africa reported. He framed it as a return to the region's agrarian roots, noting that nations endure because they can feed themselves, as Arise News reported from his address.
Pooling Public and Private Money
The fund, which has received presidential approval, will provide commercially managed financing for large-scale projects across the nine Niger Delta states, according to Investors King. The NDDC Managing Director, Samuel Ogbuku, said the initiative would leverage each state's comparative advantage, from aquaculture in Bayelsa and fisheries in Rivers to cassava in Delta, cocoa in Ondo and oil palm in Edo, and would sit alongside existing programmes such as the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones, as The Authority reported.
Turning a crude-dependent region into a food producer would, over time, ease the national supply squeeze that keeps prices high. FoodPrices Nigeria tracks verified retail prices across Lagos markets and will watch whether investments like this reach the market stall.
#NigerDelta #AgriculturalInvestmentFund #NDDC #FoodSecurity #KashimShettima #Lagos #FoodPrices #Nigeria #Agribusiness #Diversification