BOA Deploys N250bn Facility to Boost Smallholder Farmers’ Access to Finance

The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) is deploying N250bn facility to provide single-digit financing to smallholder farmers as it expands its support for agricultural production and food security.

The bank said the financing would be combined with access to inputs, agronomic support and offtake arrangements, reflecting a shift towards addressing the wider constraints limiting farmers’ productivity.

BOA disclosed this in a statement on Monday, adding that its N1.5tn recapitalisation would further strengthen its capacity to reach more farmers and deepen agricultural lending.

According to the bank, women account for up to 70 per cent of Nigeria’s agricultural workforce, based on estimates cited from the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

However, their access to formal financial services remains significantly below that of male farmers.

The bank cited World Bank data showing that only three per cent of female farmers in Nigeria were formally enrolled in financial systems, compared with 10 per cent of male farmers.

BOA said closing the gender gap in access to productive resources could improve farm yields and increase agricultural output, with potential implications for food security and poverty reduction.

BOA Shifts Focus Beyond Agricultural Credit

Ayodeji Sotinrin, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of BOA, said agricultural finance would have limited impact if farmers lacked the inputs and infrastructure required to convert funding into higher production.

“Women are already contributing significantly to agriculture and to Nigeria’s food system. Our responsibility is to ensure that the systems around them give them a better opportunity to produce, grow and participate in the value chain,” Sotinrin said.

He said the bank’s approach involved addressing constraints beyond access to credit.

“Agricultural financing cannot end with disbursement. Farmers need access to inputs, mechanisation, markets and other support required to turn financing into output. That is the ecosystem we are building at the Bank of Agriculture,” he said.

The bank recently engaged women farmers in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, providing agricultural inputs to support their ongoing farming activities.

BOA said the intervention was part of its broader effort to understand the challenges farmers face and design support around the entire production cycle.

N250bn Facility Targets Smallholder Farmers

The bank said its approach was also reflected in the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support & Value Chain Fund, through which it is working with farmer aggregation companies to bring more than two million smallholder farmers into a Federal Government-backed on-lending framework.

The model combines financing with agricultural inputs, agronomic support and offtake arrangements, with the aim of increasing production rather than simply expanding the volume of credit disbursed.

BOA also said it was deploying a N250bn facility to provide single-digit financing to smallholder farmers.

The bank added that its N1.5tn recapitalisation would significantly strengthen its capacity to reach more farmers and expand agricultural lending.

The development comes as the Federal Government seeks to increase domestic food production and reduce pressures on food security through greater support for agricultural production.

For women farmers, BOA said limited access to inputs, technology, mechanisation and markets remained interconnected constraints that affected both production levels and the share of value farmers ultimately retained.

BOA Links Farmers To Markets

Beyond financing, BOA said it was using its Guaranteed Minimum Price Aggregation Programme to connect farmers producing selected commodities with structured aggregation, accredited warehouses and guaranteed offtake.

The programme is designed to provide farmers with greater certainty over the market for their produce while strengthening links between production and formal value chains.

“Across these interventions, the objective remains to make agricultural finance more meaningful to the farmer by connecting capital to the real needs of production,” the bank said.

BOA said it would continue to expand its partnerships, financing mechanisms and value-chain interventions to bring more underserved smallholder farmers into the formal agricultural economy.

The bank said the objective was to create stronger links between financing, production and market access as Nigeria works to strengthen domestic food production and build more resilient agricultural value chains.