…18-month funding in limbo
Nigeria’s ambition to slash its wheat import bill and achieve self-sufficiency has run aground due to a bureaucratic logjam at the highest level of economic governance. For 18 months, critical funding secured from the African Development Bank (AfDB) has sat in limbo, withheld by the Federal Ministry of Finance.
This protracted funding freeze has effectively paralysed the National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) initiative, stalling seed development projects in key agricultural states and leaving the country’s food security strategy in jeopardy.
Over the last year and a half, zero wheat cultivation activities were recorded under the NAGS-AP project. Without the timely provision of high-quality inputs and foundational seeds, actual planted acreage is now projected to plummet 35 percent short of the 2026 national target.
The situation threatens to keep Nigeria reliant on Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Ukraine, Canada, and the U.S. for wheat at a time
This post was originally published on this site.
