Vice President Kashim Shettima on Wednesday unveiled a $500 million Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund aimed at accelerating agricultural development, attracting private investment and strengthening food security in the region.
Mr Shettima launched the fund at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit jointly organised by the Office of the Vice President and the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, in Abuja.
Describing the initiative as a major milestone, the vice president said the fund would help reposition agriculture as a key driver of economic growth, recalling that Nigeria’s economy was built on agriculture long before the discovery of oil.
He said no nation could afford to take food security for granted, stressing that countries survive on many resources but endure only when they can feed themselves.
“Agriculture is not only the foundation of civilisation but also the first guarantee of political stability. Before a people raise cities, they must learn to feed them, and before a state earns the loyalty of its citizens, it must secure their daily bread,” he said.
Mr Shettima recalled that proceeds from groundnut, cocoa and palm produce financed Nigeria’s early schools, hospitals and institutions before the oil boom shifted attention away from agriculture. He lamented that the country’s dependence on oil weakened its agricultural base, leading to increased food imports despite Nigeria’s vast arable land.
The vice president, however, commended the Niger Delta for choosing to diversify beyond oil by investing in agriculture.
“What makes this vision inspiring is that it arises from a region that could have rested on its oil wealth. The Niger Delta has instead chosen to return to an identity older than crude oil itself. It has chosen to transform the region, feed the nation and attract the world,” he said.
Mr Shettima explained that the $500 million fund is a commercial, returns-driven investment vehicle covering the entire agricultural value chain, including aquaculture, palm oil, cassava, cocoa, rice, horticulture, livestock and marine resources.
He said the initiative would leverage financial commitments from development partners, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as private and commercial investors.
According to him, the newly established Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Council, which he chairs, will provide strategic oversight for the initiative, while the NDDC will serve as its secretariat. He added that the council would coordinate the preparation of bankable agricultural projects across the nine Niger Delta states to attract domestic and foreign investments.
Mr Shettima said the initiative complements President Bola Tinubu’s food security agenda, recalling that the President declared a state of emergency on food security shortly after assuming office in 2023. He noted that the administration had since prioritised agricultural mechanisation through programmes such as the Renewed Hope Agricultural Mechanisation Programme, which targets the deployment of 10,000 tractors over five years, alongside local tractor assembly, the John Deere Tractorisation Programme, the Greener Hope Project and the Green Imperative Programme.
The vice president urged investors, development partners and state governors to seize the opportunities presented by the new fund.
“The fund is launched, the commitments are aligned, the council is constituted, and the pipeline awaits your conviction,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, said agriculture remained central to the Federal Government’s economic transformation agenda. He said the National Regional Development Policy recognises the comparative advantages of every region and seeks to harness them to drive investment, job creation and economic growth.
Momoh described the summit as a strategic platform for improving the livelihoods of youths and women across the Niger Delta and called on the private sector and development partners to work closely with governments at all levels to unlock the region’s agricultural potential. He stressed that government alone could not achieve the country’s economic transformation without strong partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders.