By Emegwoako C. Paschal
The federal government has stated that it will continue to create an environment that is conducive to more private sector investments in the agriculture sector in order to further its goals of job creation and economic development.
This was said by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday at the opening of Pandagric Novum Farms, an integrated feed and food manufacturing business in the Panda community of Nasarawa State’s Karu Local Government Area.
Major investors in the project include Signature Agri Investments and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).
The vice president called for increased private sector investment in the agricultural industry and pointed out that the project’s commissioning was just the beginning of many investment possibilities and opportunities for the nation’s agricultural industry and other sectors.
President Muhammadu Buhari “passionately believes in the role of the country’s agriculture sector as a key driver of job creation and economic growth,” Osinbajo said, extending his warm congratulations to the residents of the state.
He provided examples of investments made by the NSIA over the previous ten years as part of its primary mandates in various subsectors of the agriculture value chain.
The Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), started by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016 to address the issue of fertilizer availability and cost, is one of these investments.
Osinbajo announced the accomplishments of the PFI, which was restructured in 2022, and added that the President had appointed NSIA as the project’s implementing organization.
Osinbajo also mentioned the Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria (FAFIN), which was established by the NSIA in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the KfW, among others (a development bank).
In 2018, he claims, “the NSIA invested US$5.0 million in Babban Gona, a high impact, a scalable agricultural franchise that seeks to sustainably improve the lives of smallholder farmers through the provision of credit, inputs, training in good agricultural practices, harvesting & storage services, and marketing services.”
Osinbajo added that the NSIA “established an Agriculture Development Fund under a 50:50 joint venture with the Old Mutual Group of South Africa, with a commitment of US$50 million (US$25 million each) towards the development and investment in large-scale agriculture projects, combined with out-grower schemes, in order to address both unemployment, local production growth, and food security in particular areas of the country, in 2017.
“The Pandagric Novum Farms, a company that processes animal feed and has backward integration through the farming of maize and soybean, received a US$29 million commitment from the Fund in 2018 for its acquisition and two-phased development.”
Despite the difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic has caused around the world, the vice president claimed that “between 2018 and now, the Fund has successfully completed the development of Pandagric Novum Farms.”
In addition, Osinbajo praised Pandagric for creating an out-grower program, installing boreholes in all six of its neighboring communities, and providing inputs and training to more than 500 smallholder farmers.
The vice president praised Abdullahi Sule, the governor of Nasarawa State, for “the visionary zeal he has deployed in three and a half years to make Nasarawa the State of choice for Agricultural investment in Nigeria,” and added that the governor’s assistance was crucial to the project’s success.
Osinbajo also praised the Board and Management of the NSIA, Novum Farms, and its partners for their diligence and hard work in making the project a success.
Governor Sule had earlier praised the federal government’s redoubled efforts to support agricultural development across the nation.
The project, he continued, was conceived and pursued by his predecessors in office, but its completion was made possible by the Buhari administration’s continued work in the area.
Sule reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to ongoing support for the project and urged investors to expand to other important agricultural production areas in the State.
According to Mr. Theo van der Veen, Business Development Manager at Signature Agri Investments, the company’s investment in the project was motivated by its commitment to promoting sustainable and cutting-edge agricultural practices in Nigeria and assisting with food security.
He declared that the business would take advantage of chances to make additional investments in Nigerian agriculture, beginning with the expansion of the Pandagric project to include more hectares of land.
The vice president’s inauguration and tour of the factory, farm, and storage facilities with Governor Sule and other dignitaries present was the event’s high point.
