The United Nations has partnered with the federal governments, along with multilateral and unilateral donors to mobilize $83.16 million for Nigeria’s agriculture sector development from 2023 to 2027.

The FAO has already provided about $16.36 million for the initiative, according to its Nigeria Country Programming Framework 2023–2027 (CPF) which was obtained by the federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Friday.

The CPF is a medium-term framework guiding FAO’s work in Nigeria. It defines priorities for the UN agency's involvement with the government of Nigeria (as agreed upon by both parties).

The framework is designed to help Nigeria achieve its goals of self-sufficiency in food, and it also supports the work of other international organizations that are working toward similar ends.

The report stated that the full implementation of the framework would require about $99.5 million (N45.87 billion), while only $16.36 million (N7.54 billion) was currently available, leaving a gap of over 83 million dollars ($38 billion).

“The funding gap will be addressed through resource mobilisation and partnership with multilateral and unilateral donors including governments at federal and state levels,” the UN stated in its latest CPF report.

The document further explained that the Nigeria CPF was divided into four priority areas, adding that the amount required to fund each $13.96m, $60.1m, $7.4 m and $18.11m respectively.

The first priority area would focus on making agriculture more sustainable and the second would aim to increase food security.

Healthy and sustainable diets, along with natural resource conservation and climate change mitigation, are the third through fourth priorities.

The report suggested that the first priority area should focus on strengthening capacity for value chain analysis and upgrading of commodity chains.

These include the capacity for increased productivity in livestock, fisheries and selected crop and forest value chains; strong capacities for digital agriculture solutions to ensure market opportunities.

Fred Kafeero, the representative of the Food and Agriculture Organization of Nigeria (FAO), said that by signing this cooperation framework with the Nigerian government, FAO would be able to strengthen its partnerships throughout Nigeria and provide technical assistance for programs already in place.