A critical $500 million agricultural support initiative from the World Bank, aimed at boosting farming in Nigeria's North West, is facing severe threats from rampant insecurity and conflicting government policies on food imports. Stakeholders raised the alarm during a key workshop held in Kano on Tuesday, January 13, 2026.
Stakeholders Sound Alarm at Kano Workshop
The concerns were voiced at a workshop focusing on Nigeria's Sustainable Agricultural Value Chains for Growth (AGROW). The programme is a collaborative effort involving the Presidential Food Systems Coordinating Unit (PFSCU), the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, and the Nigeria Governors' Forum. Its primary goal is to support farmers within the Sudan Savannah zone of the country.
However, commissioners and officials from states including Kebbi, Zamfara, Katsina, Borno, and Kaduna expressed deep worry. They stated that inconsistencies in federal government policies and unchecked violence could render the massive World Bank intervention ineffective.
Double Jeopardy: Banditry and Import Waivers
Alh. Shehu Muazu, the Commissioner for Agriculture in Kebbi State, delivered a strong critique. He lamented that local farmers are being sidelined by wealthy "money-bag contractors" who benefit from government interventions. He specifically faulted the federal government's policy of granting tax waivers for food imports, describing it as a direct enemy of local agricultural production.
From Katsina State, Alh. Aliyu Lawal Zakari highlighted the devastating impact of persistent banditry attacks on farmers' productivity and safety. He urgently called on the federal government to address the insecurity, warning that it poses a direct threat to national food security. Zakari also advocated for better market access for Katsina's farmers and solutions to manage post-harvest losses.
Echoing these sentiments, officials from Gombe, Zamfara, and Kano states pressed for the timely provision of agrochemicals and other critical farm inputs to large-scale farmers to bolster food output.
AGROW's Holistic Vision for Food Security
Speaking on the programme's objectives, Mr. Eniola Akindele, Manager of Data and Input Assessments, explained that AGROW is designed as a comprehensive value-chain solution. The programme aims to ensure farmer access to loans, create jobs, and spur private-sector investment in agriculture, all in line with the federal government's Renewed Hope Agenda for food security and industrialisation.
"We must not only look at one side of the value chain; we must look at the value chain holistically," Akindele stated. "We follow it from production through processing to the market and consumption. That is why this programme is coming in."
He described the Kano workshop as a platform for stakeholders to brainstorm on the challenges facing agribusiness and to develop specific, result-oriented actions to help farmers in the zone. The ultimate goal is to tackle the problem of food insecurity head-on.
The consensus from the meeting is clear: for the $500 million World Bank intervention to succeed, the twin challenges of criminal activities on farmlands and policies that discourage local production must be decisively addressed by the authorities.
