Abuja: The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced that the Federal Government/IFAD Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone (SAPZ) has successfully expanded its outreach, engaging 41,204 smallholder farmers and value chain actors across Nigeria.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the IFAD Country Director, Dede Ekoue, revealed during the joint FG/IFAD second SAPZ Programme Supervision Mission in Abuja that the profiling of farmers is a key element in the programme’s implementation strategy. The initiative has captured 7,398 farmers in Kano State for the 2024 pilot scheme and 33,806 farmers in the 2025 profiling in both Ogun and Kano States. This profiling is essential for accurate targeting, evidence-based planning, and ensuring transparency in supporting beneficiaries.
Women make up 50% of the profiled actors in Ogun, while youths represent nearly a quarter in Kano State. This demographic involvement highlights the programme’s growing importance to young agripreneurs. Since the last update, 14,655 of the 33,806 actors profiled in 2025 have benefited from inputs, training, and digital services like climate information services (CIS). Overall, 15,664 individuals have received training, nutrition packages, and input packages since the programme’s inception, comprising 9,353 men, 6,311 women, and 3,955 youth. Despite reaching only 15.8% of the project’s target of 100,000 beneficiaries, the implementation is progressing steadily.
Ekoue emphasized that the SAPZ programme represents a strategic partnership between the Nigerian Government, IFAD, and participating states. It aims to transform food systems through enterprise development, agro-industrialization, youth employment, and inclusive rural prosperity. The initiative is not only about supporting farmers but also about building rural economies, unlocking agribusiness opportunities, advancing food security, and enhancing resilience against global challenges.
IFAD remains committed to aligning with the Renewed Hope Agenda and national objectives to build efficient, resilient, and inclusive agricultural value chains. The SAPZ programme exemplifies this commitment and shared ambition, with support from the African Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank.
The SAPZ implementation’s cornerstone has been the strengthening of Public-Private-Producer Partnerships through IFAD’s (4P) Model, establishing the Multistakeholder Agribusiness Forum (MAF) and signing 25 Memoranda of Understanding. These agreements link cassava, rice, tomato, and groundnut producers to guaranteed offtakers and agro-processors, ensuring sustainability, improving market access, and reducing commercial risks to safeguard farmers’ incomes.
Additionally, the SAPZ programme focuses on inclusion, gender equity, and nutrition-sensitive agriculture, benefiting households, particularly women, through nutrition interventions, hygiene training, and food demonstrations. This approach ensures the programme not only boosts production but also enhances dietary diversity and family nutrition.
The supervision mission aims to validate progress, address bottlenecks, harmonize state and federal priorities, and finalize operational modalities to meet the 2025 performance targets and accelerate implementation. Mrs. Iluromi Adebola, Director, Department of Development Partners Project, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, highlighted the mission’s role in reviewing achievements and overcoming challenges to drive results across all SAPZ states. Representing a collective ambition, the SAPZ model connects producers to processors, logistics, storage, and market systems, addressing gaps in Nigeria’s agricultural system and enhancing processing capacity and market linkages.