The Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria (VCN), an eight-year initiative validated on March 21, 2024, is co-funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the French Development Agency (AFD), and the Government of Nigeria. The program seeks to contribute to poverty reduction, improved nutrition, and greater resilience for rural and vulnerable populations in northern Nigeria. It will support nine states: Borno, Bauchi, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

The program is set to be signed in August 2025, with implementation following shortly after. It is expected to directly benefit approximately 456,000 smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs, with 40% of them being women, 60% youth, 10% people with disabilities (PWD), and 5% internally displaced persons (IDP) returnees.

IFAD will contribute $86.7 million to the project, AFD will provide $78.2 million, the Federal Government will allocate $12 million, and the beneficiary states will contribute $8 million. This gender-transformative and youth-responsive project will indirectly benefit 3.1 million household members by integrating nutrition, environmental, and climate change considerations.

In his opening remarks at the validation workshop for complementary studies in Abuja, Mr. Bukar Musa, Director of the Project Coordinating Unit at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, emphasized that the VCN program is a Federal Government initiative aimed at improving the livelihoods of half a million smallholder farmers and empowering vulnerable populations through strengthened value chains, enhanced agricultural productivity, and improved access to markets.

Musa who represented the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said “In line with the Presidential Emergency Declaration on Nigeria’s Food Security, the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation Policy (NATIP), the Food System Transformation Pathways and the 8-point Renewed Hope Agenda, the VCN will reduce poverty, enhance nutrition and resilience of rural populations in nine (9) northern states of Nigeria”

In her remarks, the Country Director, IFAD Nigeria, Mrs Dede Ekoue, said the Project Implementation Manual that would guide the project implementation in the 9 states had been developed and the complementary studies will strengthen the implementation strategies.

“We are front-loading the work that needs to be done after the signature of program documents as we understand the urgency in launching the implementation of the VCN Program in support of government ongoing efforts for sustainable and inclusive development in the North. These studies were financed by IFAD and AFD with contribution from FAO Investment Centre.

“This collaborative and systematic approach with development partners and UN agencies fosters the scaling up and efficiency on investment in support of national priorities for agri-food systems transformation and sustainable development along the Humanitarian, Development Peace Nexus in line with the UnitedNations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNDSDCF) and AFD Nigeria Country Intervention Strategy.” Ms Ekoue stated.

Ms Sally Ibrahim, Project Manager, representing AFD’s Country Director in Nigeria, highlighted the significance of the occasion that marks the successful completion of the studies intended to facilitate the operational implementation of the ambitious VCN program that aims to promote inclusive economic opportunities for vulnerable populations and to tackle food and nutritional insecurity issues in the North.

She emphasised that AFD’s current support to the sector in Nigeria focuses mainly on improving rural access and agri-markets, and that this future support to VCN program, alongside IFAD, represents a significant step to create synergies with other Agri-food development programs implemented by the Nigerian Government in order to address the challenges and the multiple fragilities facing the agriculture sector.

Mr. Braimah Tofiq, who represented the FAO Country Representative Nigeria said “FAO has conducted these VCN complementary studies to deepen and finetune the project implementation strategies. Northern Nigeria faces soaring rates of malnutrition – key interventions to overcome this challenge include promoting nutrient-rich crops, improving maternal and child nutrition, and encouraging backyard gardening and small-scale animal husbandry.