Vice President Kashim Shettima revealed that Nigeria has raised over $500 million to support transformative projects aimed at creating innovative, profitable, fair, and sustainable improvements in the country’s food system.
The Director, Information, Office of the Vice President, Mr Olusola Abiola, in a statement said that Shettima made this known while chairing a high-level meeting on the first day of the UN Food Systems Summit in Rome, Italy.
According to him, the meeting was declared open by the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.
The vice president explained that the funds were mobilized through domestic resources, multilateral development banks, international financial institutions and climate funds by leading agro-businesses.
He said that the funds would be used for financing food system transformation, development of Nigeria’s agro value chain and the setting up of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones.
He said, “In this event, the Government of Nigeria will be showcasing its Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) as a unique example of a successful partnership between producers, the public sector and private operators.
“The VCDP, which is co-funded by Nigeria and IFAD, has empowered vulnerable farmers and youth to engage in commercial partnerships with some of the biggest food processing and marketing firms in the world such as OLAM.”
OLAM is operating in more than 60 countries with an annual revenue of about 39.8 billion dollars
While speaking on the government’s vision about ending hunger, the vice president noted that building on the success of the VCDP, the Federal Government was determined to empower Nigeria’s rural smallholders and operators, youth and women living below the poverty line to enable them to take advantage of the new Special Processing Zones.
Shettima highlighted the Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) as an initiative that fosters collaboration between local governments, IFAD, AfDB, IsDB, GCF, OLAM, and various private entities, working alongside the Nigerian government for transformative financing of food systems that leaves no-one behind.