U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has inaugurated a new scheme, ‘Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity’ under a new contract with Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA).

CNFA is an international agricultural development organisation.

The U.S Embassy made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

It explained that the scheme aimed to help Nigeria develop and strengthen a more business-enabling environment through promotion of private-sector investment in agriculture.

“Through CNFA, USAID will work to improve the ease of doing business in the agricultural sector, broaden access to finance by mitigating the credit risks of agribusinesses, and promote investment opportunities for agribusinesses to expand and scale up operations”.

“In line with the commitment of the governments of the United States and Nigeria to broaden the economy, these efforts will increase the quality, quantity, market access and diversification of Nigeria’s agribusiness sector”.

“This activity will pursue a unique, robust business-centered strategy to implement this Feed the Future initiative in Nigeria,” the embassy quoted Chief of Party Adam Saffer as saying.

According to him, under this approach, the activity will partner with domestic and multinational companies to effectively bridge the gap between government and the private sector.

“It will also help distribute the economic benefits of the project more broadly across Nigeria’s agribusiness sector.”

Saffer said that the Agribusiness Investment Activity aims to collaborate with the Nigerian agribusiness sector to integrate and upgrade thousands of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and producer organisations such as high-performing commercial actors in the rice, maize, soy, cowpea, and aquaculture value chains.

“Through advocacy for streamlined regulations, more effective policies, improved production and processing practices, and significantly increased finance and investment flows, the activity will help Nigerian entrepreneurs increase the competitiveness and returns of both large and small agricultural enterprises in Nigeria.

“Over the course of the five-year award, the Agribusiness Investment Activity aims to facilitate 200 million dollars in new lending and 100 million dollars in new investment across the five crops in the following seven designated Nigerian states.’’

The states are Kaduna, Niger, Kebbi, Benue, Delta, Ebonyi, and Cross River. (NAN)