Food security: FG offers 40 universities, polytechnics N2bn eac
The Federal Government has offered 40 universities, polytechnics and colleges of education up to N2bn each to establish commercial farms, in a move aimed at boosting food production and creating jobs amid rising food insecurity.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a meeting with heads of selected institutions and the management of the Bank of Agriculture to discuss the implementation of the Renewed Hope Tertiary Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Programme.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the minister’s Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Ikharo Attah, the programme is expected to mobilise more than 500,000 hectares of underutilised land across tertiary institutions for commercial farming, research and enterprise development.
Alausa said participating institutions would be expected to provide about 1,000 hectares each, although those with smaller landholdings could qualify based on the viability of their proposals.
Under the arrangement, each institution will establish a limited liability company to partner with the Bank of Agriculture, which will provide between N1bn and N2bn in financing for agricultural production and related inputs.
The minister said the initiative would address the underutilisation of agricultural land in tertiary institutions by providing access to funding, machinery, technical expertise and institutional support.
He disclosed that the Federal Government had also made provisions for the programme through previous Tertiary Education Trust Fund interventions, which approved N1bn for some institutions and N2bn for others.
Additionally, the Ministry of Education has earmarked N20bn in its capital budget to support 20 tertiary institutions under the agricultural development initiative.
Participating institutions will also have access to 10 tractors each at subsidised rates through the government’s agricultural mechanisation programme.
Other support will include improved seedlings, farm implements, irrigation equipment, water pumps, fertilisers and technical assistance.
To guarantee markets for farm produce, Alausa said arrangements would be made with produce aggregators to purchase harvests, alongside measures to reduce post-harvest losses.
The programme will also cover processing and other agro-allied businesses to create agricultural value chains around the institutions.
Students, unemployed graduates, alumni, academic and non-academic staff, as well as members of host communities, are expected to participate in the commercial farming activities under the supervision of lecturers and agricultural experts.
Alausa said the initiative would provide students with practical agricultural experience, promote entrepreneurship and allow participants to benefit from the revenue generated by the farms.
He projected that the programme could attract investments worth trillions of naira in the coming years and reposition tertiary institutions as centres of agricultural innovation and commercial production.
The initiative comes amid persistent food security challenges, with the Food and Agriculture Organisation estimating that 36.3 million Nigerians faced acute food insecurity during the June-August 2026 lean season.
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In its September 2026 country brief, the FAO also reported that annual food inflation rose for the sixth consecutive month to 20.3 per cent in July, compared with 8.9 per cent in January.
The organisation attributed the pressure on food production and prices partly to rising agricultural input and transportation costs, insecurity disrupting farming activities, high fertiliser prices and adverse weather conditions.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Prof Adamu Ahmed, welcomed the initiative, saying the institution’s Institute of Agricultural Research, National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services and Faculty of Agriculture would support its implementation.
He said the partnership would provide funding and technical assistance to translate agricultural research into commercial production and create opportunities for students.
Similarly, the Rector of Federal Polytechnic Oko, Dr Chioma Awuzie, said the programme would enable the institution to maximise its available land through mechanised farming.
The Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Ayo Sotinrin, said the bank would provide financing and market linkages to help participating institutions commercialise agricultural research and improve productivity.
He added that the initiative would enable tertiary institutions to contribute to national food supply while generating revenue from their agricultural investments.
Alausa assured that the ministry would work with the Bank of Agriculture, relevant government agencies and participating institutions to ensure effective implementation of the programme.
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