FG Unveils $500m Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund

Vice President Kashim Shettima has launched the $500 million Niger Delta Agricultural Investment Fund, describing it as a major step towards reviving agriculture in a country whose economy was built on farming before the discovery of oil.

Shettima made the declaration on Wednesday in Abuja at the Niger Delta Agricultural Development and Investment Summit, jointly convened by the Office of the Vice President and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The Vice President said Nigeria could no longer afford to take the promise of an agricultural boom for granted, stressing that while nations may survive on various resources, they endure when they are able to feed themselves.

According to him, agriculture is not only the foundation of civilisation but also a key pillar of political stability.

“Before a people raise cities, they must learn to feed them, and before a state earns the loyalty of its citizens, it must secure their daily bread,” he said.

Shettima noted that Nigeria’s agricultural wealth once played a central role in the country’s development, pointing to the groundnut pyramids of the North, cocoa estates of the West, and palm produce from the East and Niger Delta, which he said helped finance the country’s earliest schools, hospitals and institutions.

He, however, regretted that the oil boom created an unhealthy dependence on crude oil, weakening the agricultural culture of a country that once fed itself.

The Vice President said the $500 million fund would help unlock the agricultural potential of the Niger Delta and support the region’s transformation into a major hub for agricultural investment and production.