Friday, August 8, 2025 - The Minister of Livestock Development, Idi Mukhtar Maiha, has called for deeper stakeholder collaboration to improve access to finance for youth and women engaged in livestock agribusinesses across Nigeria.
Maiha made the remarks while delivering a goodwill message
at a high-level policy dialogue convened by the African Development Bank (AfDB)
in Abuja, under the theme: “Access to Finance and Empowering Youth and Women
for Agribusiness Success.”
Addressing a cross-section of policymakers, development
partners, financiers, and agripreneurs, the Minister emphasised the importance
of financial inclusion, asset support, and market linkage for rural livestock
farmers.
“According to him, Enhancing Financial Inclusion and Access
Survey, formal financial inclusion in Nigeria increased from 56 percent in 2020
to 64 percent in 2023.
“However, 26 percent of Nigerians are still financially
excluded, which means 28.8 million adults are not part of the financial system.
Financial exclusion is pervasive in rural areas due to
illiteracy, low penetration by banks & fintech, sociocultural attitudes and
poor infrastructure,” he noted.
Speaking further, Maiha disclosed that the Ministry of
Livestock Development is scaling up interventions to empower 37,000 young men
and women with practical training, starter assets, and sustainable access to
markets.
“We have developed and are implementing the Nigeria
Livestock Growth Acceleration Strategy (NL-GAS) with a goal of revolutionizing
the sector and increasing it from a $33billion to $74billion industry within
the next 5years.
“The ten pillar NL-GAS has two pillars that are the two main
areas of discussion here today, these are Finance & Insurance and Women
& Youth Initiative.
We are collaborating with different actors to ensure that
our farmers and other stakeholders are financially included in all sectors such
as dairy, small ruminant, poultry and rural trade,” the Minister stated.
He urged the AfDB and other partners to design financing windows that reflect
the realities of the livestock ecosystem.
Drawing attention to the need for targeted policy reforms,
Maiha noted that strengthening credit guarantees and cooperative-based lending
models could help unlock the potential of informal livestock actors.
Additional messages were delivered by prominent dignitaries
including the Special Adviser the the President on Livestock Development,
Professor Attahiru Jega; the Chairperson, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission,
Abike Dabiri-Erewa; and Ministers of Youth Development, Budget and Economic
Planning, Senator Atiku Abubakar Bagudu and Agriculture and Food Security,
Senator Abubakar Kyari, among others.
Earlier in his welcome address, Dr. Abdul Kamara, AfDB
Country Director for Nigeria, highlighted the Bank’s strategic approach to
agribusiness transformation and the need to tailor financial solutions to fit
vulnerable groups.
“Our objective is not just about giving out loans; it is
about designing inclusive, adaptive financing mechanisms that empower women and
youth where they are and with what they have.”
“Only 11.4 percent of Nigerian businesses access credit
through banks. The rest rely on informal lending, if any. This presents a
serious developmental constraint.
“With the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises
(I-DICE) programme and other value chain-specific projects, AfDB is
prioritising smart agribusiness investment to enable employment and scale local
food systems.”
On his part, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security
in his keynote address, called for accelerated adoption of innovation and local
value retention through public-private investments.
“We cannot continue exporting raw produce while importing
finished products. If we want true empowerment, we must fix the value chains,
especially financing, processing, and certification.”
“Young Nigerians are already innovating in precision farming
and AI-driven agriculture. The challenge now is capital and trust,” Kyari
noted, adding, “under the National Agricultural Technology and Innovation
Policy (NATIP) agenda, we are fostering a new generation of agri-entrepreneurs
who will create wealth, jobs, and food security,” Kyari said.
Throughout the event, speakers and participants reaffirmed
the need to deepen access to affordable and flexible financing for youth and
women in agriculture, as well as leverage innovation and technology for
productivity, value addition, and job creation.
As Africa’s youth population continues to rise, with Nigeria
expected to surpass 400 million people by 2050, stakeholders agreed to close
the gender and youth gap in agrifinance through targeted policies
and investments.
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