By Iroyin Yoruba Television
The Bank of Agriculture has partnered with the All-Farmers Association of Nigeria to expand access to financing for about 400,000 Nigerian farmers preparing for the 2026 dry-season farming cycle.
The initiative is designed to help farmers continue production beyond the main rainy season by providing access to agricultural financing, production inputs and irrigation equipment.
The partnership is being implemented under the Bank of Agriculture's Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund, a financing programme intended to strengthen the productive capacity of smallholder farmers and improve agricultural value chains across Nigeria.
The initiative comes as farmers begin preparations for dry-season production, a period that provides an opportunity to maintain agricultural output after the main rainy season.
Dry-season farming is particularly important for crops that can be produced with irrigation when rainfall becomes insufficient. It can allow farmers to cultivate additional crops during the year, increase the utilisation of farmland and potentially create additional income opportunities for farming households.
Under the new partnership, the All-Farmers Association of Nigeria will help identify farmers who are actively engaged in agricultural production and require financing to continue or expand their operations during the dry season.
The association will provide information on participating farmers, including their locations, commodities, farm sizes and proposed areas for dry-season cultivation.
This information is expected to help the Bank of Agriculture assess prospective beneficiaries and determine the financing requirements associated with their production plans.
The association will also assist in identifying Farmer Aggregation Companies with verifiable networks of farmers and the capacity to coordinate participating producers.
The Farmer Aggregation Companies will play an important role in the financing structure.
Under the Farmer Allocation Model, approved financing will be channelled to eligible farmers through selected aggregation companies.
The companies will serve as obligors and coordinate the allocation and deployment of approved inputs, irrigation equipment and other production requirements.
The arrangement is intended to connect financing with identifiable farmers and specific production plans.
Rather than treating agricultural finance as a general intervention, the model seeks to establish clear information about who is receiving support, where the farmers are located, what they intend to produce and the scale of their proposed farming activities.
The Bank of Agriculture will subsequently conduct verification, due diligence and credit assessments on the information submitted through the farmer association and aggregation companies.
Participation in the programme will therefore depend on the bank's assessment and approval.
The initiative is particularly focused on addressing two challenges that can limit dry-season farming: access to finance and access to irrigation equipment.
For farmers who depend primarily on rainfall, the end of the rainy season can significantly reduce their ability to continue cultivation.
Irrigation provides an alternative source of water that can allow farming to continue during periods of limited rainfall.
However, irrigation systems, pumps, water infrastructure and other equipment can require substantial upfront investment.
Smallholder farmers may find it difficult to finance such equipment without access to credit or other forms of support.
The BOA programme is intended to address part of this challenge by making irrigation toolkits and associated equipment part of the financing support available to eligible farmers.
The bank said the initiative would not be limited to agricultural inputs.
Financing will also cover irrigation toolkits and other equipment needed to sustain production during the dry season.
This approach could allow participating farmers to plan their operations around both crop inputs and the infrastructure required to maintain production.
The objective is to encourage year-round agriculture rather than production that depends entirely on one rainy-season cycle.
For Nigeria's food system, maintaining production throughout the year can be important because agricultural output affects the availability of food and raw materials.
When farmers are able to produce during different seasons, agricultural supply can become less dependent on the timing and intensity of rainfall.
Dry-season production can also create opportunities for farmers to grow crops at times when supplies from rain-fed farming are lower.
The bank said supporting production throughout the year is intended to improve farmers' livelihoods while contributing to a more reliable supply of locally produced food.
The programme is therefore connected to both agricultural finance and food security.
The partnership with AFAN also gives the initiative a nationwide reach through the association's network of farmers.
The association operates across Nigeria and can assist with identifying farmers and farmer networks in different locations.
This could make it easier for the Bank of Agriculture to reach producers beyond major commercial farming centres.
The use of Farmer Aggregation Companies is another important feature of the arrangement.
Agricultural financing can become more difficult when banks have to deal individually with very large numbers of smallholder farmers.
Aggregation can create a structure through which groups of farmers are coordinated around production activities, financing, inputs and markets.
In the model being used for this initiative, eligible aggregation companies will coordinate participating farmers and the deployment of approved resources.
The companies will therefore have responsibilities that extend beyond simply identifying beneficiaries.
They will help coordinate production requirements and ensure that resources are connected to the farmers and farming activities covered by the approved financing.
The verification process is intended to ensure that participating farmers and aggregation companies meet the requirements of the programme.
The Bank of Agriculture said it would carry out due diligence and credit assessments before financing is approved.
This means that inclusion in the initial farmer identification process does not automatically guarantee access to funding.
Applicants and farmer groups will have to satisfy the applicable requirements before financing is approved.
The programme's target of about 400,000 farmers represents a large potential reach.
If successfully implemented, the initiative could provide financing and productive support to farmers across multiple agricultural value chains.
The specific crops and locations will depend on the farmers identified through AFAN and the assessments conducted by the bank.
The emphasis on proposed commodities, farm sizes and dry-season acreage suggests that the programme is intended to match financing with actual production plans.
Such information can help determine the amount and type of support required.
A farmer cultivating a small irrigated plot, for example, may have different financing needs from a larger producer operating a commercial farm.
Similarly, the equipment required for rice, vegetables or other crops can vary depending on the farming system and location.
The programme's structure allows those differences to be considered during the assessment process.
The initiative also comes at a time when agricultural financing remains an important issue for Nigerian farmers.
Access to credit can affect farmers' ability to purchase improved seeds, fertiliser, crop-protection products, irrigation equipment and other inputs.
Without sufficient financing, farmers may rely on smaller production areas or lower-cost methods that limit potential output.
For smallholder farmers, the timing of financing can also matter.
Agricultural activities operate according to planting and harvesting calendars, meaning that funds received after the appropriate planting period may be less useful.
The focus on farmers preparing for the 2026 dry season is therefore intended to connect financing with the production cycle.
The programme also has potential implications for rural employment.
Agriculture supports farmers, farm workers, transport operators, input suppliers, processors, traders and other businesses.
When farming activity increases, demand for services connected to production and distribution can also increase.
Dry-season farming can therefore generate economic activity beyond the farm itself.
Irrigation-based agriculture can also support farmers who want to produce crops for markets during periods when supply is lower.
However, the success of such production depends on several factors, including access to water, the availability and affordability of inputs, market demand, transportation and storage.
Financing can address some of these constraints, but it does not eliminate all of them.
Farmers still need suitable land, water resources, technical knowledge and access to markets.
The BOA's partnership with AFAN focuses primarily on financing and production support, while the broader agricultural value chain involves other institutions and private-sector participants.
The Farmer Aggregation Companies could potentially help address some of these connections by coordinating farmers and their production requirements.
Their ability to maintain accurate farmer records and coordinate the deployment of resources will therefore be important to the implementation of the programme.
The bank's verification and credit-assessment process is also intended to ensure that financing is directed toward farmers and production structures that satisfy the programme's requirements.
The programme is being implemented through the Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund.
Its broader purpose is to strengthen agricultural production and value-chain development by improving access to financing.
For participating farmers, the immediate focus is the 2026 dry season.
For the agricultural sector, the longer-term objective is to strengthen the capacity of smallholder producers to maintain production and participate more effectively in organised value chains.
Year-round production can potentially contribute to more stable farm incomes.
A farmer who can produce during both rainy and dry seasons may have more opportunities to generate revenue across the year than a farmer whose production is limited to one seasonal cycle.
However, profitability will still depend on production costs and market prices.
The availability of financing does not by itself guarantee that farmers will make higher profits.
Farmers must still manage costs, production risks, market conditions and weather-related challenges.
The inclusion of irrigation equipment in the financing package could nevertheless reduce dependence on rainfall and provide farmers with greater control over water availability during dry periods.
This is especially relevant as climate variability continues to influence agricultural planning.
Changes in rainfall patterns can make it more difficult for farmers to rely solely on predictable seasonal rainfall.
Irrigation can provide an additional production option, although it requires appropriate water management and infrastructure.
The programme's emphasis on dry-season farming therefore has both agricultural and resilience dimensions.
It seeks to provide farmers with the means to continue producing when rainfall is no longer sufficient while strengthening their ability to plan production beyond a single season.
The involvement of AFAN also gives farmers' representatives a role in identifying potential participants.
The association's responsibility to provide farmer information means that accurate records will be important.
Details such as farmer location, commodity, farm size and proposed acreage can help the bank determine the nature and scale of financing required.
The quality of these records will also affect the subsequent verification process.
The Farmer Aggregation Companies selected for the programme will similarly need to demonstrate that they have genuine and verifiable farmer networks.
The arrangement therefore places emphasis on identifiable participants and organised farmer structures.
This can help create clearer links between financial institutions and agricultural producers.
The programme also illustrates the growing importance of structured agricultural finance in Nigeria.
Rather than providing support only through direct grants or input distribution, structured financing can provide farmers with access to resources that must be managed and repaid according to agreed terms.
The exact financing conditions applicable to individual participants will depend on the Bank of Agriculture's assessment and programme requirements.
The bank has not indicated that every farmer identified by AFAN will automatically receive financing.
Instead, applicants will be subject to verification, due diligence and credit assessment.
For farmers considering participation, this distinction is important.
Being identified through a farmer network is part of the process, while actual financing depends on satisfying the bank's requirements.
The programme also creates a role for organised farmer groups and aggregation companies in helping producers access financial services.
This can be useful where individual farmers have limited capacity to approach financial institutions directly.
Aggregation can provide a mechanism for coordinating production and financing while giving lenders more structured information about potential beneficiaries.
The 400,000-farmer target is therefore not simply a numerical objective.
It represents an attempt to establish a broad network through which agricultural financing, inputs and irrigation equipment can reach farmers preparing for the dry season.
The ultimate impact will depend on how many farmers successfully complete the assessment process, receive approved financing and are able to use the resources effectively.
It will also depend on the availability of irrigation water, the performance of crops, market conditions and other factors affecting agricultural production.
For Nigeria's food system, the programme's focus on maintaining production beyond the rainy season comes at an important point in the agricultural calendar.
Farmers are planning their next production cycle, while policymakers and agricultural institutions continue to seek ways to improve domestic food supply.
Supporting farmers to cultivate during the dry season can complement rainy-season production and potentially improve the continuity of food supply.
It can also give farmers additional opportunities to generate income.
The Bank of Agriculture said the initiative forms part of its broader efforts to expand agricultural financing and strengthen the productive capacity of Nigerian farmers.
Its partnership with AFAN is designed to improve the bank's ability to reach credible farmers at scale.
For the All-Farmers Association of Nigeria, the arrangement provides an opportunity to connect its farmer network with a structured financing programme.
For participating farmers, the main benefit being pursued is access to the financial and productive resources needed to continue farming during the dry season.
The programme's focus on inputs and irrigation equipment means that the support is intended to address practical production requirements rather than financing alone.
As preparations for the 2026 dry season continue, AFAN will identify farmers and suitable aggregation companies and submit the relevant information to the Bank of Agriculture.
The bank will then conduct verification, due diligence and credit assessments before approving eligible applications.
The process will determine how the 400,000-farmer target translates into actual beneficiaries.
If implementation proceeds as planned, the initiative could expand the number of Nigerian farmers able to maintain production beyond the rainy season.
It could also strengthen connections between smallholder farmers, financial institutions, input suppliers and agricultural value chains.
The wider objective is to support more consistent agricultural production and contribute to the availability of locally produced food.
For farmers, the coming dry season will determine how effectively the financing, irrigation equipment and other resources can be converted into actual production.
For the Bank of Agriculture and AFAN, the immediate task is to identify credible participants and build an effective financing pipeline.
The initiative therefore moves Nigerian agriculture into another phase of the 2026 farming calendar, with financing and irrigation support being positioned as key tools for sustaining production when the rains recede.
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