The Federal Government has announced plans to make over 500,000 hectares of underutilised land in tertiary institutions available for commercial agriculture.
The initiative, known as the Renewed Hope Tertiary Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Programme, will initially cover 40 selected universities, polytechnics and colleges of education across the country.
Under the programme, each participating institution will be eligible to access between N1 billion and N2 billion in funding through the Bank of Agriculture.
The Special Assistant to the President on Social Media, Dada Olusegun, disclosed this in a statement, explaining that the initiative is aimed at increasing agricultural production, creating jobs and improving the financial sustainability of tertiary institutions.
Each institution is expected to provide about 1,000 hectares of land, depending on the viability of its proposal.
The Bank of Agriculture will provide funding for the establishment and operation of the farms, while participating institutions will also have access to 10 tractors at reduced costs, improved seedlings, farm equipment, irrigation facilities, fertilisers and technical support.
The government also plans to engage produce aggregators to purchase harvested crops and provide reliable markets for farmers, in a bid to reduce post-harvest losses.
According to the statement, the programme will help universities and other institutions generate income from agricultural activities and reduce their dependence on government funding.
Students, unemployed graduates, alumni, academic and non-academic staff, as well as members of host communities, are also expected to benefit through opportunities in farming and agro-allied businesses.
The initiative will equally provide students and researchers with practical agricultural experience and opportunities to turn research findings into commercial ventures.
The Federal Government added that future phases of the programme would expand into agricultural processing and other agro-allied activities to strengthen the agricultural value chain and boost local economic development.
