Solidaridad and Nigerian government partner to improve productivity

Solidaridad has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian government through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) to enable the country to attain self-sufficiency in agriculture and diversification of her economy.

Under the agreement, Solidaridad and the government will collaborate based on mutual goals, interests, competency, expertise, and resources to improve the productivity of the agricultural sector and ensure that the sector contributes significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country. 

Ukattah Bernard, Deputy Director of Tree Crops at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said, the MoU will not only enable the government to revamp oil palm production in the country, but also provide an opportunity to boost the production of other agri-based commodities.  

The ministry is excited to partner with Solidaridad to improve agricultural productivity in its quest to attain food sufficiency in Nigeria amid increasing population. This will really help the country feed itself and reduce the heavy food imports, which has a toll on the economy.

Ukattah Bernard
Deputy Director of Tree Crops at the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

Solidaridad will provide technical support to the government in the development of the oil palm sector. This aligns with the organization’s aim to support Nigeria’s capacity building efforts to regain her leading role in the global production of the commodity.

Solidaridad has immense expertise and experiences in different areas of agriculture, guided  by over 50 years of experience working across various supply chains. Solidaridad’s footprints in Nigeria span more than a decade and have largely been on improving oil palm, cocoa and horticulture.

Solidaridad has successfully built a rich database of farmers across the country, which will be of help to the ministry in executing its policies in the development of agriculture, among others.

Dr Samuel S. Ogallah, Solidaridad senior climate specialist for Africa and country technical lead said, he is optimistic that the collaboration between the two parties will contribute significantly to the agricultural development of Nigeria.

“Solidaridad welcomes this collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture because we believe it will also help improve farmers’ incomes and enhance resilience besides  the food sufficiency aspiration,” he said.

This partnership comes on the heels of the National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders programme, which seeks to contribute to the attainment of self-sufficiency in palm oil production, through climate-smart agriculture practices and sustainable intensification of farms and improving smallholders’ productivity and livelihood. It is funded by the Netherlands government. 

Presently, Solidaridad is implementing the National Initiatives for Sustainable and Climate-Smart Oil Palm Smallholders (NISCOPS) in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Enugu, and Kogi states while IDH, its partner, is implementing NISCOPS in Edo and Ondo states.