Vice President Kashim Shettima says the President Bola Tinubu administration is introducing single-window platforms for land registration, strengthening agricultural credit systems, expanding irrigation infrastructure, and scaling up mechanisation.

Mr Shettima said this in Abuja on Tuesday during the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) National and Subregional Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum.

He announced new incentives to boost agricultural investment under Mr Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, saying they are part of ongoing reforms to unlock Nigeria’s vast food production potential through new policies.

Mr Shettima stated that hunger poses a global security issue, adding that Nigeria must mobilise its strengths to secure a future of abundance.

“We must drive mechanisation to reduce drudgery and enhance productivity. We must strengthen the agricultural credit system to ensure capital flows to where it is needed most,” he said.

Mr Shettima described irrigation as a game-changer, observing that Nigeria has river basins and aquifers capable of irrigating over three million hectares, but currently uses less than ten per cent.

The vice president also assured investors that Nigeria’s policies are being re-engineered to attract capital through regulatory reforms, public-private partnerships, and agri-tech innovation.

According to him, Nigeria is open for business and ready to partner with relevant stakeholders and investors in implementing its national blueprint targeted at creating 21 million full-time jobs in rural and agrarian communities.

“While securing national food and nutrition sufficiency, the vehicle to this future is the quality of policies we have chosen to prioritise. At the top of these interventions stands our National Development Plan (2021–2025), which has set forth ambitious but achievable targets.

“This blueprint seeks to lift 35 million Nigerians out of poverty, create 21 million full-time jobs in rural and agrarian communities, and secure national food and nutrition sufficiency through deliberate and strategic investments in agriculture,” he added.

Earlier, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, highlighted key challenges and potential for investment across the agribusiness value chain.

He said a combination of Nigeria’s domestic market, large arable land, clement weather, and fast-growing digital economy presents unique opportunities for investment across the agribusiness ecosystem.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, stated that Nigeria’s economic potential remained largely untapped, particularly in agriculture and irrigation.

He noted that agriculture, particularly agribusiness, remains a pivotal component of Nigeria’s national development plan in the medium and long term, as well as the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu.

Demba Sabally, the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Security of The Gambia, commended the FAO for hosting the event and Nigeria’s leadership in agriculture.

He highlighted the country’s success stories in the rice and cassava value chains as worthy of emulation by countries in the sub-region and beyond.

The representative of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Hussein Gadain, commended Nigeria’s clear agricultural development priorities and described them as catalysts for transformative and sustainable growth within Africa’s agri-food systems.

(NAN)