More than 500,000 Nigerian farmers are expected to benefit from a new commodity pricing scheme aimed at guaranteeing better returns for farm produce and reducing losses caused by volatile market prices.
The Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) Programme was launched by the Nigerian Commodity Exchange (NCX) in partnership with the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) and the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN).
The initiative also targets the securing of 400,000 metric tonnes of grains and is expected to reach an estimated 11.25 million households across the country.
NCX Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Anthony Atuche, announced the programme in a post on his official X handle, saying it would provide farmers with greater income security while improving the movement of agricultural commodities from farms to markets.
According to him, the scheme is designed to address challenges that continue to undermine farmers’ earnings, including post-harvest losses and unfair pricing practices by middlemen.
Atuche said the programme would leverage structured warehousing and transparent commodity trading to provide farmers with more predictable market opportunities and fairer returns.
“Under His Excellency President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, we are targeting direct, measurable impact: 500,000+ farmers protected with fair price guarantees, 400,000 metric tonnes of grains secured, and 11.25 million households reached nationwide,” he said.
He added that NCX was committed to developing a commodity trading system capable of supporting food security, rural prosperity and sustainable growth in the agricultural sector.
The development comes amid renewed efforts by the Federal Government and BOA to expand financing and boost production among smallholder farmers, particularly in the grain sector.
Recently, BOA introduced the Renewed Hope Smallholder Agricultural Financing Programme, which seeks to increase Nigeria’s annual grain production from about 11 million metric tonnes to 25 million metric tonnes through subsidized inputs and affordable credit.
Under the programme, farmers will receive fertilizers, certified hybrid seeds and other inputs through BOA’s lending facility at an interest rate of nine per cent, rather than as grants.
The bank selected 20 farm aggregators from more than 1,240 applicants for the pilot phase, with about 500,000 farmers expected to benefit during the current farming season. Coverage is projected to expand to two million farmers next year and eventually reach five million nationwide.
The initiatives form part of broader government efforts to improve agricultural financing, strengthen market access and increase food production, following the approval earlier this year of a N250 billion intervention facility for BOA to provide affordable credit to smallholder farmers.
