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The Federal Government ( FG) on Wednesday this week has approved the release of Fifty Billion Naira ( N50bn) for the development of the seeds value chains system towards food security.
The N50b was a response of the FG to the section 45 of the National Agricultural Seeds Council ( NASC) act which demands establishment of the said amount fund that will be domiciled in the Bank of Industry ( BOI) to support private sector driven proactive seed industry to ensure availability to farmers.
This N50B fund approval was announced by the Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Kashim Shetima at the 8th editions of SeedConnect Africa conference held on Wednesday in Abuja.
The VP who was represented by his Senior Special Adviser on Food Security, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma described quality seeds as the first technology needed to unlock Nigeria's full agricultural potential to food sustainability adding that the " new fund will give a 6% concession repayment to support crops breeding innovation, boost early generation seed production, scale up commercial seeds enterprises, and ensure farmers nationwide access to certified high quality seed"
The VP Shettima said that the newly introduced Seeds for Renewed Hope Program ( S-RHP) of fund support for productivity would overhaul the entire seed value chains from research to distribution while expanding farmers' access to high performing and climate resilient varieties.
He NASC FG, Dr.Fatuhu Mohammed used the occasion to showcase some of the outstanding achievements of the council on the globe with a total export earnings surpassing $8 million in 2023 alone.
Dr. Fatuhu Mohammed pointed at the application of a new regulatory instrument design to streamline varieties registration with third party certification system.
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