By Joseph Erunke, Abuja
The Federal Government has partnered with the Bank of Agriculture, BOA, to transition millions of vulnerable Nigerians from dependence on humanitarian assistance to sustainable livelihoods through access to agricultural finance, productive assets, skills and enterprise opportunities.
The partnership was formalised through a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, between the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction and the BOA.
The initiative is designed to link beneficiaries of government’s social protection programmes with agricultural financing, inputs, value-chain opportunities and other interventions aimed at increasing their productivity and incomes.
Speaking at the signing of the agreement, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction, Dr Bernard Doro, said the National Social Register contains information on about 20 million vulnerable households, representing approximately 80 million individuals.
Doro described the database as the largest of its kind in Africa, adding that more than 10 million individuals captured in the register had so far been validated with their National Identification Numbers, NIN.
He said the database would provide government and development partners with a credible platform to identify beneficiaries and tailor interventions to their specific needs rather than relying on blanket programmes.
“We have something to bring to this partnership, and you too have something definitely to bring,” Doro said, emphasising the complementary roles of the ministry and the BOA.
The minister explained that inclusion in the National Social Register followed a process involving vulnerability assessments, community-based targeting, data collection, verification and analysis.
He said community participation was essential because poverty manifests differently across regions and communities, making local knowledge important in identifying vulnerable households.
Doro added that the subsequent validation of beneficiaries through NIN further strengthened the credibility of the register by ensuring that those captured were real and identifiable individuals.
According to him, the Federal Government is now seeking to use the verified data to connect vulnerable Nigerians with opportunities that can improve their economic circumstances.
He said the partnership was also part of the ministry’s broader reforms aimed at reducing duplication, wastage and leakages in humanitarian interventions while ensuring that government resources deliver measurable results.
Doro said the ministry’s One Humanitarian, One Poverty Response System, OHOPRS, was designed to promote a coordinated approach to humanitarian response and poverty reduction.
He explained that the collaboration with BOA would help translate the reforms into practical economic opportunities by connecting verified vulnerable Nigerians with agricultural finance, productive inputs, enterprise development and livelihood restoration programmes.
Under the agreement, the two institutions will collaborate in areas including poverty reduction, agricultural financing, humanitarian interventions, social investment, financial inclusion, women’s economic empowerment, youth development, climate resilience, skills acquisition, rural development, food security, digital financial services, value-chain development and enterprise development.
The initiative is expected to bridge the gap between social protection and economic empowerment by helping vulnerable households transition gradually from short-term assistance to productive economic activities.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of BOA, Ayodeji Oludare, said the bank was prepared to provide the financial and technical support required to improve the productivity and earning capacity of beneficiaries.
He said the support could include agricultural inputs such as fertiliser and seeds, as well as financing and other interventions designed to increase productivity.
Oludare disclosed that the bank could also develop economic profiles for participating farmers to enable it understand their activities and establish appropriate credit-scoring mechanisms that would improve access to finance.
He stressed that BOA’s commitment would extend beyond a single intervention, noting that the bank would continue to explore additional funding opportunities and expand the partnership to make it a sustainable solution for vulnerable Nigerians.
Under the MoU, the ministry will facilitate access to eligible beneficiaries, coordinate relevant humanitarian and social protection programmes, engage government institutions and other stakeholders, provide policy guidance and support implementation.
BOA, on its part, will develop financing interventions, agricultural financing solutions, financial inclusion initiatives, value-chain financing and financial products tailored to the needs of vulnerable groups.
The bank will also provide financial advisory and technical expertise and participate, where appropriate, in programme implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
The partnership is also expected to replace the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to social intervention with a data-driven beneficiary profiling system.
Through the system, beneficiaries can be assessed based on their economic activities, circumstances and specific needs, enabling financing, inputs and livelihood interventions to be matched more accurately with those who require them.
The agreement could also facilitate the mobilisation of additional resources from development partners, donor agencies, private-sector organisations and multilateral institutions to scale successful programmes.
The post FG, BOA partner to lift 80m vulnerable Nigerians out of poverty appeared first on Vanguard News.