CBN Launches New Agric Credit Board to Tackle Food Insecurity

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has inaugurated a new Board for the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), aimed at improving access to affordable credit for farmers.

Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja on Tuesday, CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso said the Bank is determined to address decades of chronic underfunding in agriculture.

He noted that agriculture, despite contributing over 20% of GDP and employing nearly two-thirds of Nigerians, still receives less than 5% of total bank lending.
Cardoso said the sector cannot achieve food security or reduce import dependence without a more deliberate financing strategy.

“The new Board has therefore been tasked with transforming the ACGSF from a passive credit guarantor into a proactive driver of lending across the value chain”.
“Every hardworking farmer with a viable project should find in the ACGSF an enabling partner,” he said.

The Scheme is expected to deliver stronger results following its 2019 amendment, which increased its capital base from N3 billion to N50 billion and broadened its operational mandate.
According to him, a key governance reform is the inclusion of a representative of Nigerian farmers on the Board, an attempt to ensure that policies reflect real challenges facing smallholders who produce about 90% of the country’s food.

Cardoso explained that women and young farmers remains heavily excluded from agricultural finance, with data showing that nearly 60% of rural women lack access to mobile internet.

He urged the Board to work with microfinance institutions, cooperatives and FinTech’s to develop credit products tailored to underserved groups.

The Governor also unveiled a new monitoring framework driven by modern technology, including:
• satellite imagery to track crop performance
• digital dashboards for loan disbursement and repayment
• data-driven risk analysis to cut defaults

He said these tools will improve transparency and ensure that all guaranteed funds deliver tangible value on farms and in the marketplace.

The Apex Bank boss reaffirmed he’s commitment to making the ACGSF a key pillar of Nigeria’s agricultural transformation agenda, stressing that food security remains a national priority. “With today’s inauguration, we have renewed our commitment to a prosperous, food-secure Nigeria,” he said.

He congratulated the new Board members and urged them to deliver measurable results that will reshape agricultural financing in the years ahead.