Food security: Nigeria, Brazil sign $1.1bn agreement on food production  

Nigeria and Brazil, on Monday – yesterday, March 17 –  signed the commercial phase of the 1.1 billion dollars Green Imperative Project (GIP) to boost agricultural productivity and enhance private-sector investment in Nigeria.

The GIP is the largest agricultural project in Africa which priotises the development of sustainable, low-carbon agriculture, and aims to develop structural conditions to boost food production in Nigeria in an efficient and competitive manner.

It would be recalled that the 1.1 billion dollars GIP 1 was signed in 2018, while the 4.3 billion dollars phase 2 of the project and the $2.5 billion JBS were signed in Brazil during President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s visit to that country in 2024.

Speaking at the signing of the commercial phase of the GIP 1, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Vice-President Kashim Shettima said it is part of ongoing federal government’s efforts to enhance food security, stating that the GIP would leverage strategic opportunities to drive the nation’s economic growth and boost investors’ confidence.

“As this administration addresses the food security challenges, it is also delivering the 8-point agenda of President Bola Tinubu.

“It is imperative for us to synergise and use existing initiatives such as the GIP for the purposes of policy continuity, utilising or leveraging on strategic opportunities to drive our economic growth.

” This is with a view to enhancing investors’ confidence,” he said.

The GIP aligns with all the policies and programmes of the Tinubu administration and is expected to link small-scale farmers with all the agricultural value chains in the country, the VP added.

” We have been battling with low agricultural productivity for decades, and as I have always said, entrepreneurial capitalism is embedded in the very psyche of the average Nigerian.

“What our people are lacking is the wherewithal to be placed on the first ladder of development.

“This GIP is a wonderful opportunity because it seamlessly aligns with all the policies and programmes of this government.

“It’s a private sector driven initiative that targets the small-scale farmers and links them up with all the agricultural value chains,” Shettima said.

“To me, today, is a highpoint of our leadership in this country. Yes, we have started seven years behind, but the journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.

“2025 as rightly captured by His Excellency, the Brazilian Ambassador to Nigeria, is a milestone year in our journey towards food security and diversification of our nation’s economy,” the Vice President added, commending the Ministers of Agriculture, Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Foreign Affairs, Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, among others, for the success of the project.

Describing it as “a great honour” for Brazil to associate with the GIP, the Ambassador of Brazil to Nigeria, Carlos Garcete, said: ”Over the past seven years, there has been negotiation with the Nigerian government to obtain the necessary funds from private and regional development banks to finance this ambitious project, which is worth approximately 1.1billion dollars,” he said.

Garcete noted that the project would allow for the importation of agricultural equipment such as tractors, spare parts while assembling of the machines will be done in Nigeria with Nigerian labour.

“In the event of breakdown of any tractor, it will be possible to carry out any repairs here in Nigeria by the personnel who will be trained by GIP,” he stressed.

Jigawa Governor, Gov. Umar Namadi expressed delight at the signing of the agreement, noting that “for us at the sub-national level, it is a very important day for us because agriculture plays an important role in the economy of the country.”

“This commitment (of the FG to agricultural development) is demonstrated from the highest level, from the President to the Vice President and I think those of us at the sub-national have nothing to do except to toe the line,” he said

Gov. Hyacinth Alia of Benue said his State, being the food basket of the nation, is the happiest among the sub-nationals to witness the signing of the agreement.

He assured that the state government would give full support to the project.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, described the agreement as a good example of South-South Cooperation, between Nigeria and Brazil.

Both countries are very passionate about the project, considering what Brazil has achieved and how it turned a barren savannah into one of the most productive agricultural sites in the world, Tuggar added, according to a News Agency of Nigeria report.