The Bank of Agriculture has launched the 2026 wet season input disbursement under the Smallholder Farmer Input Support Programme in Katsina State, with plans to support cultivation across about 10,000 hectares through more than 1,000 farmer cooperatives.
The programme, implemented in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, is aimed at expanding smallholder farmers’ access to affordable agricultural inputs while modernising agricultural delivery systems.
According to a statement signed by the BOA and issued on Friday, participating farmers will each receive four bags of NPK fertiliser and two bags of urea, while about 150 farmers attended the Katsina flag-off as representative beneficiaries ahead of the nationwide disbursement.
The statement said the intervention would be delivered through the bank’s agricultural delivery framework in collaboration with the Nigeria Agribusiness Group, the umbrella body for the Farmer Aggregation Companies.
It added that the bank would leverage grassroots farmer data and field intelligence to deploy input loans, supported by a verification framework that includes farmer profiling, Bank Verification Number and Know Your Customer verification, GPS farm mapping and field-level validation.
Speaking on behalf of the Katsina State Governor, Dikko Radda, the Commissioner for Rural and Social Development, Prof. Abdulhamid Mani, said the initiative would strengthen agricultural productivity and food security.
He said, “Agriculture remains the backbone of Katsina State’s economy and the livelihood of thousands of our people. This intervention reflects the power of collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Bank of Agriculture and organised farmer groups to ensure critical inputs reach farmers when they need them most.
“By supporting cultivation across 10,000 hectares through a coordinated network of Farmer Aggregation Companies and farmer cooperatives, we are laying the foundation for improved productivity, stronger rural livelihoods and greater food security for our state and the nation.”
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Bank of Agriculture, Ayo Sotinrin, described the initiative as a more effective approach to implementing government-backed agricultural interventions.
He said, “This programme is more than the distribution of fertiliser—it demonstrates a smarter way of delivering agricultural interventions. By working closely with the National Agro Inputs Dealers/Buyers Group and Farmer Aggregation Companies, and leveraging verified farmer data and field intelligence, we are ensuring government support reaches genuine farmers quickly, transparently and at scale. That is how we build confidence in public interventions and deliver measurable impact where it matters most—on the farm.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria, Katsina State Chapter, Yau Gojo Gojo, welcomed the intervention, saying it would improve farmers’ productivity during the planting season.
He said, “For our farmers, timely access to fertiliser is essential to a successful planting season. This support will enable more farmers to cultivate their land with confidence, improve yields, and strengthen household incomes. We commend the Bank of Agriculture and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security for working with organised farmer structures to ensure these inputs reach genuine producers at the right time.”
The bank added that disbursement to participating Farmer Aggregation Companies and their farmer cooperative networks had commenced and would continue across beneficiary communities in line with the wet season planting calendar to ensure farmers receive the inputs during the peak planting period.
The latest intervention follows the Bank of Agriculture’s nationwide rollout of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Fund, which commenced in late June with the distribution of fertilisers, maize seeds and crop protection products to about 500,000 smallholder farmers across more than 20 states. The programme is expected to support the cultivation of about 520,000 hectares of farmland and generate an estimated 2.6 million tonnes of additional food to boost national food security.
Earlier this week, the programme was extended to Gombe State, where 5,642 smallholder farmers benefited from the intervention. The Bank of Agriculture said the initiative is designed to ultimately reach two million farmers nationwide by providing farm inputs, financing, extension services, aggregation and structured market opportunities under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
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