The Bank of Agriculture (BoA) has launched a ₦200 billion Guaranteed Minimum Price (GMP) Programme aimed at protecting farmers from devastating price crashes and stabilising food prices across Nigeria.
The intervention, which is being implemented under the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, targets more than 500,000 farmers and 11.25 million households across the rice, maize and sorghum value chains.
BoA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Ayodeji Sotinrin, disclosed this on Tuesday at a media briefing in Abuja.
Sotinrin said the programme was introduced in response to the crisis experienced during the 2024/2025 farming season, when the prices of major cereals, including rice, maize and sorghum, fell below production costs, leaving farmers with heavy losses.
“As you know, 2024/2025 prices of most of our cereals crashed. Some of us are farmers. We lost a lot of money selling many thousands of naira below production cost.
“This administration has been proactive when it comes to agriculture. The Bank of Agriculture is government-owned, and through the Ministry, we have discussed the problems and proffered solutions,” he said.
₦200bn to guarantee farmers’ prices
Under the new mechanism, participating farmers producing maize and other targeted grains will receive a guaranteed floor price, offering them protection against sharp market declines.
Sotinrin explained that grains would be aggregated and stored in warehouses managed by the Nigeria Commodity Exchange (NCX).
He said NCX would issue warehouse receipts after verifying the quantity, specifications and quality of the commodities to ensure that only grains meeting the required standards entered the programme.
“This is not a programme for some farmers who are currently connected. It is a programme for all farmers in Nigeria to benefit from.
“This is what I call leadership — where government sees the problem in the sector, the debt of the farmer, and actually intervenes,” he said.
The BoA boss said the first phase of the programme would target the aggregation of at least one million tonnes of grains, directly benefiting hundreds of thousands of farmers and impacting more than 11.25 million households across the targeted value chains.
He stressed that grains purchased under the programme would not be allowed to rot in storage.
Rather, he said, the commodities would be strategically released into the market when necessary to moderate prices and strengthen Nigeria’s food reserves.
BoA opens scheme to genuine farmers
Sotinrin urged farmer associations, cooperatives and aggregators across the country to register with BoA and NCX to participate in the programme.
He described farmer associations as critical to the success of the intervention.
“The role of all farmer associations in Nigeria is very key to the success of this programme. Without you guys, it’s better we return the money to the President,” he said.
However, he clarified that associations would primarily facilitate access for their members rather than operate as commercial entities under the scheme.
According to him, BoA will work with farmer aggregation companies that purchase produce directly from farmers.
He said payments for commodities would go directly into farmers’ bank accounts through BoA’s technology platform, while aggregation companies would receive facilitation fees for their services.
“This is not for traders. It is for genuine farmers who planted and are suffering losses,” Sotinrin stressed.
AFAN backs programme
National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Mohammed Magaji Gettado, commended the initiative, saying the association had been advocating a guaranteed minimum price for farmers for years.
“We have been putting pressure on the government, appealing to the government to have the Guaranteed Minimum Price.
“I believe having the GMP will give our farmers a very good price. Without a good price, whatever you are doing will not continue,” Gettado said.
AFAN described the Federal Government’s GMP programme as a national expansion of the model and pledged to mobilise farmers across the 36 states for participation.
The programme is part of broader government efforts to de-risk agriculture, protect farmers’ incomes, stabilise food prices and develop stronger commodity markets.
Through the price-floor mechanism, the government hopes to provide farmers with more predictable income while creating a structured chain linking production, aggregation, storage and markets.
The scheme is also expected to strengthen strategic food reserves and contribute to greater stability in the prices of essential food commodities.
