{"id":27422,"date":"2025-03-31T13:49:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T13:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/?p=27422"},"modified":"2025-03-31T13:56:01","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T13:56:01","slug":"fg-commends-jica-for-%e2%82%a672-billion-agricultural-support-loan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/2025\/03\/31\/fg-commends-jica-for-%e2%82%a672-billion-agricultural-support-loan\/","title":{"rendered":"FG Commends JICA for \u20a672 Billion Agricultural Support Loan"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Government has lauded the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for its \u20a672 billion (12 billion Japanese Yen) emergency loan to boost Nigeria\u2019s agricultural sector under the <strong>National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari<\/strong>, disclosed this during a meeting with a <strong>JICA delegation<\/strong> led by <strong>Director-General Takao Shimokawa<\/strong> in Abuja. He stated that the funds would be deployed to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Enhance rice seed quality<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improve farm input delivery<\/strong>,<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strengthen extension services<\/strong>, and<\/li>\n<li><strong>Boost private sector involvement<\/strong> in agricultural input production.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>Focus on Rice Production &amp; Climate Resilience<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The minister highlighted that the <strong>rice seed production initiative<\/strong>, anchored at the <strong>National Cereal Research Institute (NCRI) in Badeggi, Niger State<\/strong>, aims to develop <strong>high-yield, disease-resistant rice varieties<\/strong> capable of withstanding climate challenges.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cWe are collaborating with the National Agricultural Seed Council (NASC) to improve the seed ecosystem,\u201d<\/em> Kyari said. He also noted that <strong>technology-driven extension services<\/strong>, including <strong>mobile apps for real-time weather and market updates<\/strong>, will empower farmers.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>JICA\u2019s Long-Standing Partnership<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The minister recalled JICA\u2019s <strong>Smallholder Horticulture Empowerment and Promotion (SHEP) project (2020\u20132024)<\/strong>, which benefited farmers in <strong>14 states<\/strong>, including <strong>Nasarawa, Benue, Osun, and Kebbi<\/strong>. He described the initiative as a <strong>bridge between research and practical farming<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Minister of State for Agriculture, Senator Abdullahi Sabi Aliyu<\/strong>, reiterated President Bola Tinubu\u2019s stance: <em>\u201cPlant the right seed, and you can feed the nation.\u201d<\/em> He stressed that <strong>quality seeds remain pivotal to solving Nigeria\u2019s food security challenges<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>JICA Reaffirms Commitment<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><strong>JICA\u2019s Director-General, Takao Shimokawa<\/strong>, confirmed the <strong>first loan disbursement<\/strong> and assured continued support for Nigeria\u2019s food security goals. He announced an upcoming <strong>grant for rice production machinery<\/strong>, with procurement set to begin soon.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cJICA remains fully committed to Nigeria\u2019s agricultural growth,\u201d<\/em> Shimokawa stated, emphasizing Nigeria\u2019s role as <strong>Africa\u2019s largest rice producer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The partnership between <strong>Nigeria and JICA<\/strong> seeks to foster a <strong>sustainable, resilient agricultural system<\/strong>, ensuring long-term <strong>food security and economic stability<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Federal Government has lauded the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for its \u20a672 billion (12 billion Japanese Yen) emergency loan to boost Nigeria\u2019s agricultural sector under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme and Agro-Pocket (NAGS-AP). Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed this during a meeting with a JICA delegation led by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27422","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27422","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27422"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27422\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27422"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27422"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techandbiz.com.ng\/tab-backup\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27422"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}