The Federal Government has announced plans to provide up to ₦2 billion in financing to each of 40 tertiary institutions to establish commercial farms and boost food production across the country.
The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a meeting with heads of the selected institutions and the Bank of Agriculture.
The initiative is under the Renewed Hope Tertiary Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Programme.
Under the arrangement, participating institutions are expected to provide about 1,000 hectares of land each, while the Bank of Agriculture will provide between ₦1 billion and ₦2 billion to support farming activities and related investments.
The support will include tractors, improved seedlings, irrigation equipment, fertilisers and technical assistance.
The government will also work with produce aggregators to provide markets for harvested crops and reduce post-harvest losses.
Alausa said students, unemployed graduates, alumni, staff and members of host communities would participate in the programme.
He added that the initiative would promote agricultural entrepreneurship, create jobs and enable institutions to generate revenue from commercial farming.
