ActionAid raises transparency concerns over $134m NAGS-AP wheat intervention programme

ActionAid Nigeria has raised concerns over transparency, beneficiary targeting and implementation challenges in the Federal Government’s wheat intervention programme. It warned that structural bottlenecks are undermining efforts to reduce the country’s dependence on wheat imports.

The organisation made the observations in Abuja while presenting its assessment and community scorecard report titled: “Beyond the Official Narratives: ActionAid Nigeria Community Scorecard Report on the NAGS-AP Wheat Dry Season Farming Programme in Nigeria.”

The report examined the wheat component of the Agro-Pocket under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme-Agro Pocket (NAGS-AP) for the 2023/24 and 2024/25 dry-season farming seasons.

Presenting the findings, consultant researcher, Dr Tunde Saliman, said the country currently records an annual wheat demand of between five and six million metric tonnes, costing about $2 billion in imports each year, while domestic production stands at only about 125,000 metric tonnes.

He said the NAGS-AP wheat intervention, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB) with $134 million, was introduced to boost local production, reduce import dependence and support smallholder farmers through subsidised agricultural inputs.

However, Saliman said the assessment uncovered allegations of political interference in the beneficiary registration process, with non-farmers reportedly included on registration lists.

According to him, such practices distort programme targeting, deplete resources intended for genuine farmers and create opportunities for a secondary market in subsidised inputs.

He also noted that key programme documents, including monitoring and evaluation reports, budget implementation records and ward-level beneficiary lists, were not publicly accessible, making independent verification difficult.

Saliman further highlighted challenges faced by farmers during the redemption process, particularly those with limited digital literacy.

He said some farmers experienced network verification failures, lost redemption tokens or were assigned to incorrect redemption centres, with no effective mechanism available to resolve complaints.

To improve transparency and accountability, Saliman urged the AfDB and other development finance institutions supporting agricultural programmes to include publicly accessible information disclosure requirements within their financing frameworks.

He also recommended restructuring financing arrangements by increasing subsidy support from 50 per cent to 75 per cent for verified women farmers and smallholders, arguing that the existing arrangement leaves many vulnerable farmers unable to fully benefit from the intervention.

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The report further called on state governments to recruit and deploy more Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) extension agents, particularly women, to bridge knowledge gaps and provide farmers with technical support.

Speaking at the briefing, Deputy Country Director of ActionAid Nigeria, Suwaiba Muhammad-Dankabo, said the organisation undertook the assessment to determine whether the programme’s objectives were translating into measurable benefits for intended beneficiaries.

She noted that while Nigeria imports about 90 per cent of its wheat requirements, spending billions of dollars in foreign exchange annually, the intervention was designed to expand dry-season farming and strengthen domestic food production.

“When public funds of this scale are deployed, citizens have a right to know. Farmers have a right to know. It is the responsibility of civil society organisations like ours to ensure that official narratives are tested against the lived realities of people on the ground,” she said.

Muhammad-Dankabo acknowledged the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the NAGS-AP National Project Secretariat for engaging with the research process, stressing that the findings were presented in the spirit of accountability rather than confrontation.

According to the report, the wheat intervention demonstrates the Federal Government’s commitment to reducing import dependency but remains constrained by limited productivity gains, delayed input delivery, financial barriers facing smallholders and weak coordination among implementing institutions.

Among its recommendations, ActionAid called on the Federal Government to develop a national wheat seed multiplication strategy, introduce gender-sensitive agricultural financing mechanisms and establish a zonal framework for wheat production based on ecological suitability.

The organisation also urged NAGS-AP managers to publish ward-level beneficiary lists, deploy publicly accessible programme monitoring dashboards, improve ICT infrastructure during redemption exercises and investigate allegations of input diversion, adulterated agrochemicals and uncertified seeds.

It further recommended sanctions against agro-dealers found guilty of malpractice and greater awareness campaigns to improve farmers’ understanding of programme processes.

ActionAid urged state governments to strengthen extension services and recruit more field officers, while encouraging farmer groups to improve digital literacy among their members.

The organisation also called on civil society groups to utilise the Freedom of Information Act to demand accountability and sustain independent monitoring of public agricultural interventions.

Muhammad-Dankabo said ActionAid remained committed to amplifying the voices of smallholder farmers and urged the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the NAGS-AP Secretariat, the AfDB and other stakeholders to act on the report’s recommendations.

“The wheat farmers of Nigeria, especially women smallholders, deserve a programme that works. They deserve transparency, accountability and results,” she said.