NALDA unveils projects to address farmer-herder conflicts

The National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA) has announced a series of strategic projects aimed at transforming Nigeria’s agricultural sector, improving food security, and reintegrating displaced farmers into productive farming.

Speaking on the agency’s vision on Tuesday in his office in Abuja, Executive Secretary of NALDA, Cornelius Adebayo, emphasized that the authority’s goal is to create an enabling environment for private sector participation while supporting smallholder farmers.

To address recurring farmer-herder conflicts, land encroachment, and security challenges, NALDA is introducing the Renewed Hope Farm Settlements, where smallholder farmers will be clustered in designated areas.

These settlements will provide farmers with essential inputs, security, and training, while also reducing logistics and monitoring costs.

Adebayo explained, “By clustering farmers, we ensure their protection, enhance monitoring, and create a more structured agricultural system. Our role at NALDA is not to cultivate but to facilitate an environment where agriculture thrives as a profitable business.”

Nigeria has over three million displaced farmers, significantly affecting food production. To address this, NALDA is implementing the Renewed Hope Restoration Project, which aims to reintegrate these farmers into the economy.

“The President is committed to ensuring that displaced farmers return to their farmlands,” Adebayo noted. “Through this initiative, they will regain self-sufficiency, contribute to national food production, and even supply grains for strategic reserves and price control.”

This project is expected to support local and international food aid efforts, signaling Nigeria’s commitment to agricultural development across Africa.

Recognizing that some states, particularly Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom, have limited arable land, NALDA is expanding its focus to aquaculture.

“Nigeria has a fish supply deficit,” Adebayo stated. “We aim to encourage women and youth in coastal and riverine areas to engage in aquaculture, particularly tilapia and catfish farming.”

Under this initiative, NALDA will develop fish clusters, featuring earth ponds, cage farms, processing centers, packaging hubs, and cold storage facilities. This model will create hundreds of entrepreneurs and enhance Nigeria’s capacity for fish export, reducing reliance on imported tilapia.

To address seasonal fluctuations in vegetable prices, NALDA is promoting greenhouse farming under its Green Hope Project. The initiative aims to reduce the impact of disease outbreaks, dry season water shortages, and rising fuel costs for irrigation pumps.

NALDA is partnering with the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) to distribute solar-powered irrigation pumps, cutting down production costs.

The agency is also establishing vegetable clusters in high-consumption areas, including Epe-Sagamu Corridor, servicing Lagos, Ondo, Ogun, and Oyo states, FCT Cluster, serving Abuja and Nasarawa, and Port Harcourt-Abia Axis, an emerging cluster.

Additionally, NALDA is collaborating with the University of Abuja to deploy greenhouses on unused university land, integrating academic research and practical farming.

Adebayo stressed that agriculture must be treated as a business, not just an intervention program. To achieve this, NALDA is engaging institutional investors to provide funding for large-scale agricultural projects.

“We need to attract investors who see the value and profitability of agriculture,” he said. “By doing so, we can transition from traditional farming to modern, technology-driven agribusiness.”

With these four flagship projects—Renewed Hope Farm Settlements, Renewed Hope Restoration, Renewed Aqua Hope, and Green Hope, NALDA is set to transform Nigeria’s agricultural landscape, ensuring food security, job creation, and economic growth.

“Nigeria is serious about turning its agricultural challenges into success stories,” Adebayo concluded. “Through these initiatives, we are paving the way for a sustainable and profitable agricultural future.”

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