By Milcah Tanimu

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has unveiled its plans to support 600,000 farms in the northeast region of the country. The initiative, part of the Feed the Future Program, seeks to enhance financial inclusion and foster digital agriculture.

Mark Akpan, the Senior Program Advisor for Financial Services for Rural Resilience Activity, shared this announcement during a recent event in Abuja. The event, funded by USAID as part of the Feed the Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity, centered around the theme “Driving Tech-Enabled Solutions and Digital Innovations for Competitiveness and Inclusion at Marketplace.”

Akpan explained that this endeavor is designed to drive economic recovery and growth within conflict-affected communities in the economically disadvantaged states of Northeast Nigeria. The primary goal of the roundtable was to convene key stakeholders from the technology, financial, agricultural, and business development sectors to discuss how technology can enhance service delivery, particularly for those in remote communities during an era of increasing digitalization.

He expressed, “Our objective is to facilitate the development of innovative technologies that enable Nigerian citizens, especially those in rural communities, MSMEs, and smallholder farmers, to access services efficiently. We aim to address the current lack of access to digitally enabled products and services in these segments.”

“We anticipate that through the discussions held today, involving all the relevant market actors, we will collectively arrive at creative and sustainable solutions that can address challenges faced by businesses and marginalized regions such as NorthEast Nigeria,” he added.

Akpan outlined the program’s coverage area, which spans Adamawa, Gombe, Borno, and Yobe states, as well as Benue, Nasarawa, Kebbi, and Abuja. The initiative partners with the Central Bank of Nigeria and FinTech companies, along with financial service providers, to develop products tailored to the needs and capabilities of women and youths.

He emphasized that the three-year program, now in its third year, has thus far offered digital literacy, financial literacy, business development services, and capacity-building for youth and partner organizations in these regions.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Friday Okpara, the Director of Partnership and Coordination at the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), highlighted the changing landscape for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the Northeast. He mentioned that a survey conducted in 2020 by SMEDAN and the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics revealed a decline from 41 million to 39.7 million MSMEs due to the impacts of conflict, climate issues, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also noted that SMEDAN has been collaborating with Google on the “Digital Skills for MSMEs” program, which promotes digital skills for Nigerian MSMEs to support start-ups and entrepreneurs, particularly in digital marketing. The program offers both offline and online training platforms to enhance ICT skills among young entrepreneurs, thereby fostering business growth.