The Bank of Agriculture (BOA) has unveiled a strategic roadmap to modernise its operations, deepen financial inclusion and accelerate agricultural transformation in support of the Federal Government’s food security agenda.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Ayodeji Sotinrin, disclosed the initiative in a statement issued on Friday, saying the institution is implementing operational reforms and forging strategic partnerships to improve the delivery of agricultural intervention programmes across the country.
According to the statement, the BOA is strengthening its agricultural financing framework by expanding collaborations with state-level delivery platforms, licensed input suppliers and international development partners.
A major component of the strategy is a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which aligns the bank’s revitalisation agenda with the UNDP’s Integrated Smart States Programme.
The bank said the partnership is expected to transform Nigeria’s agricultural sector into an investment-ready ecosystem capable of attracting blended and climate finance.
It added that the collaboration will also support the One Million Hectare Tree Crop Initiative, a presidential priority aimed at boosting commercial agriculture, creating jobs and expanding non-oil exports.
Sotinrin said the bank’s vision is to deploy capital more efficiently while bringing more farmers into the formal financial system.
“Our vision for the Bank of Agriculture is to deploy capital in an intelligent, smart, and highly efficient way to reposition the institution as a catalyst for food security and rural prosperity. We are bringing everyone into the financial net, especially the youthful population of farmers in our hinterlands, to create a new, resilient food system for Nigeria,” he said.
The BOA also announced the introduction of a strengthened verification framework to eliminate fraudulent beneficiaries and ensure agricultural interventions reach genuine farmers.
According to the bank, the enhanced credit profiling process incorporates Bank Verification Number (BVN) checks, Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures and GPS farm mapping to improve transparency and accountability in loan disbursement.
The National President of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Muhammad Magaji, welcomed the verification measures while calling for quicker loan approvals to align with planting seasons.
“The All Farmers Association of Nigeria recognises the critical role the Bank of Agriculture plays in shielding our farmers from exorbitant commercial interest rates. While we continuously advocate for faster disbursement cycles to match planting seasons, we stand with the BOA on the need for strict verification,” Magaji said.
“It is the only way to ensure that these interventions reach the genuine smallholder farmers who actually till the soil, rather than ‘political farmers.’ We remain committed to working closely with the BOA management to fine-tune this delivery framework,” he added.
As part of its modernisation drive, the bank said it is deploying digital farmer management systems, agency banking services and solar-powered infrastructure across its 110 branches to improve financial service delivery in rural communities.
The BOA added that recent ICT infrastructure support from the UNDP will strengthen its digital transformation efforts and enable it to provide financial and extension services directly to farmers.
The bank said it will continue engaging commodity associations, verified cooperatives and other agricultural stakeholders through town hall meetings and working groups to identify genuine beneficiaries and support the implementation of the National Agri-food System Investment Plan.
