Rice farmers to access Bill Gates’ $30bn agriculture grant

Alhaji Aminu Goronyo, National President of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), has said the association is making efforts to access the $30 billion agricultural grant contributed by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other donor agencies for rice production in Africa.


Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation pledged to commit $5 billion to the fund while OCP Africa, a fertiliser firm, pledged $150 million at the Green Revolution Forum tagged `New Push for Africa’s Agricultural Transformation,’ held in September 2016 in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Goronyo who was speaking in Abuja recently said the association has submitted a template that would qualify it for the grant and held a meeting with a team of experts from Geneva to explore how Nigerian farmers can access as much as $600 million.

He said the grant would cover investments in the rice value chain including production, processing, packaging and marketing. Goronyo listed other partners that contributed to the fund to include Grow Africa and John Kufor Foundation. “They said that Nigeria will get about 600 million dollars from the grant, it is going to be a partnership between RIFAN, government and the private sector.

“There is fear around the world that hunger will take over the world particularly Africa. That is why some agencies have decided to put their monies together to make sure that enough food is grown in Africa.


“That is why they want to bring the grant to Nigeria and other African countries so that we will be part of the beneficiaries toward achieving self sufficiency, particularly in rice. Although rice is mainly the key crop covered by the grant, other crops are still included in the grant,’’ he said.

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