By Lanre Shodimu
As parts of efforts to engage youths in agricultural knowledge and productivity, the federal government has unveiled a N2 billion-per-institution agricultural financing package for 40 tertiary institutions to transform over 500,000 hectares of underutilised land into commercial farms, boost food production and create jobs for Nigerian youths.The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, made this known during a meeting with heads of the selected institutions and the management of the Bank of Agriculture (BOA) to discuss the implementation of the Renewed Hope Tertiary Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Programme.
Alausa said the programme was designed to end the longstanding underutilisation of agricultural land in tertiary institutions by providing the financing, machinery, technical expertise and institutional support needed to make farming commercially viable.
Guardian online of 4th November , 2026, reports that BOA under the initiative will provide between N1 billion and N2 billion to each participating institution to establish commercial farming operations, acquire agricultural equipment and strengthen production.
The minister said the programme was designed to end the longstanding underutilisation of agricultural land in tertiary institutions by providing the financing, machinery, technical expertise and institutional support needed to make farming commercially viable.
According to him, participating universities, polytechnics and colleges of education are expected to provide about 1,000 hectares each, though institutions with smaller landholdings could qualify based on the viability of their business proposals.
Each institution is also expected to establish a limited liability company to partner the BOA in managing its agricultural investments.
Furthermore, the Federal Ministry of Education has provided for N20 billion in its capital budget to support 20 tertiary institutions under the agricultural development initiative adding that the programme would build on previous interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), which approved N1 billion for some institutions and N2 billion for others.
