Propcom+, an agricultural climate change programme, will transform the rural economy of Nigeria by changing the approach to agriculture, considering the effects of Climate change, Dr. Adiya Ode, Team Leader of Propcom+, disclosed in her keynote address at the agriculture and climate change initiative media roundtable in Abuja on Thursday.

According to her, the key objective of the programme is to change the approach to agriculture, ensuring people are resilient enough to adapt their livelihood strategies to climate change.

Dr. Ode highlighted that the programme focuses on addressing various challenges in agriculture, including market and policy issues and lack of skills.

“We want to address the bad areas of agriculture. Those bad areas could be market-based, policy-based, or absence of skills,” she said.

“One of the key issues that were considered while setting up Propcom+ is climate change. There is also a high percentage of malnutrition in children under five years of age and even adults.”

She addressed the issue of conflicts in Nigeria, highlighting the need to find a solution to the problem. According to her, these conflicts arise from differences in opinion over how natural resources are managed.

Speaking on the empowerment of women, Dr. Ode stressed the need to address the systemic barriers that prevent women from fully participating in economic activities. “We also recognize the extent to which women in Nigeria are excluded from participating in resource-building activities, so we want to address that. We are very upfront with that ambition, so 50% of our beneficiaries have to be women.

“Running from 2023 to 2030 with a £95 million budget, the programme aims to support 4.1 million SMEs and improve the incomes of 3.79 million smallholders. By 2030, the incomes of four million Nigerians are expected to improve, with at least two million of them being women,” she said. 

The programme plans to leverage at least £204 million in private investment in Nigeria, and its success will be measured by how much is achieved. The mandate focuses on the northeast of Nigeria, specifically in Kano, Kaduna, and Jigawa states, where Propcom+ operates within a neutral accountability framework with the government.

“We will be working in those three states alongside other FCDO programs. We will also be working together to bring the full menu of FCDO upgrades to those states. And we have agreed on a neutral accountability framework, a framework in which the government also commits to some actions and FCDO monitors this.”

Dr Ode said in other states such as Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, and Plateau, where such frameworks do not exist, the efforts will focus on the private sector.

She however noted that Propcom+ will engage with local governments to address policy discontinuities that hinder private sector activities.

“For instance, we will be working with the Gombe State government to define their agricultural policies.

We will also work in the South. Edo State is the first state where we engaged. We will also be working with Ekiti, Cross River, and Enugu states, but all our work in the South will be related to sustainable land use, specifically forestry management.

“We will be working with communities, and working with the private sector, to ensure that the forest resources are sustainably managed for the benefit of the communities who depend on these resources. So we use a market systems development approach,” she stated.

Dr. Ode explained that Propcom+ tries to build incentives within the market that enable market actors to function in a way that benefits the poor. She emphasized that often, the poor are excluded, but they participate in the market as producers, consumers, service providers, and suppliers.

“Our approach means that we will work with market actors, with market facilitators – we will not necessarily be going to the farmers and giving them money or resources, but we will work with the people and the organizations who determine how the farmers can get benefit from their work, access to finance for their farms, sell their products and access fertilizers for their farms,” she said.

Propcom+ also works to ensure that farmers can sell their produce at a price that considers their investment, allowing them to live with dignity from their work. The efforts include engaging in dialogue with market actors, removing barriers, derisking investments, providing information, and working on policy bottlenecks to support new, beneficial policies.

Propcom+ represents UKAid’s new flagship rural and agricultural market development programme, aimed at supporting economic growth in conflict and climate-affected regions in Nigeria. By 2030, Propcom+ aims to have significantly improved the livelihoods of millions of Nigerians, particularly women, through resilience and sustainable market development.