The Vice President of Nigeria, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has commended the activities of the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI), launched in 2016, stating that it has increased the number of participating blending plants across the country from four to 62.
The Vice President made this known in Abuja during the 2022 Feed Nigeria Summit, explaining that the initiative was launched to increase the production of NPK 20:10:10 fertilizer, disclosing that the total production since the inception of the initiative is now over 60 million 50-kg bags.
The project was designed to stimulate local production of NPK fertilizer by resuscitating moribund fertilizer plants, the operationalization of which would create direct and indirect jobs and enhance food security through enabling an increase in output/food production.
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From 2017 to 2020, the program was implemented by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority through its subsidiary, NAIC-NPK Limited. Following its notable successes and transformative impact over the period, Mr. President approved the restructuring of the program, starting in the 2021 cycle, to be owned by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated and rename it to PFI-NPK.
Osinbajo, who was represented at the event by Dr. Mohammad Abubakar, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, noted that the initiative was made possible through a partnership between the Federal Government and the African Development Bank Group, the Islamic Development Bank, and the International Fund for Agricultural Development.
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The Director-General, Feed Nigeria Summit Secretariat, Richard-Mark Mbaram, noted in his keynote address that the program was organized to galvanize stakeholders in the agricultural sector to chart the way forward for the industry.
Also present was Vice President, Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Apollos Nwafor, who pointed out that food security, must be treated as a national security issue, adding that a country that has achieved food security is nationally secure.
