The Federal Government has announced plans to provide up to two billion naira in financing to each of 40 tertiary institutions to establish commercial farms and boost food production.

The initiative is also aimed at creating employment opportunities, strengthening agricultural entrepreneurship and reducing the dependence of universities and other higher institutions on government funding.

Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, disclosed this during a meeting with heads of selected institutions and the management of the Bank of Agriculture to discuss the implementation of the Renewed Hope Tertiary Agricultural and Entrepreneurship Programme.

Alausa said the programme was designed to mobilise more than 500,000 hectares of underutilised land across tertiary institutions for commercial agricultural production, research and enterprise development.

He explained that participating universities, polytechnics and colleges of education would be expected to provide about 1,000 hectares each, while institutions with smaller landholdings could also qualify based on the viability of their business proposals.

Under the arrangement, each participating institution would establish a limited liability company to partner with the Bank of Agriculture, which would provide between one billion and two billion naira in financing for agricultural production and related inputs.

The minister said the initiative would address the underutilisation of agricultural land in tertiary institutions through access to funding, machinery, technical expertise and institutional support.

He added that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund had approved previous interventions of one billion naira for some institutions and two billion naira for others.

Alausa also disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Education had earmarked 20 billion naira in its capital budget to support 20 tertiary institutions under the agricultural development initiative.

On mechanisation, he said participating institutions would have access to 10 tractors each at significantly reduced costs through the government’s agricultural mechanisation programme.

To ensure market access for farm produce, the minister said arrangements would be made with produce aggregators to purchase harvested crops, while measures would be introduced to minimise post-harvest losses.

He noted that the programme would extend beyond primary agricultural production to processing and other agro-allied businesses, creating a sustainable agricultural value chain around participating institutions.

Alausa said students, unemployed graduates, alumni, academic and non-academic staff, as well as members of host communities, would be encouraged to participate in the commercial farming activities under the supervision of lecturers and agricultural experts.