By Emma Ujah, Abuja Bureau Chief
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a major overhaul of the Agricultural Credit Guarantee Scheme Fund (ACGSF), unveiling a new strategic direction aimed at expanding credit access to smallholder farmers and accelerating national food security efforts.
Speaking in Abuja at the inauguration of the reconstituted ACGSF Board, CBN Governor, Mr. Olayemi Cardoso, described the revamp as “a new dawn” for agricultural financing. He said the initiative reflects the Federal Government’s renewed commitment to reposition agriculture as a driver of inclusive growth, rural development, and economic diversification.
Cardoso noted that the ACGSF-established in 1977-remains one of the country’s most impactful development finance tools. Yet, despite employing nearly two-thirds of Nigeria’s labour force and contributing over 20 per cent to GDP, the agric sector continues to receive less than five per cent of total bank credit. This structural mismatch, he said, has stunted the potential of millions of farmers for decades.
The CBN governor stressed that the agricultural landscape has evolved far beyond subsistence farming, now governed by integrated value chains, technology, climate risks and a growing agritech ecosystem. In line with these realities, he said the Scheme must transform into a dynamic, data-driven institution capable of supporting modern agriculture.
He highlighted the 2019 amendment that expanded the Scheme’s share capital from N3 billion to N50 billion and broadened its operational scope. One of the notable enhancements, he added, is the inclusion of farmers’ representatives on the new Board-an “inclusive and strategic” move to ensure policies are grounded in real sector needs.
Cardoso emphasised that the central objective of the revamp is to unlock affordable credit for smallholders who account for 90 per cent of the nation’s agricultural output but remain underserved due to limited collateral, poor credit history and weak access to financial services.
He urged the Board, chaired by Dr. Olusegun Oshin, to design products tailored to women, youth and other underserved groups while leveraging fintechs, microfinance banks and cooperatives to deliver innovative lending models. He also called for the deployment of technology-from satellite imagery to digital dashboards-to track loan utilisation and ensure measurable impact.
Dr. Oshin welcomed the reforms and advocated further expansion of the Fund to meet the scale of investment required for meaningful sectoral transformation.
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