The Project Coordinator of Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zone, SAPZ, Dr. Kabir Yusuf, has stated that domesticating production and processing of all agro-allied commodities is part of SAPZ’s targets to diversify Nigeria’s economy through agriculture.
Kabir disclosed this during the NIGERIA-IFAD Country Strategic Opportunities Programme (COSOP 2024-2029) Annual Results Review Workshop in Abuja on Thursday.
He said, “SAPZ encompasses the entire value chain, the production to processing. Under the initiative, we have three participants, IFAD, AfDB, and ISDB—all of which are co-financing SAPZ.”
Speaking further, Yusuf noted that the International Fund for Agricultural Development, IFAD, is working on production and productivity components of SAPZ while Islamic Development Bank Group, IsDB, helps in providing the infrastructure for value-added processing products.
The two major categories that SAPZ focuses on, he said, are: the commercial side and the smallholder aspect handled with IFAD.
“This means that while we are derisking the sector to attract investment towards a demand-driven approach, IFAD is also bringing in complementarity alongside productivity and production components.
“Whatever we are producing is not just for livestock but specifically for the agro-industries. And that’s what we did in Kano where we got the agro-industries to provide us with the specific varieties of commodities that the state needs,” he added.