Agriculture ministers have reaffirmed the importance of increasing financial support for smallholder farmers to boost agricultural productivity through targeted subsidies, irrigation schemes, and other funding mechanisms. The ministers made their remarks during a panel discussion titled “Showcasing Current Results of Public Investment, De-risking Private Investment, and Creating Enabling Environments for Scaling Finance” at the Scaling Finance for Smallholder Farmers in Africa Conference, held on 17–18 March in Nairobi.
Kenya’s Agriculture and Livestock Development Cabinet Secretary, Mutahi Kagwe, emphasised that small-scale interventions—such as subsidies for seeds and fertilisers, alongside thorough soil analysis—are vital for enhancing the productivity of smallholder farmers.
Referring to Kenya’s fertiliser subsidy programme, Kagwe said: “The fertiliser subsidy has been pivotal and stems from a policy shift: don’t subsidise consumption—subsidise production. When you support production, output rises significantly, and the challenges are far fewer than when you subsidise consumption.”
He also stressed the importance of involving farmers in shaping subsidy policies to ensure they have the greatest possible impact.
Similarly, Mandla Tshawuka, Eswatini’s Minister of Agriculture, highlighted the role of subsidies in improving production and food security. He pointed to his government’s initiative, where farmers contribute 50 per cent of input costs, with the government covering the remainder.
“We focus on just one acre of land to grow maize and beans, and production has improved considerably,” he noted.
Tshawuka also acknowledged the African Development Bank’s assistance in building a dam across 10,000 hectares of land, providing smallholder farmers with irrigation. This has bolstered their resilience to climate change while enhancing agricultural yields.
Abubakar Kyari, Nigeria’s Minister for Agriculture and Food Security, underlined the crucial role of infrastructure in ensuring a smooth transition from production to consumption.
“Investing in water resources—such as constructing and maintaining dams—is essential for increasing agricultural productivity,” he stated.
He also highlighted Nigeria’s African Development Bank-funded Special Agro-Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) programme, launched to drive agricultural transformation through infrastructure development. The initiative focuses on strengthening value chains for key crops—including rice, cassava, ginger, and tomatoes—as well as livestock.
Each SAPZ will provide infrastructure (transport, power, water, and processing facilities), while also improving access to finance, markets, and technology transfer.
Dr Musa Kpaka, Sierra Leone’s Minister for Agriculture, pointed to matching grant schemes as an effective means of providing credit to smallholder farmers. Under this system, eligible farmers receive a one-off investment grant in the form of agricultural equipment, processing machinery, or other services. However, farmers must contribute at least 30 per cent of the required investment, either in cash or in kind, to qualify.
Guismala Hamza, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development of the Central African Republic, emphasised the value of organising smallholder farmers into cooperatives to improve their access to financing.
In his country, cooperatives can develop business plans and open accounts, enabling them to secure funds from lending institutions as well as government grants, such as one provided by the African Development Bank, he explained. He noted that this approach had proven successful in his country. The Bank grant he referenced was approved in 2022—a £4.3 million (US$5.39 million) facility aimed at supporting the production of an additional 32,000 tonnes of food and improving food security for 100,000 people in the Central African Republic.
