NAMEL pushes for rural agricultural development

The Nigerian Agricultural Mechanisation & Equipment Leasing Company (NAMEL) has organised a high-level stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting aimed at revolutionising rural agriculture development.

AMEL, during the meeting held recently, also launched the Resilient Agricultural Funding Framework (RAD-C) in collaboration with Harvest Field, SEEDCO, OCP, National Agricultural Insurance Corporation (NAIC), NFM, AFEX, and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), among others.

Speaking on the initiative, Ahmed Adekunle, CEO of NAMEL, noted that the RAD-C is a solution that creates room for seamless agricultural mechanisms.

“The RAD-C is structured in a manner that makes it possible for a non-agricultural person to invest in agriculture and succeed tremendously,” Adekunle said.

The launch of RAD-C will aim to spark the creation of a special purpose vehicle (SPV) that operates through a significant coordinating platform, bringing together suppliers of farm inputs, farm machinery, financial institutions, and smallholder farmers to leverage existing interventions for agricultural development.

Read also: IFAD commends Kogi Agricultural Value-Chain Development Programme implementation

The intervention’s overall solution is based on a novel combination of Climate Smart Rural Agriculture Development (CS-RAD) and a Resilient Agriculture Funding structure, employing a contemporary strategy that includes both farmers and renowned top-tier players in the agricultural value chain.

This will provide a platform for effective crop production, high precision mechanisation, input supplies and application, farm management, marketing, and value addition.

Richard-Mark Mbaram, CEO of AgroNigeria, stated that the RAD-C is not a local or in-country intervention, but a continental activity that would be sold to the world.

“It is a continental activity to facilitate and consolidate agricultural transformation for global impact and will feature prominently at this year’s Africa Agriculture Dialogue, taking place as part of the global Borlaug dialogue in Des Moines, Iowa,” Mbaram said.

The event brought together recognised and emerging world-class supply chain managers and service providers, as well as agro-input companies on land development, agricultural mechanisation, input supply, extension, farm management, logistics, marketing, crop insurance, agricultural finance, communication and farmers onto a single platform.