The United Kingdom has announced a $7.5 million debt investment aimed at enhancing agricultural productivity and climate resilience among smallholder farmers in Northern Nigeria, a region that remains the country’s breadbasket yet one of its most vulnerable to climate change.

The funding, which flows through British International Investment (BII) to the agritech enterprise Babban Gona, is expected to reach up to 140,000 farmers by 2029. It is aimed at dismantling structural barriers that have long constrained rural farmers—limited access to finance, weak input supply chains, inadequate agronomic training, and unreliable market access.

At its core, the initiative is also about future-proofing Nigeria’s food supply against climate risks. Recurrent flooding, prolonged droughts, and shifting weather patterns have already eroded farm productivity and destabilized incomes across much of the north.

Florence Eshalomi, the UK’s newly appointed Trade Envoy to Nigeria, described the investment as a practical extension of the Enhanced Trade Partnership Agreement signed in 2024, which set the tone for a new era of economic collaboration under President Bola Tinubu’s government.

“These first steps show that the UK government is keen to build on our longstanding relationship and cultural ties,” Eshalomi told Nairametrics. “We’re committed to working closely with President Tinubu’s team to secure impactful trade deals and development partnerships.”

She emphasized the symbolic weight of recent engagements—the Foreign Secretary’s and Mayor of London’s visits to Nigeria, as well as the influence of the Nigerian diaspora in the UK—as signs of intensifying bilateral ties.

British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Jonny Baxter, underscored the need for urgent support for smallholder farmers, who are responsible for much of Nigeria’s staple food production.

“The UK is making this $7.5 million debt investment to address key challenges facing smallholder farmers, including poor access to finance, quality inputs, agronomic training, and reliable markets,” Baxter said.

Although northern states produce up to 60% of Nigeria’s maize, he noted that smallholders still face stubbornly low productivity, with climate change magnifying the risks of crop failure.

Struggles with Low Yields and Post-Harvest Losses

For Babban Gona’s Managing Director, Kola Masha, the scale of the challenge is both daunting and urgent. “Northern Nigeria accounts for 50–60% of the country’s maize production, yet smallholder farmers in the region continue to struggle with low yields and post-harvest losses of up to 30%,” Masha explained.

“These farmers operate on small plots with limited access to credit, quality inputs, and agronomic training. Climate risks are compounding these issues, threatening both food security and livelihoods.”

The UK’s capital injection will bolster Babban Gona’s AI-powered service platform, which offers farmers end-to-end solutions—ranging from credit and climate-smart training to improved seed and fertilizer access, as well as post-harvest support like storage and market linkage.

Trade Ties Beyond Agriculture

The investment also fits into a wider story of deepening UK-Nigeria trade relations. In July, the Mayor of London’s office unveiled plans to address long-standing financial bottlenecks that Nigerian firms face when seeking to expand operations in Britain.

During a recent trip to Lagos, Deputy Mayor of London Howard Dawber identified banking access as a major obstacle. Many Nigerian businesses, despite proven credibility and strong balance sheets, continue to face hurdles in opening accounts in London.

He pledged to work with UK regulators to explore flexible risk assessments and technical fixes that could remove these barriers and allow legitimate firms to conduct cross-border business more seamlessly.

To many in Nigeria, the UK’s investment is more than just agricultural financing—it is a signal of renewed external confidence in the country’s private sector at a time when food security is fragile and the climate crisis is accelerating. It also represents a model of how international trade, development priorities, and local entrepreneurship can converge to produce solutions with long-term economic impact.

If successful, Babban Gona’s expansion could help stabilize food prices, reduce rural poverty, and shield vulnerable farmers from environmental shocks, while giving UK-Nigeria relations fresh momentum built on shared development goals.