Bank of Agriculture Launches Farm Input Distribution for 15,000 Taraba Smallholder Farmers

The Bank of Agriculture, working through its partner Japtini Food and Retail Company Limited, formally launched the 2026 farming season input distribution in Taraba State on Tuesday, bringing agricultural support directly to smallholder farmers in Jalingo under the Federal Government's Renewed Hope Smallholder Support and Value Chain Programme.

The flag-off ceremony was attended by the Emir of Jalingo, state officials, and representatives of the Bank of Agriculture, with the Bank's Managing Director Ayo Sotinrin speaking through the North-East Zonal Head of Finance, Hajiya Hauwa Sule Garba.

The programme is not a grant. It is a structured agricultural loan delivered through Farmers Aggregation Companies, with inputs rather than cash going directly to farmers. Those inputs include fertilizers, agrochemicals, and improved high-yield seedlings, the kind of package that can meaningfully shift a smallholder's output if it is used correctly and on time.

In Taraba State specifically, the Bank of Agriculture is providing loans to close to 15,000 farmers through Japtini. Nationally, the numbers being cited are significant: the programme aims to reach two million smallholder farmers across Nigeria, with a target of more than 10 million bags of fertilizer. So far, over 200,000 farmers have received funding, 16,470 metric tonnes of improved seeds have been distributed, and more than 1.1 million bags of fertilizer have gone out across the country.

Those are large numbers. They are also the kind of numbers that need to be tracked carefully, because the gap between inputs distributed and inputs that actually made it to farmers and were used productively is where agricultural programmes in Nigeria have historically lost their impact.

Sotinrin's message to farmers was direct.

"Investing in farmers is investing in Nigeria's future. Farm with everything you have. Apply these inputs correctly, and let your harvest demonstrate that when Nigerian farmers receive the right support, they deliver exceptional results," he said.

The Emir of Jalingo, Alhaji Tukur Abba Tukur, welcomed the intervention and pointed to something worth noting: many of the beneficiaries in Taraba are rural women. Their inclusion matters for reasons that go beyond symbolism. In northern Nigerian households, women's income tends to be more reliably spent on food and children's welfare than men's income. A programme that reaches female farmers is likely to produce more distributed food security benefits than one that does not.

The Emir also put farmers and programme managers on notice about diversion, the longstanding problem where agricultural inputs meant for farmers end up being resold in open markets.

"We are confident our farmers will reciprocate this gesture with hard work and bumper harvests," he said, while urging beneficiaries to use the inputs appropriately.

Iliyasu Mustapha, Taraba State Lead for Japtini, addressed that same concern from the distribution side. He stressed that accountability and transparency from recipients would determine the programme's long-term viability, and committed his organisation to ensuring inputs reach legitimate farmers.

One element of the Bank of Agriculture Taraba State smallholder farmers programme that distinguishes it from previous input distribution efforts is the offtaker arrangement. Beyond providing inputs, the programme connects participating farmers to guaranteed buyers for their harvest, giving them a market before they even plant.

That is not a small thing. One of the persistent failures of Nigerian agricultural support programmes is that farmers receive inputs, produce more, and then cannot sell at a price that makes the investment worthwhile. Markets are thin in rural areas, storage is poor, and middlemen often capture most of the value. A built-in offtaker does not solve all of those problems, but it addresses the most immediate one: where does the harvest go?

If the offtaker relationships hold and farmers actually receive fair prices at the end of the season, the income impact of this programme could be real and measurable. That would also make it more likely that farmers repay their input loans, which is what allows the system to be sustainable rather than a one-cycle subsidy.

The Bank of Agriculture Taraba State smallholder farmers launch is a promising start. The programme design is better than many predecessors, the scale is meaningful, and the inclusion of rural women and market linkages suggests lessons have been learned from what failed before.

But Taraba State also has logistical challenges. Some of the areas where farming happens are not easy to reach, especially during the rains. Input diversion to open markets is a real risk that the Emir was right to name publicly. And loan recovery at the end of the season will test whether this model is genuinely sustainable or whether it becomes another cycle of input distribution that the Bank absorbs as a loss.

The harvest, literally and figuratively, will tell the story.