The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security has inaugurated the Ministerial Technical Committee on the Renewed Hope Cooperative Reform and Revamp Programme (RH-CRRP) 2025–2030, aimed at strengthening the cooperative sector’s contribution to Nigeria’s socio-economic development and transforming the agricultural ecosystem.
The initiative is designed to reposition cooperatives as strategic drivers of inclusive growth, food security, rural development, and economic empowerment in line with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and national development priorities.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Head of Information Department, Ezeaja Ikemefuna.
Speaking during the inauguration ceremony held on Thursday at the ministry’s conference room in Abuja, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security and Supervising Minister of Cooperative Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Marcus Olaniyi Ogunbiyi, said the cooperative sector remains critical to Nigeria’s economic development.
According to him, cooperatives contribute significantly to food security, employment generation, economic growth, poverty reduction, and social cohesion across the country.
He described the programme as a national response to structural challenges confronting Nigeria’s cooperative and agricultural systems.
Abdullahi stated that addressing the sector’s weaknesses and strengthening its institutions would improve its overall contribution to national economic development and positively impact millions of Nigerians.
The minister outlined seven key strategic pillars of the RH-CRRP, including cooperative governance and institutional reforms, cooperative financing and the establishment of the Cooperative Bank of Nigeria, digitalisation and data management systems, capacity building and cooperative education, value chain development and market access, inclusion of youths, women and persons with disabilities, as well as strategic partnerships and global competitiveness.
He explained that the expected outcomes of the programme include enhanced food security, increased job creation, stronger economic growth, improved governance and management of cooperative societies, and greater access to funding, technology, and markets for cooperative groups.
He added that the initiative would also strengthen collaboration among cooperative societies, government institutions, private sector organisations, and civil society while promoting greater recognition of the role of cooperatives in Nigeria’s development.
The minister urged members of the technical committee to work diligently toward achieving the programme’s objectives in line with the administration’s agricultural transformation agenda and the target of building a one-trillion-dollar economy within the decade.
He further outlined the committee’s terms of reference, which include serving as the lead coordinating body for the RH-CRRP within the ministry, reviewing the Renewed Hope framework document and producing a zero draft, driving policy implementation and inter-ministerial collaboration, supporting Farmer Producer Cooperative Organisations and Comparative Cooperative Farms through input access and extension services, and facilitating the National Food System and Anchor Borrowers’ Programme.
In his welcome address, the Director of the Federal Department of Cooperatives, Dr Mohammed Abdulkadir, recalled that the 8th Regular Meeting of the National Council on Cooperative Affairs approved the establishment of the RH-CRRP as Nigeria’s official framework for cooperative transformation, digitalisation, and economic revitalisation.
He noted that the council meeting, themed “Revitalising Nigeria’s Cooperative Sector: A Catalyst for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable National Development Under the Renewed Hope Agenda,” also approved the formation of the ministerial technical committee to coordinate policy and programme implementation within the ministry.
The inaugurated committee comprises representatives from several departments and agencies under the ministry, including the Federal Departments of Agriculture, Agricultural Extension, Rural Development, Horticulture, Agricultural Business Management, Planning and Policy Coordination, Food and Strategic Reserve, Agricultural Mechanisation, and Agricultural Data and Analytics.
