Nigeria and other African countries are seeking major changes to how food security, agricultural enterprises and research are funded, as regional institutions work towards reducing reliance on slow emergency financing and unpredictable foreign support.
The proposed financing framework covers three major areas: a risk-financing mechanism for the ECOWAS Regional Food Security Reserve, increased lending by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) to small and medium-sized enterprises, and a continent-wide drive for governments to provide more reliable domestic funding for agricultural research, development and innovation.
The push comes amid worsening food insecurity across Africa and a significant shortage of funding for the agricultural sector.
A joint report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), World Food Programme (WFP) and African Union Commission (AUC), released on April 30, said the continent was still far from achieving Sustainable Development Goal 2, which targets the eradication of hunger.
The report estimated that more than 306 million Africans were undernourished in 2024, while approximately 892.7 million people, representing nearly 59 per cent of the continent’s population, experienced moderate or severe food insecurity.
It also found that loans to agriculture represented less than four per cent of total bank credit, while foreign direct investment in food and agriculture remained concentrated in a few areas and was often below $2 billion annually.
Small and medium-sized agricultural businesses were identified as particularly affected by the financing shortage. Many of these enterprises struggle to access loans because they are considered too large for microfinance institutions but too small to meet the requirements of traditional commercial banks.
The report recommended increased use of blended finance, affordable lending, climate finance and public-private partnerships to attract more investment into Africa’s agrifood sector.
Between 2020 and 2023, Africa recorded 99 blended-finance transactions in agrifood systems valued at a combined $3 billion, although the report noted that a significant portion of the funding went to larger companies.
ECOWAS Develops Risk-Financing Mechanism
In West Africa, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is working to address delays in mobilising funds when emergencies such as drought, floods, conflicts and disease outbreaks threaten food supplies.
Through its Regional Agency for Agriculture and Food (RAAF), ECOWAS has been developing a risk-financing mechanism for the Regional Food Security Reserve, with support from the World Bank under the West Africa Food System Resilience Programme.
The proposed mechanism is still under development and is not yet an operational emergency-financing facility. ECOWAS and its partners began examining its design and feasibility in 2025, while a meeting held in Lomé on July 29 and 30, 2026, focused on developing an operational framework for the proposed financing window.
The planned facility is expected to complement the physical food stocks already maintained under the Regional Food Security Reserve rather than replace them.
ECOWAS says the reserve has a cereal storage capacity of 63,711.10 tonnes and was deployed 18 times between 2017 and 2023 across six member states — Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Ghana, Mali, Niger and Nigeria.
The proposed financing mechanism could rely on measurable risk indicators to trigger the release of funds, potentially allowing quicker responses than conventional post-crisis assessments.
Feasibility studies have examined options such as insurance and other market-based risk-transfer instruments, while further work is expected to establish the indicators and data required to operate the system.
If implemented, the mechanism could help finance emergency interventions, including food assistance, once agreed risk thresholds are reached.
African Leaders Seek Sustainable Research Funding
While ECOWAS focuses on emergency financing, African policymakers and agricultural stakeholders are also pushing for more predictable funding for research and innovation.
At the 9th Africa Agriculture Science Week and 10th General Assembly of the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), held in Abuja from July 27 to 30, 2026, governments, researchers, farmers, agribusinesses, investors and development partners called for a more sustainable financing model for agricultural research, development and innovation.
The event was jointly organised by FARA, the Government of Nigeria and other African agricultural research institutions and partners.
The meeting produced the Abuja Clarion Call on Financing Agricultural Research, Development and Innovation in Africa.
The declaration urged African governments to gradually increase predictable domestic funding for agricultural research and strengthen Agricultural Development Funds and other long-term financing mechanisms.
It also proposed an African-led resource mobilisation strategy, including the creation of a continental endowment fund to provide a more sustainable source of funding for agricultural research and innovation.
The declaration further called for stronger public-private partnerships, blended financing and greater involvement of development finance institutions, commercial banks, philanthropic organisations and impact investors.
The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security was identified as having a key role in coordinating the African-led resource mobilisation effort.
The broader financing push is aimed at building more resilient agrifood systems, improving Africa’s capacity to respond to food emergencies and ensuring that agricultural research and innovation receive sustained funding to support long-term food security.
