- The UK launches Propcom+, a £95 million eight-year programme supporting climate-resilient agriculture and forestry in Nigeria
- Propcom+ aims to assist 4 million people, with a focus on women, adopting sustainable agricultural practices and protecting natural ecosystems
The United Kingdom (UK) has announced the launch of Propcom+. This programme will support climate and growth by addressing environmental, social, and economic challenges in Nigeria’s food and land-use systems.
According to a statement issued by the British High Commission in Abuja, the announcement was made on Wednesday by UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly.
A £55 million contract and a £2.89 million grant have been announced as part of the £95 million Propcom+ eight-year UK International Climate Finance programme, which aims to support climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture and forestry that benefits people, the climate, and nature.
The programme aims to assist over 4 million people, half of whom will be women, in adopting and scaling sustainable agricultural practices that increase productivity and climate resilience while lowering emissions and protecting natural ecosystems.
Propcom+ builds on the UK Government’s investment in agriculture through the Propcom Mai-karfi programme which ended in March 2022 after supporting over 1.25 million persons with improved incomes through key market reforms and policies that benefitted poor women and men in Northern Nigeria, the statement said.
“Tackling the effects of climate change and lowering emissions is a key priority for the UK government, and we remain committed to building sustainable pro-poor climate-resilient growth in Nigeria through the new Propcom+ programme, which will address environmental, social, and economic challenges in the country’s food and land-use systems,” said British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, following the event.
It will do this by working through strategic market actors to increase the productivity of smallholder farmers, improve nutrition and food security, enhance climate resilience, pursue lower emissions, and protect and restore nature, while also tackling some of Nigeria’s underlying drivers of conflict and insecurity.
The Palladium Group will carry out the new programme, which will begin in May 2023.
The program’s initial focal states will be Kano, Jigawa, Kaduna, Edo, and Cross River, where it will provide climate-smart agricultural interventions to assist the poor and climate vulnerable.
It will also work in some Southern Nigerian states to address deforestation issues and promote sustainable land use management.