The Federal Government has announced plans to introduce a digital verification system that will enable it to identify genuine farmers and ensure agricultural support programmes reach the intended beneficiaries.
The initiative, being developed through a partnership between the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), will rely on the National Identification Number (NIN) and NIMC’s identity verification platform to create a reliable database of farmers across the country.
Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, disclosed the plan when he received the NIMC Director-General, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, and her delegation at the ministry’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to a statement issued by the ministry’s Head of Information, Ezeaja Ikemefuna, the collaboration is designed to strengthen transparency, improve accountability and support Nigeria’s efforts towards achieving food security and food sovereignty.
Kyari explained that the use of digital identity systems would help the government confirm the status of beneficiaries before providing agricultural interventions such as grants, farm inputs and other forms of support.
“The collaboration will leverage the NIN and NIMC’s identity verification platform to authenticate beneficiaries of government agricultural programmes. This will ensure that interventions are targeted only at genuine farmers and agribusiness entrepreneurs,” the minister said.
Subsidy Programme to Shift Towards Self-Reliance
The minister also revealed that the Federal Government had reviewed its agricultural subsidy approach to encourage farmers to become self-sufficient rather than remain dependent on government assistance.
Kyari said the new model would provide support gradually, allowing beneficiaries to build capacity and become independent operators over time.
“It should not be a subsidy that continues indefinitely. Beneficiaries will receive support in the first year, reduced assistance in the second year, and by the third year they should be able to operate independently,” he said.
He noted that the phased support system would allow more farmers to benefit from government programmes while promoting sustainable agricultural production, increased productivity and long-term economic growth.
According to the minister, integrating farmers’ identities with the national database would reduce fraud, prevent diversion of resources and ensure that agricultural interventions are delivered to people actively involved in farming and agribusiness.
NIMC Highlights Role of Digital Identity in Agriculture
Speaking during the meeting, NIMC Director-General, Engr. Abisoye Coker-Odusote, described agriculture as a critical sector for Nigeria because of its connection to food security, job creation and economic development.
She said the recently enacted NIMC Act 2026 had further strengthened the commission’s role as Nigeria’s foundational identity authority, allowing it to provide secure identity verification and digital authentication services to government institutions.
Coker-Odusote explained that incorporating the National Identification Number into agricultural programmes would improve transparency and help eliminate issues such as fake identities and “ghost beneficiaries”.
She added that the partnership would support the Federal Government’s broader digital transformation agenda by improving how public services are delivered and ensuring government resources are directed to verified citizens.
The NIMC boss assured the ministry of the commission’s commitment to providing dependable identity verification services that would improve the effectiveness and credibility of agricultural intervention programmes.
With agriculture remaining central to Nigeria’s economic plans, the government said the new identity-based approach would help create a more accurate picture of the country’s farming population and improve the impact of future agricultural investments.