Vice President Kashim Shettima has said Nigeria will pursue a transformative private sector-led approach to food systems reform to position the country as a continental leader in agricultural innovation.

He further hinted that the government is ever ready to introduce single-digit credit facilities to finance agricultural ventures, similar to how countries like South Korea supported industrial conglomerates in their early development.

The Vice President made this known on Thursday during a briefing by the Task Force on the 2nd UN Food Systems Summit Stocktake (UNFSS+4), co-hosted by Ethiopia and Italy at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while outlining a framework that would reshape Nigeria's approach to food security by empowering private enterprise through government support structures.

VP Shettima outlined three key objectives for Nigeria's delegation to the Ethiopia-Italy co-hosted summit, which include positioning Nigeria as a thought leader on African food systems reform, leveraging international partnerships aligned with domestic priorities, and advancing a private sector-led model for continental food transformation.

The 2nd UN Food Systems Summit Stock take, scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, will bring together global leaders to assess progress on food systems transformation commitments made during the inaugural summit.

Earlier, the National Convener and Director of the Social Development Office, Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Sanjo Faniran, recalled that the Vice President had in 2023 chaired the two events during the stock taking in Rome, noting that it led to the ongoing efforts to achieve food system transformation in Nigeria.

He listed some of the events on the sidelines of the Summit to include a ministerial roundtable on public finance, trade and responsible investment to accelerate the transition being organized by the World Bank and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on the second day of the summit.

He said the roundtable will be convened by the Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Hajiya Amina Mohammed, adding that it is very crucial for the Vice President of Nigeria to be in attendance.