The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Bengt Van Loosdrecht, has officially handed over the ownership, management, and operation of the inclusive agribusiness initiative known as 2Scale to Nigerian scholars, farmers, and entrepreneurs under the umbrella of the Institute of Agribusiness Management Nigeria.
The handover ceremony took place at the FCW Milk Bulking Centre in Iseyin, Oyo State.
The 2Scale initiative, which serves as an incubator and accelerator for inclusive agribusiness through public-private partnerships, has been funded by the Dutch government for 13 years.
The program recently concluded its funding cycle with the transfer of knowledge and operational responsibility to Nigerian stakeholders.
Throughout the project’s lifespan, smallholder farmers, micro, small, and medium enterprises, business champions, and local consumers were empowered to ensure widespread access to locally produced foods and processing in Nigeria.
The initiative attracted over €30 million in private sector return on investment, including more than €17 million facilitated for the value chain.
Speaking on the handover, Ambassador Van Loosdrecht expressed confidence in Nigerian farmers’ ability to continue running the scheme, saying: “It’s been a fantastic project.
It’s been there for 13 years, and it has enabled a lot of farmers to thrive, to scale up their business. It’s very good. The project is not really over, actually, it has been handed over to the Institute of Agribusiness Management Nigeria.
“We saw that the Professors and others in the institute can takes responsibility, and he is perfectly able and capable to take forward the project. Because you know why? Something has been built in the minds of the farmers and the people concerned.
“They know how to do it. They are experts here. If you have been working with a program for 13 years, people understand how to deal with it. And this is what will happen in the future as well.”
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On concerns about the project’s sustainability, he added: “I had no fear about sustainability of the project. Although funding will no more be coming from the Dutch government, I expect other stakeholders including the government to key into the opportunity the project provides for more inclusivity and benefit.
“Nigeria is not a poor country. Projects are there to fire up something, and when it works and it is sustainable, it will be taken up by the country itself. And that is the notion of sustainability. Funding something forever and ever, that is not sustainable.”
Professor Andi Brisibe, President of the Institute of Agribusiness Management Nigeria, acknowledged the tremendous impact the 2Scale initiative has had on Nigeria’s agribusiness sector over the past 13 years.
He noted that although the 2Scale program is closing due to policy constraints, the Institute has a wealth of seasoned academics, scholars, and researchers ready to scale up the initiative and advance it to new heights.
Professor Brisibe said: “The 13years that 2Scale has been operating in Nigeria have been wonderful. I say this especially on account of the fact that some of the models that they’ve tried to impact into the Nigerian agribusiness space have really been very helpful. Take, for example, the issue of inclusive agribusiness approach. I mean, the inclusivity there is on account of the fact that it carries everybody along, that even those that are considered at the bottom of the pyramid are taken along.
“And therefore, it’s my own personal assessment that 2Scale has done very well. And it’s quite sad that because of policy constraints, they had to close. And with the fact that they are closing, they have handed over the mantle of responsibility to the Institute of Agribusiness Management of Nigeria and we hope to go on with it as much as we are capable of handling.
“I can tell you this, the institute contains a lot of seasoned professors, researchers, and scientists that will be able to handle all that 2Scale has done. And therefore, I don’t have any fear that the project will continuously be handled, and it will be quite successful.”
