Written by More than 11.5 million rural Nigerians now have improved access to markets, hospitals, and essential services under the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP).
This was made known by the Federal Government last week at the programme’s 10th Joint Implementation Support Mission with the World Bank and the French Development Agency (AFD) opened in Abuja.
The Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Security, Sen. Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, who addressed the mission, said 1,500 kilometres of rural roads have been completed under the project, with work ongoing to deliver an additional 2,500 kilometres before December.
He described the target as achievable but dependent on states sustaining the coordination progress they’ve already shown.
“Connectivity is food security,” Sen. Dr. Abdullahi said. “Without access to markets, production cannot translate into prosperity. That is the gap RAAMP is closing.”
RAAMP, a third-generation rural access programme, is funded through the World Bank’s International Development Association and the AFD in the form of loans, with counterpart contributions from federal and state governments.
It operates across 19 states and targets about 8.2 million people in rural communities. Its goal goes beyond roads.
The project links farmers to processing centres, reduces post-harvest losses, and improves access to health and social infrastructure that most rural communities have lacked for decades.
80 percent of Nigeria’s estimated 200,000 kilometres of rural roads are in poor condition, according to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, severely limiting what farmers can do with whatever they produce.
The minister said Rural Access Road Agencies and State Road Funds, now established by participating states, are the mechanism for making the infrastructure last. Without them, roads built today face the same deterioration that left the previous network in ruins.
World Bank Task Team Leader, Mr. Rakeesh Tripathi, told the mission the project has about 18 months left before the completion deadline and urged all parties to maintain focus on delivery.
He said reforms and project quality will determine whether RAAMP’s gains outlast the programme itself or fade with it.
National Coordinator of RAAMP, Mr. Aminu Mohammed, said the project’s reach covers improved rural access, reduced poverty, lower post-harvest losses, and stronger market connectivity.
He said the 19 participating states are at different stages, but that overall coordination has improved and coverage is expanding.
Mrs. Illuromi Adebola, Director of the Federal Department of Development Partners Projects, reaffirmed the department’s commitment to technical and administrative support for the programme, and said stakeholders would continue working together to deepen coordination and ensure full realisation of project objectives.
The stakes behind those commitments are considerable. Nigeria loses an estimated 38 million tonnes of food annually to post-harvest losses, much of it because farmers can’t move produce to buyers quickly enough. Bad roads are the immediate cause for a large share of those losses.
RAAMP is the Federal Government’s most direct intervention on that problem, and with 18 months remaining, the question is whether 2,500 kilometres of road and millions more beneficiaries can be delivered on schedule.
Sen. Dr. Abdullahi called RAAMP “a key Renewed Hope achievement,” and said no rural community should be left behind as the country pursues food security and inclusive economic growth.
Source: RAAMP official project page: raamp.gov.ng.
