The World Bank has approved US$400 million for the implementation of the Fadama III project and the Commercial Agricultural Development Program (CADP) in Nigeria.

Karen Brooks, Sector Manager, Agriculture and Rural Development Unit (African Region) of the bank, disclosed this on Monday in Abuja, while briefing Sayyadi Ruma, Nigeria's Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources.

Brooks said that US$250 million would be for Fadama III, while US$150 million would be committed toward the commercial agriculture project that would be implemented over four years.

She said that out of the total package, US$250 million would come from a soft loan from the International Development Association (IDA) with 0.7 percent interest.

Brooks commended the efforts of the Nigerian federal government in charting a new course for the development of agriculture in the country. She expressed the bank's determination toward the successful implementation of all ongoing and future agricultural programs.

Brooks noted that the Fadama III project would complement the CADP, given the large number of beneficiary groups involved in the program and its contribution to the aggregate growth of the agricultural sector.

Responding, Ruma said that the Nigerian federal government would provide funding, policy support and other regulatory requirements that would encourage private sector investment in the agricultural sector.

He said that the government would provide grants in perceptible areas of comparative advantage so as to attract investments.

The minister acknowledged the successes recorded in the Fadama program, saying that the program should be designed in a way that would enable it to complement the activities of the CADP.

He said that the government had approved the staffing requirements and counterpart funding for the Fadama III project as a demonstration of its support for the program.

Project Fadama was designed in the early 1990s to promote simple and low cost improved irrigation technology under World Bank financing.