USAID Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity: Collaborative Policy Development and Implementation

Client

USAID

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Client Overview:

J.E. Austin Associates (JAA), since 2025 part of Civitta, served as key subcontractor to CNFA on the USAID Feed the Future Nigeria Agribusiness Investment Activity (NAIA) – a five-year programme (2018-2023) operating across seven Nigerian states. Our team led Component 1, focused on creating an enabling environment for agricultural sector growth.

The Challenge:

Nigeria’s agribusiness sector was constrained by an outdated, fragmented policy and regulatory environment that limited private investment and sector growth.

Key obstacles included:

No structured mechanism for multi-stakeholder engagement to drive policy reform
Weak capacity of federal and state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to develop, validate, and implement reform
Insufficient public-private dialogue platforms connecting government, private sector, and civil society
Limited CSO/NGO advocacy and monitoring to sustain policy change after project closure
Poor policy implementation caused by unclear regulatory guidance, poor inter-agency coordination, and no monitoring mechanisms to track implementation

Our Approach:

Our team applied a collaborative, evidence-based methodology across the full policy cycle – from development through to implementation – working at both federal and state levels.

Policy development & stakeholder engagement

We conducted comprehensive mapping of policies requiring reform across nine national priority areas (such as trade and sector policies) and seven states. Working alongside 22 federal and state MDAs, the team was embedded in technical working committees as official members – not external advisors – co-creating reform agendas with government counterparts to ensure institutional ownership. Each policy followed a structured cycle: diagnostic, stakeholder validation workshop, final revisions, advocacy campaign, submission for approval.

Implementation support

Our experts developed and deployed a Policy Implementation Monitoring Tool – an 8-stage framework helping government partners assess their implementation readiness, identify gaps, and co-create action plans. Training workshops equipped MDA staff, CSOs, and private sector representatives with practical tools to navigate implementation. JAA (since 2025 part of Civitta) and MDA staff, with input from CSO and private sector representatives, developed detailed implementation plans for 8 approved policies, including drafting regulations and guidance, process changes, staff training, external and internal communications, and digital solutions, with cost estimates.

Sustainability

To sustain reforms beyond project closure, our team facilitated the establishment of Public-Private Dialogue (PPD) forums, creating lasting mechanisms for ongoing government-private sector collaboration. We also conducted classroom and on-the-job training for MDA staff, providing them with skills and knowledge needed to properly implement the policies.

Results & Impact:

22 policies developed and approved at national and state level
Implementation plans developed for 8 policies
$244 million unlocked in financing and investments
18,437 MSMEs supported

Selected examples:

Ebonyi, Delta & Cross River States: digitization of cooperative society registration – 8,000 MSMEs accessed 1.6 billion NGN in grants through cooperative societies
Niger State: Investment Incentive Policy reform made the state eligible for the World Bank-funded SABER programme; ease of doing business ranking improved; new investments created jobs and increased crop production
National Agriculture Seed Council: trained on JAA’s Implementation Monitoring Tool; collaborating to finalize an adapted implementation plan for the National Agriculture Seed Policy

“Through the digitalization process, the ministry’s record management system and administration services have improved. Cooperative societies are more confident in the ministry’s services which has increased people’s access to its development programs.” –

Dr. Stephen Odo

Former Commissioner, Ebonyi State Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Business Development

“The involvement of stakeholders in policy development helped facilitate successful implementation as there is increased sense of trust and ownership of policy among the public, leading to higher levels of compliance.” –

Mr. Emmanuel Nwogwugwu

Head of Investment Promotion and Research, Niger State Investment Promotion Agency

Key Takeaways:

1. Embed into government processes, not alongside them: Joining technical working committees as official members ensured reform agendas reflected government priorities and carried institutional ownership from the start.

2. Approval is not the endpoint: Developing implementation plans and deploying the Implementation Monitoring Tool ensured approved policies translated into real change, not just signed documents.

3. Structured methodology scales: A consistent diagnostic-validation-advocacy-approval-implementation cycle applied across 22 policies in 7 states delivered replicable outputs despite a complex operating environment.

4. Sustainability through dialogue infrastructure: Establishing PPD forums and building CSO capacity created lasting mechanisms for public-private collaboration that continue beyond project closure.