Nigeria, May 9 -- The Nigerian government has signed a financing agreement of $158 million for the Value Chain Programme in Northern Nigeria (VCN) as part of ongoing efforts to revamp agricultural activities to boost food security in the country.

This was disclosed in a statement issued Wednesday by the senior special assistant to the president on media relations (office of the vice president), Stanley Nkwocha, in Abuja.

"With the signing of the agreement, the implementation of the $158.15 million VCN project begins immediately to support agriculture value chain development and value addition for farmers in nine states of the northern part of the country," the statement said.

According to the statement by Mr Nkwocha, the initiative, si...