Propcom+ and Nigeria Incentive-Based Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) have signed a collaboration agreement to strengthen sustainable animal health systems across Nigeria, improving access to quality veterinary services, expanding opportunities for livestock entrepreneurs, and supporting increased productivity and resilience for smallholder farmers.
The partnership brings together the market systems expertise of Propcom+ and the agricultural finance and risk-sharing capabilities of NIRSAL to address critical gaps in animal health service delivery. Through the collaboration, the Parties will support the training, retraining, certification, and deployment of Community Animal Health Workers (CAHWs) and Veterinary Pharmaceutical Personnel (VPPs), helping to extend quality animal health services to underserved communities
Nigeria’s livestock sector plays a vital role in food security, nutrition, and rural livelihoods. However, many livestock farmers continue to face challenges including limited access to veterinary services, inadequate vaccine delivery systems, high disease burdens, weak disease surveillance, and constrained access to finance for animal health businesses. The collaboration seeks to address these challenges through coordinated interventions that strengthen both service delivery and market systems.
Through this new partnership, Propcom+ will provide technical expertise, market systems support, and quality assurance mechanisms to help ensure that training and deployment efforts are effective, sustainable, and inclusive.
Dr Adiya Ode, Propcom+ Team Lead (left) and Mrs Zainab Mohammed, Head, Technical Assistance & Partnerships, NIRSAL (right) during a Multi-stakeholder event on 22 September 2026 in Abuja
As part of the agreement, NIRSAL will lead the organisation, financing, and implementation of large-scale training programmes for CAHWs and VPPs. The organisation will also help facilitate access to finance, credit guarantees, and insurance solutions for livestock value chain actors and animal health service providers, creating a stronger enabling environment for investment in the sector.
Beyond capacity building, the partnership will explore opportunities to develop innovative financial products tailored to veterinary service providers, livestock aggregators, and smallholder livestock farmers. It will also strengthen linkages among input suppliers, producers, processors, and other market actors, helping to build a more efficient and profitable livestock health ecosystem.
The collaboration places a strong emphasis on inclusion, with both organisations committed to creating opportunities for women to participate in livestock and veterinary enterprises. Joint efforts will also support improved disease surveillance, vaccination campaigns, and the use of data and evidence to inform investment and policy decisions within Nigeria’s livestock sector.
To guide implementation, the partners will establish a Joint Technical Working Group responsible for coordinating activities, monitoring progress, and promoting knowledge sharing. The collaboration will also encourage greater transparency, accountability, and evidence-based decision-making through data sharing and regular stakeholder engagement.
Combining technical expertise, market systems development, and innovative financing approaches mean Propcom+ and NIRSAL, together, can contribute to a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable animal health system that supports livestock productivity, strengthens rural livelihoods, and contributes to Nigeria’s broader agricultural transformation.
